Let's get one thing out of the way: The Ramones rarely had HITS! The only big singles they had were "Baby, I Love You" (A UK-only hit), "Pet Sematary", and "Poison Heart" - and the latter two were helped by being on the soundtracks of the Pet Sematary films and only reached the Top 10 Modern Rock Charts, not the Hot 100. None of those songs appear on Loud, Fast Ramones!
Loud Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits is a compilation CD by Johnny Ramone that chronicles the Ramones's 30 "toughest" tracks. When I bought this album last summer, I didn't buy it for the compilation as I own every album. The reason I bought this compilation is because of the awesome bonus CD the first 50,000 copies had: Ramones Smash You: Live '85. As of this writing, it is the only official live release with Richie Ramone on the drums. Since the album sans the bonus is still in the market, I'll just go ahead and write about it.
Right away, the "Toughest Hits" moniker is suggesting that this compilation should exclusively have all the headbanging, rough tracks that show the guys at their cutthroat best, and no songs of the saccharine variety should be included (as we have enough inclusive compilations...). After all, this had the magnificent militaristic bastard Johnny Ramone doing the compilation work and not sweet Joey or the tragic Dee Dee (or CJ and the replaceable drummers). So...what did we get?
I broke this compilation down by album and the tracks that represent it. Any songs that I find that stand out negatively will be marked in red (purple means a replaceable track):
Ramones
"Blitzkrieg Bop"
"Beat on the Brat"
"Judy is a Punk"
Leave Home
"Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment"
"Commando"
"Glad to See You Go" *
"Pinhead"
Rocket to Russia
"Rockaway Beach"
"We're a Happy Family" *
"Sheena is a Punk Rocker"
"Teenage Lobotomy"
Road to Ruin
"I Wanna Be Sedated"
"I'm Against It" *"I Wanted Everything" *
"I Just Want to Have Something to Do"
"Rock 'n' Roll High School" (Ed Stasium version found on the Expanded Road to Ruin and the soundtrack Rock 'n' Roll High School)
End of the Century
"Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio"
Pleasant Dreams
"The KKK Took My Baby Away"
Subterranean Jungle
"Psycho Therapy"
"Outsider" *
"Highest Trails Above" *
Too Tough to Die
"Wart Hog" *
"Mama's Boy"
Animal Boy
"Somebody Put Something in My Drink"
Halfway to Sanity
"I Wanna Live"
"Garden of Serenity"
Brain Drain
"I Believe in Miracles"
Mondo Bizarro
"Main Man" *
"Strength to Endure" *
Adios Amigos
"The Crusher" *
* - Denotes tracks that were not available in Hey Ho Let's Go: The Anthology.
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Ramones
"Judy is a Punk" - The song is weak compared to half of that album. "Chainsaw"? "53rd & 3rd"? Even "Loudmouth" would have worked.
Leave Home
I have no major qualms as to what was added, as Leave Home is an early example of the guys at their darkest (even toughest). You could have also added "You're Gonna Kill that Girl" and "You Should Have Never Opened that Door", as those songs aren't as well-known as those four, but I'm okay with the chosen tracks.
Rocket to Russia
"Sheena is a Punk Rocker" and "Rockaway Beach" are fan favorites and not the toughest, loudest songs on that album. How about "I Don't Care" instead of those two.
Road to Ruin
"I Wanna Be Sedated" is a Ramones classic, but I think that its inclusion on this compilation is arguable. "Rock 'n' Roll High School" is a fan favorite that doesn't show the band at their toughest. "Go Mental" is tougher. "I Wanted Everything" could be exchanged for something else.
End of the Century
This album's absence would have brought no ill will whatsoever. A live cut of "Chinese Rock" is included on the bonus disk, but it should have been added on the compilation instead."Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" should have never crossed the mind of anyone when discussing the track selection to this compilation. There may be bad choices on this compilation and some that I disagree with, but that song is the worst choice of them all. Is there any hint of "toughness" on that song?
Pleasant Dreams
Why exclude "We Want the Airwaves"? Everything else is skippable.
Subterranean Jungle
There isn't much to go by as "Psycho Therapy" is it. "Highest Trails Above" is swappable, and "Outsider" is more sweet than tough, but Johnny really liked that song as he often mentioned it on interviews.
Too Tough to Die
"Wart Hog" is tough, but this is criminal. When you have "Danger Zone", "I'm Not Afraid of Life", and "Too Tough to Die", is your only option "Wart Hog"? "Mama's Boy" is fine. The bonus CD includes live cuts of "Too Tough to Die" and the single from this album's recording sessions, "Smash You", both songs that crush "Wart Hog". My only guess for its inclusion is that "Wart Hog" was one of those songs that stayed on the band's set list until their retirement.
~(Too Tough to Die, Animal Boy, Halfway to Sanity, and Brain Drain are basically Ramones albums where the boys are at their TOUGHEST! It doesn't mean that the tracks are great, but the sound is rougher in comparison to most of their recordings prior and after these records.)~
Animal Boy
There was more than "Somebody Put Something in My Drink". How about "Mental Hell"?. Better yet, why didn't he add the title song!
Halfway to Sanity
While I enjoy the fact that "Garden of Serenity" and "I Wanna Live" are represented, I find it odd that "Bop Til' You Drop", a great, tough song was omitted. Then again, there were a few more that were tough as well.
Brain Drain
This album has "Don't Bust My Chops" and "Learn to Listen", songs with toughness that wipe the floor with "I Believe in Miracles" and about 50% of this compilation!
Mondo Bizarro
Mondo Bizarro suffers of being a happy Ramones album, and the songs that Johnny selected are pale in comparison to most tracks on this compilation.
Adios Amigos
I have no qualms with "The Crusher but "Born to Die in Berlin" is also great and it's not in this compilation.
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When we talk about "tough" in the sense of word as expressed in this compilation, it probably means something that is resilient, endurable. The classics would easily fit the bill but the rest of the tracks would be put under the bus. The "tough" I though of - rough, troublesome - is probably not the definition Johnny was aiming for. However, some of those tracks are not tough in either of those definitions ("Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio", "Highest Trails Above" the Mondo Bizarro cuts, etc.)
The "Toughest Hits" moniker suggests whatever Johnny enjoyed that also was an already familiar song. Some fan favorite songs are tough, but there are some that are best left in other expansive collections where career retrospective compilations require the fan songs to be added. Yes, that even included Johnny's love for those Subterranean Jungle tracks (He really loved "Outsider").
In conclusion...
The idea that every track was closely chosen should be thrown out of the window when the majority of liner notes were copied and pasted from the Hey Ho Let's Go: The Anthology compilation, and 21 of the chosen songs are on that compilation. Where is the discussion of Johnny's decision making for this compilation? What guidelines did he put in order to pass up songs like "Bop Til' You Drop" and "Don't Bust My Chops" in exchange for "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" and the antithesis of all sorts of "tough", the horrendously saccharine nostalgic kitsch epic, "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?"? This was a wasted opportunity on what could have been an introduction to some of the Ramones darker, edgier, and/or roughest tracks.
Unless you are searching for the bonus CD or you are a Ramones collector, this is a major rip-off. Don't purchase it if you're new to the band or even remotely familiar with them, as there's better compilations with better track lists and bonuses.
This compilation is a joke.
UP NEXT: Ramones Smash You: Live '85!!, followed by the battle between It's Alive and NYC 1978!
Ever had a chance to "spin" Ramones Mania?
ReplyDeleteIt was my introduction to the Ramones. A lot of people didn't dig it, but I remember popping it in and playing guitar along with the whole album!
Any compilation that includes Bop 'Til You Drop is great!
ReplyDelete