Extras
The only extra from this recording session was the cover of the Beach Boys's Surfin' Safari, an exclusive bonus to Japanese and Brazillian pressings. However, Captain Oi! Records has the album with this track included, but I don't own it. This track is the only region bonus not easily available in MP3 stores.
It's a good cover, and one that should have been on the album.
The song:
Album Length:
All time references are based on my iTunes setlist.
Album Length: 31:02
# of Tracks: 12
Shortest Track: "The Shape of Things to Come" - 1:47
Longest Track: "When I Was Young" - 3:16
No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.
NEXT: ADIOS AMIGOS!!!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Acid Eaters
It's a common occurrence in rock 'n' roll to return to your roots with a cover album - Metallica has Garage Inc., Bob Dylan has Good as I Been to You, and John Lennon made Rock 'n' Roll. The Ramones took their favorite old tracks and made Acid Eaters, their tribute to the 60's music that influenced their style. The risk with making cover albums is the temptation of making a note-by-note copy of the original track instead of something akin to your style. The Ramones, having a good hit-to-miss ratio with covers, unfortunately fell into the temptation and copied many of the original songs to a tee.
Take "Journey to the Center of the Mind" as an example: The first few seconds sound like a familiar Ramones production with Marky's drums, Johnny's buzzsaw, and CJ's crunchy bass lines in full gear, but there's the lead guitar playing a familiar fill followed by a note-by-note performance of Ted Nugent's original solo. The song continues, with CJ singing competently and the band sounding like they normally do, but Nugent's second solo is played and I swear it's almost as pitch perfect as any of Nugent's performances of that song. It's an enjoyable cover but it sounds just like the Amboy Dukes's original with no real changes aside from Johnny's downstrokes.
There are more examples of this form of "covering", but the most horrifying is the inclusion of Pete Townshend to sing the background vocals for "Substitute". It's the same thing he did in the original and he still sounds just as nasally as he did before!What's the point of covering a song if the end product will be nothing more than a replica of the original?
The only bright spot on this album is the cover of Dylan's "My Back Pages" that almost brings the boys back to their deconstructive roots. There's a solo in the middle of the song, but I don't mind it that much as the original doesn't have one and it doesn't sound awful. Did the song need the solo? No. However, this is a late-era Ramones song, therefore nothing is shocking about the solo's inclusion. This song is fast, well-sung, and as close as you're going to get to a classic Ramones cover.
Barring the cover of "My Back Pages", this is an overall disappointing album. Some of the covers are enjoyable, but the end product has the appearance of a cover band instead of the Ramones covering tracks in their own style.
A Faster, Modern Take:
The Ramones play well and everything is well produced, but there's no need for emulations when the originals are easily available and accessible. They might have been hard to find in the early 90s, but you can find all the songs on your favorite MP3 store online and skip most of this album, barring the cover of "My Back Pages".
NEXT UP: ADIOS AMIGOS!!!
Take "Journey to the Center of the Mind" as an example: The first few seconds sound like a familiar Ramones production with Marky's drums, Johnny's buzzsaw, and CJ's crunchy bass lines in full gear, but there's the lead guitar playing a familiar fill followed by a note-by-note performance of Ted Nugent's original solo. The song continues, with CJ singing competently and the band sounding like they normally do, but Nugent's second solo is played and I swear it's almost as pitch perfect as any of Nugent's performances of that song. It's an enjoyable cover but it sounds just like the Amboy Dukes's original with no real changes aside from Johnny's downstrokes.
There are more examples of this form of "covering", but the most horrifying is the inclusion of Pete Townshend to sing the background vocals for "Substitute". It's the same thing he did in the original and he still sounds just as nasally as he did before!What's the point of covering a song if the end product will be nothing more than a replica of the original?
The only bright spot on this album is the cover of Dylan's "My Back Pages" that almost brings the boys back to their deconstructive roots. There's a solo in the middle of the song, but I don't mind it that much as the original doesn't have one and it doesn't sound awful. Did the song need the solo? No. However, this is a late-era Ramones song, therefore nothing is shocking about the solo's inclusion. This song is fast, well-sung, and as close as you're going to get to a classic Ramones cover.
Barring the cover of "My Back Pages", this is an overall disappointing album. Some of the covers are enjoyable, but the end product has the appearance of a cover band instead of the Ramones covering tracks in their own style.
A Faster, Modern Take:
The Ramones play well and everything is well produced, but there's no need for emulations when the originals are easily available and accessible. They might have been hard to find in the early 90s, but you can find all the songs on your favorite MP3 store online and skip most of this album, barring the cover of "My Back Pages".
NEXT UP: ADIOS AMIGOS!!!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Mondo Bizarro Addendum
Extras
There isn't anything extra on the CD or vinyl editions of this album unless you buy the Captain Oi! Records CD. From what I've gathered, Captain Oi! Records is an England-based record label that focuses on 70's and 80's punk rock. They recently re-issued the last 4 Ramones studio albums: Brain Drain, Mondo Bizarro, Acid Eaters, and Adios Amigos. Each one comes with liner notes by longtime Ramones tour manager Monte Melnick (who wrote the great book On the Road with the Ramones), one bonus track, and lyrics to every song. They're a bit expensive, so I'll buy one soon to check out if it's worth the purchase.
I don't know if there were any B-Sides released during Mondo Bizarro's run but I've come across the song title "The Ballad of Tipper Gore". I haven't found the song, but it may be a tamer name for the song "Censorshit".
"Spider-Man"
The extra track on the Captain Oi! edition is the studio version of "Spider-Man", the cover of the classic theme song from the 1967 cartoon. This is the version that's available on the Weird Tales of the Ramones box set and the bonus on the initial pressing of Adios Amigos. You can't get it without buying the whole MP3 box set in iTunes and Amazon which omit the comic book and the DVD, so it's probably worth buying the Captain Oi! CD or the physical copy of the box set. I've yet to see a copy of Adios Amigos with "Spider-Man" in it, so those are your choices.The album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits contains the song, but it is a different, slightly longer version.
The song was sung live and recorded for both Greatest Hits Live and We're Outta Here. It is not the same performance released twice as those were two separate concerts.
There are also two videos for the Saturday Morning version. One video is animated in the style of the Greatest Hits Live album art which makes sense why the cover of that album has a spider web behind the band. The other video has clips of the cartoon show mixed with clips of the actual band perfoming the song on a rooftop, and Drew Barrymore and other people are shown talking about Spider-Man.
Album Length
All time references are based on my iTunes setlist.
Album Length: 37:10
# of Tracks: 13
Shortest Track: "Anxiety" - 2:04
Longest Track: "Poison Heart: - 4:04
No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.
There isn't anything extra on the CD or vinyl editions of this album unless you buy the Captain Oi! Records CD. From what I've gathered, Captain Oi! Records is an England-based record label that focuses on 70's and 80's punk rock. They recently re-issued the last 4 Ramones studio albums: Brain Drain, Mondo Bizarro, Acid Eaters, and Adios Amigos. Each one comes with liner notes by longtime Ramones tour manager Monte Melnick (who wrote the great book On the Road with the Ramones), one bonus track, and lyrics to every song. They're a bit expensive, so I'll buy one soon to check out if it's worth the purchase.
I don't know if there were any B-Sides released during Mondo Bizarro's run but I've come across the song title "The Ballad of Tipper Gore". I haven't found the song, but it may be a tamer name for the song "Censorshit".
"Spider-Man"
The extra track on the Captain Oi! edition is the studio version of "Spider-Man", the cover of the classic theme song from the 1967 cartoon. This is the version that's available on the Weird Tales of the Ramones box set and the bonus on the initial pressing of Adios Amigos. You can't get it without buying the whole MP3 box set in iTunes and Amazon which omit the comic book and the DVD, so it's probably worth buying the Captain Oi! CD or the physical copy of the box set. I've yet to see a copy of Adios Amigos with "Spider-Man" in it, so those are your choices.The album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits contains the song, but it is a different, slightly longer version.
The song was sung live and recorded for both Greatest Hits Live and We're Outta Here. It is not the same performance released twice as those were two separate concerts.
There are also two videos for the Saturday Morning version. One video is animated in the style of the Greatest Hits Live album art which makes sense why the cover of that album has a spider web behind the band. The other video has clips of the cartoon show mixed with clips of the actual band perfoming the song on a rooftop, and Drew Barrymore and other people are shown talking about Spider-Man.
Album Length
All time references are based on my iTunes setlist.
Album Length: 37:10
# of Tracks: 13
Shortest Track: "Anxiety" - 2:04
Longest Track: "Poison Heart: - 4:04
No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.
Mondo Bizarro
CJ makes his studio album debut along with the return of Ed Stasium as producer (this being his last time working the guys) in what is often considered the beginning of the Ramones's last stand, Mondo Bizarro.
I often find myself at odds with some of the opinions of this album. Mondo Bizarro is seen as a good album and it's sometimes considered a great album (but nowhere near the first 4). The band sounds better and livelier than in previous efforts as those were horribly produced affairs with questionable songwriting and performances by the band. Mondo Bizarro, produced by old Ramones producer Ed Stasium, is a cleaner, sharper effort. Stasium was great at bringing out the best of the band's pop sounds, and Mondo Bizarro continued his impressive streak with the band. My only qualm would be that the band sounds too slick compared to their other work, but that's a minor issue.
The music is still Ramones-esque. Johnny still plays like it's 1974. Marky plays as if it's 1978. CJ's emulates Dee Dee without failing. The only one that's changed is Joey. At first listen, it's Joey Ramone without the depressingly cathartic sludge he burped out for many albums and live shows. After repeated listening, I feel as if his voice was cleaned up a bit, as "The Job that Ate My Brain" sounds way too good to be a late career Joey. It's still great that he was singing again, but did he need that cleanup? Speaking of singing, this album continues the tradition of the singing bassist with CJ getting three songs to sing. His voice is better than Dee Dee's, but I find myself skipping his songs as his voice is whiny and the songs they chose for him are annoying to begin with.
The heart and soul of the band is the songwriting, and most of it is acceptable. There's nothing mind blowing or new in this venture as the guys always found a way to make a great hook in even their most horrible of songs, therefore they would always do their best to make each song a possible radio hit. Marky brings out a few goodies with "The Job that Ate My Brain" and "Anxiety", songs that would have found a home 15 years earlier in the first album due to the subject matter, simplicity, and length. Dee Dee "contributed" three songs on this album (for bail money as the stories go), and I skip most of them as they're not great ("Strength to Endure" has good riff, but that's about it). Dee Dee did contribute the 4-minute bloated Joey song on this album, "Poison Heart". It is the sequel to the equally bloated "Pet Sematary", and it shares the same cheesy production as its brother. Joey brings a ton of work into this album, but most of it is mediocre. They're not bad, but the songs aren't as engaging or well written as previous efforts (similar to Dee Dee's material). There is one cover on this album, "Take It as It Comes", but it sounds so similar to the original that it almost comes off as if the Ramones were a cover band - a bad sign of things to come.
"Touring" and "It's Gonna Be Alright" are the songs that are just negatively effortless. The Ramones understood the art of music-making, and they also were masters of pulling off numerous songs with the same chord progression. However, there were few times in their career where they rip themselves off by having similar sounding songs. "Touring" was not only a completed 11 year old song at the time of Mondo Bizzaro's release, but if it was released then, the connection between it and "Sheena is a Punker"/ "Rock 'n' Roll High School" would have still been as noticeable as the sun. "Its Gonna Be Alright" may get away with its copying as it comes from Too Tough to Die's "Daytime Dilema (Dangers of Love)", a song whose popularity is nowhere near the levels of "Sheena" or "RnR High School". The funniest part of the copying on "Its Gonna Be Alright" is that the song is about fan loyalty, and I think that only the most loyal of Ramones fans will get the connection between the two songs. Both "Touring" and "It's Gonna Be Alright" are listenable songs, but it sucks that they borrow so much from older songs.
Mondo Bizarro was the band's strongest effort in years, but it was nowhere near their best efforts. The album was just better than mediocre. What saves this album is the production values, as the band had not sounded as alive in years. The songwriting is sub-par with only two songs I'd consider classics, 7 uninspired songs, and 4 stinkers. It's better than Animal Boy or Brain Drain, but most albums are better than those two. This would be their penultimate album of original material, as the next album would be a cover album.
NEXT: ACID EATERS
I often find myself at odds with some of the opinions of this album. Mondo Bizarro is seen as a good album and it's sometimes considered a great album (but nowhere near the first 4). The band sounds better and livelier than in previous efforts as those were horribly produced affairs with questionable songwriting and performances by the band. Mondo Bizarro, produced by old Ramones producer Ed Stasium, is a cleaner, sharper effort. Stasium was great at bringing out the best of the band's pop sounds, and Mondo Bizarro continued his impressive streak with the band. My only qualm would be that the band sounds too slick compared to their other work, but that's a minor issue.
The music is still Ramones-esque. Johnny still plays like it's 1974. Marky plays as if it's 1978. CJ's emulates Dee Dee without failing. The only one that's changed is Joey. At first listen, it's Joey Ramone without the depressingly cathartic sludge he burped out for many albums and live shows. After repeated listening, I feel as if his voice was cleaned up a bit, as "The Job that Ate My Brain" sounds way too good to be a late career Joey. It's still great that he was singing again, but did he need that cleanup? Speaking of singing, this album continues the tradition of the singing bassist with CJ getting three songs to sing. His voice is better than Dee Dee's, but I find myself skipping his songs as his voice is whiny and the songs they chose for him are annoying to begin with.
The heart and soul of the band is the songwriting, and most of it is acceptable. There's nothing mind blowing or new in this venture as the guys always found a way to make a great hook in even their most horrible of songs, therefore they would always do their best to make each song a possible radio hit. Marky brings out a few goodies with "The Job that Ate My Brain" and "Anxiety", songs that would have found a home 15 years earlier in the first album due to the subject matter, simplicity, and length. Dee Dee "contributed" three songs on this album (for bail money as the stories go), and I skip most of them as they're not great ("Strength to Endure" has good riff, but that's about it). Dee Dee did contribute the 4-minute bloated Joey song on this album, "Poison Heart". It is the sequel to the equally bloated "Pet Sematary", and it shares the same cheesy production as its brother. Joey brings a ton of work into this album, but most of it is mediocre. They're not bad, but the songs aren't as engaging or well written as previous efforts (similar to Dee Dee's material). There is one cover on this album, "Take It as It Comes", but it sounds so similar to the original that it almost comes off as if the Ramones were a cover band - a bad sign of things to come.
"Touring" and "It's Gonna Be Alright" are the songs that are just negatively effortless. The Ramones understood the art of music-making, and they also were masters of pulling off numerous songs with the same chord progression. However, there were few times in their career where they rip themselves off by having similar sounding songs. "Touring" was not only a completed 11 year old song at the time of Mondo Bizzaro's release, but if it was released then, the connection between it and "Sheena is a Punker"/ "Rock 'n' Roll High School" would have still been as noticeable as the sun. "Its Gonna Be Alright" may get away with its copying as it comes from Too Tough to Die's "Daytime Dilema (Dangers of Love)", a song whose popularity is nowhere near the levels of "Sheena" or "RnR High School". The funniest part of the copying on "Its Gonna Be Alright" is that the song is about fan loyalty, and I think that only the most loyal of Ramones fans will get the connection between the two songs. Both "Touring" and "It's Gonna Be Alright" are listenable songs, but it sucks that they borrow so much from older songs.
Mondo Bizarro was the band's strongest effort in years, but it was nowhere near their best efforts. The album was just better than mediocre. What saves this album is the production values, as the band had not sounded as alive in years. The songwriting is sub-par with only two songs I'd consider classics, 7 uninspired songs, and 4 stinkers. It's better than Animal Boy or Brain Drain, but most albums are better than those two. This would be their penultimate album of original material, as the next album would be a cover album.
NEXT: ACID EATERS
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