(Important Note: NYC 1978 was re-released a while back under the title Live January 7, 1978 at the Palladium, NYC with a new album cover as well. My iTunes account changed the NYC 1978 album's name and cover to fit the re-release.)
Judas Priest has a live album called Unleashed in the East, recorded live in Japan but cleaned up in studio. Allegations were that the band completely re-recorded the album and/or gave it a "live" feel (some fans mock the album as "Unleashed in the Studio"). One fact is that lead singer Rob Halford returned to the studio to re-record his vocals, so there was some tinkering involved. According to Wikipedia, live bootlegs from the same era indicate that the band could pull off their sound live as they did on the album, so no major harm is done.
What does this have to do with the Ramones?
It's often been the consensus that the Ramones hit their energetic peak around the the last years of the 1970's, with the band ripping through live sets faster than their first three albums combined with the technical precision and clarity that would make most bands, past and present, jealous. The main evidence for this opinion comes from the recording of the December 31, 1977 live show in England known as It's Alive, a concert that was both filmed and recorded for an album. One week later, the boys would return to New York City for a concert recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour, a radio show. While the "It's Alive" concert has been in circulation since 1979, the King Biscuit performance was released in 2003 under the title NYC 1978, making It's Alive the album with most press and praise due to its lengthy availability and presence.
Both shows were recorded one week apart, therefore they share similarities:
1. Joeys says the same introductions to each song, and barely changes them to fit the location.
2. The band plays the same setlist, with NYC 1978 excluding "Judy is a Punk". (This shouldn't be a deal breaker for anyone.)
3. Both albums are under an hour long.
4. The guys play like they ought to: loud, fast, and short.
5. Some songs are improved live ("Rockaway Beach", "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Sheena is a Punk Rocker"), but don't expect the band to change any of the song's arrangements as they're faithful to the album cuts.
6. The concerts both document Tommy Ramone's last stint as the band's drummer, as he would go one to be a producer.
The major difference is the sound.
It's Alive does has severe tinkering in that all the vocals and instruments but the drums was re-recorded. The sound is in fact cleaner and sharper and everyone plays in note with no guitars going off-tune. The fans cheer and applaud and a few bells and whistles are heard between songs. I won't deny that this does sound great, as the producers (T. Ramone and Ed Stasium! YAY!) did a fantastic job putting this all together. It's Alive gives off the impression of a live album, but it's sad to know that everything had to be redone in studio, as looking at the recently released It's Alive footage (from the It's Alive 1974-1996 DVD set) makes me wonder if they even went back and put the re-recorded audio into the footage. I think of It's Alive as a great album that represent the ideal Ramones, but the Ramones were great without the need to romanticize them as this album does.
With the Ramones's "Unleashed in the East" out of the way, we can now look into a "bootleg" to see if they band could cut it live without the post-production. NYC 1978 is as real a live album as the boys would get. The loudness of this album is ridiculous as it must be at least a step or two up compared to It's Alive's leveled sound. Johnny's guitar will sound like a chainsaw that is ripping through your headphones or speakers without a sign of decline in intensity for the 55 minutes of this concert. I never saw the band live, but I can imagine that the sound of this album probably is the closest anyone would be to hearing the Ramones live in the front row as it's that intense.
The band sounds great, but I do think there's some problems with Johnny's guitar as the sound is a bit out of tune every once in a while. It's almost unnoticeable until he slides from chord to chord. I really can't tell if Dee Dee's even playing on most tracks as Johnny makes him mute. You can hear the bass during the end of Blitzkrieg Bop, but when the two of them are playing together, it's hard to track Dee Dee. As for Joey, his singing gets some heavy mic feedback in every few songs, therefore there wasn't any cleanup as the job on It's Alive. Dee Dee also gets a bit left out in the vocal tracks as you here him every once in a while and not as in unison as in the It's Alive concert. With every Ramone recording out there, the other noticeable instrument is the drums, and Tommy does a good job banging his 4/4 notes like a pro. As for the audience, they sound well-miced and they don't disappoint. They cheer after each song but mostly remain quiet when the band plays. As noted in other reviews, there is a guy with an air horn which is not as annoying as it's made out to be. I find it humorous that someone had the gall to bring an air horn to a concert, but this was New York circa 1978 so I make it out to be as part of the audience's unique ambiance.
If I had to choose between It's Alive and NYC 1978, I would lean towards NYC 1978. Sure, the band didn't didn't play "Judy is a Punk" that night, and the concert sounds as loud, raw, and gritty as any Ramones concert could get, but those are the qualities that make it a product that arouses my interest. Without expanding the discussion with future live albums (with the exception of You Don't Come Close as I don't own it at the time of this writing), this is as real a live Ramones album will get. It's Alive is the cleaner, sharper product and well on its own, but I've often felt that it comes off as a perfected Ramones sound and not the sound that came off the band's speakers on any given night. NYC 1978 is as close to a genuine live sound as you can get from the boys at their youngest and at their peak.
NEXT - Marky debuts in Road to Ruin!!
EXTRA!!
I found the air horn man to be hilarious and went back to find his appearances.
The Air Horn Man's cameos in NYC 1978
1. I think you first hear him during the applause after Pinhead is finished
2. After Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World
3. After Let's Dance
I think someone confiscated the horn or beat him into a pulp when he was found. Maybe he just stopped after reflecting on his motives. Who knows?
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