Ronnie Spector - She Talks to Rainbows

I originally posted this on my other site, but I decided to include it here as it is Ramones related.

Ronnie Spector - She Talks to Rainbows (1999)

I've reviewed a few live albums recently, therefore I'm turning my attention towards an EP that came out a little over a decade ago. Ronnie Spector, former lead singer of 60s girl group the Ronettes, partnered with longtime admirer and former Ramones frontman Joey Ramone (and longtime Ramones collaborator and producer Daniel Ray) to create a fun, but short cover album of 60s classics and some surprising punk covers. "She Talks To Rainbows" combines some of Ronnie's Sixties charm with modern production values, creating an updated sound that is enjoyable for both older and younger fans.

The Ramones covers and the collaboration with Joey are what first attracted me to She Talks to Rainbows. The choice of Ramones tracks, both originally penned by Joey, are from the Ramones's later, less popular eras. "She Talks To Rainbows" was one of the darker and better tracks off the band's final album ¡Adiós Amigos!, but "Bye Bye Baby" comes from one of the Ramones' darker albums, Halfway to Sanity. I love that album despite its gloom, but even I know that "Bye Bye Baby", a pastiche of 60s love songs, is unfortunately not a highlight. Joey sounded tired and the depressing, bass-heavy, arrangement lessened the song's possible impact.

"Bye Bye Baby" gets the biggest upgrade as it's turned into a successful duet between Joey and Ronnie. Gone is the dull bassline and the pessimistic atmosphere, and in comes an uplifting guitar sound, a piano, and Joey sounds alive evoking feelings of a lover's nostalgia and farewell. Ronnie even gets a bit of a solo in the middle eight! The improvements are what the song needed back in 1987 as it now seems like a finale of sorts for the Ronettes classic "Be My Baby". "She Talks to Rainbows"'s atmosphere is unchanged, but the Johnny Ramone chainsaw guitar is replaced with a cleaner, arpeggio-centric riff. Ronnie's voice is naturally sweeter than Joey's vocals in his recording, but she does a fine job bringing out the inherent sadness of that track.

"You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory", Johnny Thunder's ballad, gets an upgrade. I'm not a fan of the studio original as Johnny wasn't a good singer and he makes that song drag on, and even the Guns N' Roses cover sounds just as horrid. Maybe some of you would be angry and say that I'm missing out on the song's sleazy charm, but Ronnie's version adds the beauty and gravitas that Johnny couldn't give. She retains the sadness that was in the original (Sadness is this album's m.o.) and the jump in tempo towards the chorus, but she doesn't speed up the chorus vocally as Johnny did, making this version ten times better in the process. (Plus, Joey returns to sing in the background towards the end!)

The Beach Boys's "Don't Worry Baby" was written by Brian Wilson as a pastiche of his favorite Ronettes track, "Be My Baby", therefore Ronnie is quite at home. Gone are those amazing harmonies and Brian Wilson's lead vocals, but Ronnie does a fine job with her version (and her backup singers aren't bad either). The final cover is a live rendition of the Ronettes's "I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine" and it is an interesting track. Gone is that grandiose "Wall of Sound" that Phil Spector had in the original, now replaced with a lead piano and a less bombastic backing band. Ronnie's performance in the original was fine, and this one isn't that far away from the original. There is a crackle in her voice here and there serving as a reminder of her age, but it's been a graceful aging.


Joey passed away in 2001, thereby making this his only collaboration with Ronnie. He left her with a fine comeback EP and groundwork that she used in her later album, Last of the Rock Stars. Thanks Joey!

Adios Amigos Pt. 2 - The Other Members

(It's been a while since I last promised the complete Adios Amigos review. I never expected the review to go past 2010, but it's better late than never.)

What about the other three members's input (Joey, CJ, and Marky)?

Joey brings two great songs in the mix, starting with the T.Rex homage "Life's a Gas". It's a sentimental song, and while it drags for a song that repeats its verses and chorus, Joey sounds like he believes every word he sings. (It's probably the best time to mention that Joey is in great form on most of this album.) It's a deep cut gem, and one that Joey fans shouldn't pass, His other contribution is "She Talks to Rainbows", a song about unrequited love for someone with a mental disorder, and another song whose mood is so thick that it's depressing. This is one of the best tracks on the album, and one of the best songs that Joey wrote for the band in general.

CJ has two songs of his own, "Scattergun" and "Got Alot to Say". Both are not as strong as Joey's input, but they have their own moments of joy. "Got Alot to Say" is a humorous song about someone who really doesn't have a lot to say, and its short length makes it a tight and quick affair. "Scattergun" is slower and sounds like something that would have fit nicely in Mondo Bizarro as it's akin to "Main Man". It's not my cup of tea, but it's better than some of Dee Dee's work on this album.

With Joey and CJ bringing in most of the active member input, Marky wrote one song, "Have a Nice Day". It's similar to his previous work, "Anxiety",  in that both are short and both follow the classic Ramones song structure from their earlier albums. It's a good song, but Joey sounds a bit rough on this one (probably trying to match the speed on it).

Before I finish this up, I would like to mention that "I Love You" is a boring cover in the same vein as most of the Acid Eaters album - an almost note-by-note copy with nothing new except for Joey's horrible vocal performance.

The three Ramones's output brings in one classic song, a great one, and three good ones. Does that mean that they were more than capable of working without Dee Dee? No, but it does mean that the rest of the band were better songwriters by the end. It's possible that Dee Dee sold them the songs and they ran with it instead of making more of their own tracks. They had the potential to make a fun album here, and it's mostly a successful effort. Buy it and enjoy it outside of its historical value. The deep cuts are worth a listen.

¡Adios Amigos! Part One

For a member of a band to quit and continuously contribute songs to which half of band's final album consists of  this ex-member's material, and half of those songs are covers of his previous solo albums, not only speaks about the level of respect and importance this member is to the band, but it also speaks of the position in which the band is in that requires that member's aide.

Adios Amigos is a strong album, but there is an unavoidable shadow that looms on this album - Dee Dee's material. About half of the songs on this album are Dee Dee's, making it the most Dee Dee filled album since Brain Drain. If you put in Mondo Bizarro as the only other post-Dee Dee album filled with original material, it still feels as if Dee Dee never left the band. This would not have been so problematic if it wasn't for two things:

1. Dee Dee's talents had eroded considerably since his early days with the group. Compare the simplicity of Rocket to Russia's "Locket Love" to the abstract writing in Too Tough To Die's  "I'm Not Afraid of Life". It appeared that Dee Dee's mental well-being affected his songwriting. Some of my favorite Dee Dee-written tracks on the later albums ("Bop Til' You Drop", "I Wanna Live") have moments where the lyrics are just plain wretched and abstract and/or his focus wasn't strong enough to be on topic for a whole song. Also, Dee Dee had a habit of writing way too many songs about his problems which plagued the later albums, and some of them were also filled with the abstract lyrics. He still had a gem or two in every album, but you would have to sit through the rest of his material to get into any of it.

2. Three of the songs he contributed were already available, and there is almost no difference between those versions and the Ramones covers. It all comes down to whether or not you prefer to listen to Dee Dee sing.

Dee Dee's material, quality-wise, is all over the place. Starting with the worst song on this album, and in all of the Ramones discography, comes "Cretin Family". It's the laziest songwriting and musical arrangement of any Ramones song with the "Psycho Therapy" hook completely ripped off that song and pasted here as if no one would notice, combined with the saddest attempt at remaking an anthem in the vein of "Cretin Hop", "Blitzkrieg Hop", and the already mentioned "Psycho Therapy". It's insulting that they would try to pass this off as something fresh and new when they continuously played those anthems for most of their careers, with fans memorizing every lyric, hook, and chord change. What were they thinking?

In the middle lie "Making Monsters For My Friends", "It's Not For Me to Know", and "Take the Pain Away". "Making Monsters For My Friends" is a goofy song  with Dee Dee's abstract lyrics about something that's not entirely based on the title. It's not a bad song, but it is puzzling that they allowed this one on the album. The next two share the "Dee Dee's problems" theme, and it sounds as if they were meant to be on Brain Drain or Halfway to Sanity instead of Adios Amigos.

Dee Dee's best are "The Crusher" and "Born to Die in Berlin". Music-wise, "The Crusher" is not as different compared to the version on the Standing in the Spotlight album, but CJ's enthusiasm and the focused lyrics of wrestling in Madison Square Garden make it a winner. "Born to Die in Berlin" is similar to the "problems" themed songs, but it's a focused song, the band doesn't sound as bored as they did in prior work, and this might sound strange, but this song has a feeling of unfortunate fatalism and the narrator's allowance of it that works well with the album itself. Unlike Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" in which the narrator plays with his fate, "BtDiB"'s narrator accepts the fate but is helpless in attempting to fix them. It's a surprisingly strong effort from Dee Dee at this point and one of the highlights from the album.

To say that this album would have been better without Dee Dee is not entirely wrong, as all but two songs were more of the same material that has appeared on all post Subterranean Jungle albums. Still, you'd have to take into account the rest of the material on the album to get a full picture. Was the band better off writing their own material?

NEXT: PART TWO!!!

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!!!

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

Brain Drain

Ramones album covers sometimes give away the quality of an album. Pleasant Dreams, Subterranean Jungle, Animal Boy, Acid Eaters, Adios Amigos - they all are flawed albums with craptastic covers. Brain Drain joins the group as another album whose cover says too much about the album than it has any right to. The cover portrays a man screaming as he's fading away from his head, colored in brown, red, yellow, and black. This cover is not as ugly as the previously mentioned albums, but there was a member or two of the band who probably felt like the man on the cover.

Dee Dee Ramone had enough of the Ramones by the time this album was done. In the documentary End of the Century, Richie Ramone remembers that Dee Dee and him were thinking of leaving after Halfway to Sanity. Richie did leave after that album, but Dee Dee decided to stick for one more year. His last full album with the Ramones is Brain Drain, arguably the band's darkest album. The songs are still fast and some are even catchy, but when only half of the album is about things other than relationship issues, you have a problem.

It all starts with "I Believe in Miracles",  a song about (presumably Dee Dee) being lucky at being alive and touring with band with love at his side. This song is better compared to the trail of mentally draining relationship songs the album will soon dish out, but this track is an ominous sign of what's to come. It reminds me more of "Mental Hell" and "I Wanna Live" in that the tracks sound great, but Joey's vocals and the chords sound confessional and dire.  The song is followed by "Zero Zero UFO", a  fun song about UFO sightings and nothing else.

Nothing on this album is as disturbing as the lyrics to "Don't Bust My Chops". You listen to this song with no prior knowledge of the band's work and still be shocked with its misogyny and harsh language. The Ramones had songs where a girl would meet an unfortunate end (Glad to See You Go, Chain Saw, You're Gonna Kill That Girl), but their love songs far outweigh the number of violent songs. "Don't Bust My Chops" comes across as a song where a man doesn't know how to properly end a relationship and instead lashes out on his significant other in the worst way possible. I think this song even has the most cursing of the Ramones's entire catalog. Joey sings this song with vitriol unlike any songs prior as if he's actually cursing you out of his life. With all it's negativity, this song is quite catchy....it's complicated.

"Punishment Fits the Crime" has Dee Dee singing his last Ramones song (prior to Adios Amigos), and he goes out with a wacky song about...crime, death row, and destiny. Yes, Dee Dee is still writing wacky lyrics but at least he has a Lou Reed-like delivery that works. Pleasant surprise on the album.

"All Screwed Up" is, by now, the typical bloated 4-minute Ramones song, but this one is about, from what I can understand, the harm a girl is doing to her lover and the pains of not having her back. I'm not sure who wrote this one as there's a lyric about hating the music business and how the person admires his woman's hip shaking in the same verse (Dee Dee-style wackiness), but has Joey, Marky (he's back), and Daniel Rey as writers, so take it for what it's worth.

Next is a cover of "Palisades Park", a song about the Palisades Amusement Park that was located in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The amusement park was closed in 1971, about 9 years after this song was first recorded and about 18 years after the Ramones covered it. Therefore, if you ever decide to make a tour of locations referenced in the Ramones discography, be prepared to see condominiums where the park once stood (I think they have a monument in the park's honor.) Back to the cover - it's another fun song with a fantastic circus-sounding riff. Unfortunately (and obviously), that riff will not make it to any live album.

"Pet Sematary" debuts and it was the Ramones most successful song since "Baby, I Love You" and that is a shame as this song sucks on the album. If you want to hear a song that's spooky and atmospheric, try "Garden of Serenity". The movie of the same name gave it the popularity, but get a live version instead as it's upgraded in speed and palatable. After "Pet Sematary", is "Learn to Listen", a song whose riff is 99.5% ripped from "Eat That Rat" from Animal Boy. This is not only a copy of an older song, but its lyrics are so nonsensical and unfocused that it makes "I Wanna Live" feel like Homeric poetry. This may also sound repetitive, but the chorus is catchy. There was one mondegreen for me on "Learn to Listen". I always though Joey said "stay out of Tijuana" instead of the correct "stay out of deep water". I think Tijuana is better.

The last third of this album is Joey based material. If you own the expanded Pleasant Dreams, then you would have listened to "I Can't Get You Out of My Mind", a previously unissued song that made its "debut" on Brain Drain as the awkwardly titled "Can't Get You Outta My Mind". They didn't change "Touring" into "Tourin'" on the next album, so the name change was probably not well thought out. The version on Brain Drain sounds flat, lifeless, boring and forced. The version done 8 years earlier sounds better by leaps.

"Ignorance is Bliss" is a goofy political track, but the riff is fantastic. Joey is straining his voice a bit, but everyone else is in high gear. I think Richie's drumming might have been made for this track as Marky should have sped it up and probably add a fill or two. Next up is "Come Back, Baby", bloated track number two and one where the boredom probably kicked in for everyone as it just drags into tediousness. This could have been done in two minutes instead of four. Finally, the album ends with "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna fight Tonight)" in what could only be a Ramones Christmas song in an album released in May! It's a depressing song that hides itself on the upbeat sound it gives off. What else did you expect on this album? "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"?

This album is not as good as Halfway to Sanity and marginally better than Animal Boy. Besides the depression almost everyone on the band was in during this album, what dampers it the most is that the sound is flat. There are good riffs, catchy choruses, and the usual crap you come to expect on an album of this era, but it sounds as if it's coming from a filter. Maybe this album (and a few others as well) needs a good remixing to boost it out of its rut. I don't want a raising of volume that will just cripple the sound, but a genuine clean up to fix the muddiness of it all. Overall, its another album in which a few tracks are of interest and the rest is skippable.

NEXT: CJ debuts in the tale of two versions of LOCO LIVE!

Halfway to Sanity

The "Tough Ramones" era reaches its ultimate stop with Halfway to Sanity, one of the band's misunderstood works and it also marks Richie Ramone's last album as drummer.It's a sad departure as Richie was the best drummer the band ever had and probably the most musically talented Ramone out of them all. It's a shame that Richie wouldn't return to the music scene until this decade, as the guy aided the group during this darker period and also cemented their turn from the experimental pop to the speedy hardcore/hard rock sounds of the "Tough Ramones".

I have trouble reviewing Halfway to Sanity because this is the Ramones album I listen to the most. Leave Home is a best album lyrically and musically, Ramones is almost untouchable due to its status, and Too Tough to Die has one of my favorite songs on it (the title track). Halfway to Sanity somehow captures my interest in a way those three albums can't. It's a mess production-wise as sound is tiny and almost lifeless. The band isn't near as energetic as they were on Animal Boy. However, the band somehow makes a product that can survive this down era.

This is not an album that may be easily accessible to new fans or fans stuck in any "era rut". It's the type of album you would own and listen to if you stay with the band for the long haul and faced every small break in the road. You can listen to it and catch some of the goofiness and even pass out laughing after reading the unintentionally humorous lyrics to "I Wanna Live". This is not the band at their most creative or exciting, but it's the band at a point where they just rock for the sake of rocking. In approximately thirty minutes, the Ramones go through every stage in their career and come back with perhaps the most underrated results of any of their work.

This Ramones album is the mash-up of every other Ramones album before it - if you stayed with them for this long, then you know the tricks of the trade:

You want songs about desperation? Got it.
Crave for more mental music? Look no further
You miss the surf rock hits? Got one here.
Enjoy the 60's style Joey love songs? There's one here too.
How about the recent hardcore stuff? Yep.
You want it all in 30 minutes? You got the idea.

The only surprises here is the strength the songs. The first three tracks on Halfway to Sanity are what I consider to be the finest opening tracks on any Ramones album. "I Wanna Live" has a fantastic riff and the melody here is prime Ramones, and Dee Dee's bizarre lyrics don't hinder it one bit (he does have one great line in there about a prince being broken down). "Bop Til' You Drop" is one of my all-time favorite Ramones songs, and I honestly see it as good as any Ramones song during their prime. The lyrics are either about commercial failure or being used and abused, but like "Swallow My Pride" before it, the song's protagonist continues to rock on. The song just kicks ass - it's as close to the original Ramones formula as you get at this point in their career (no solos or leads, fast playing, quick lyrics) and it's a shame that this song is often put under a bus when this album is dissected for compilations (At least it's in Ramones Mania!). "Garden of Serenity" finishes the trilogy with a song reminiscent of their horror film songs but with a stronger atmosphere than previous efforts. While this song is not specifically about a horror movie, the lyrics are about walking in a graveyard at midnight with a psycho. Joey sings with absolute force on this one as the creepiness of it all comes to an awesome resolution with him yelling "IN THE GARDEN OF SERENITY!".

After those songs, you get songs that range from good to poor. I'm not a fan of "I'm Not Jesus" and "Weasel Face" mostly because of Joey's vocals and the overall staleness of those tracks. "I Lost My Mind", the final "hardcore" Dee Dee song, is hilarious, and for once I enjoy Dee Dee's horrible vocals."Go Lil' Camaro Go" is something I listen to with joy in some days or I skip past it in others. I don't mind Debbie Harry's guest appearance, as I enjoy her on this song more than on "Chop Suey", but her voice is so low that you really have to pay attention to hear her. Joey does his "ooh-mow-mow" singing and it's cool, but this song is walking the Cheese tightrope with recklessness. I enjoy "Bye Bye Baby", Joey's song that's a pastiche of 60's/Phil Spector music. It's a sweet song in an otherwise dark album and it stick out a bit. Speaking of sticking out, "Real Cool Time" is another fun song, but it too is sweeter than the norm. Finally, "Worm Man" finishes the album, a song that captures a bit of the early minimalist lyrics infused with their metallic playing style. It's a good surprise ending that I did not see coming and I enjoyed it greatly.

As much I enjoy this album, I am not blind to its faults. There are points in this album where the band sounds tired. I don't know if the band is to blame or if it's the production, but for tracks like "Bye Bye Baby", you can tell that there was potential for that song to sound as close to a Spector song as anything out of End of the Century. The song on this record sounds slow and never reaches a high point. The same goes for "Real Cool Time", a fun song that seems to sound as if the boys ran out of gas late in the album with Joey putting minimal effort on the vocals. In general, the sound on this album is low and not even raising the volume does it justice. It sounds muddy.

Nothing really comes close to giving the complete Ramones sound after Halfway to Sanity. Brain Drain is akin to Animal Boy, and Mondo Bizarro/Adios Amigos is a strange hybrid of their earlier sound with a 90's power pop update. While the band would continue some of the motifs of the "Tough Ramones", Marky's return in Brain Drain would also bring with it a return to softer sounds. Therefore, Richie's departure also marks the end of the band's metalesque/hardcore sounds. I love this album. I can't type all of my emotions as clear I want them to be on this post, but I've tried. There's absolutely nothing new or surprising on this album. It's just the guys doing what they do best - quality songs with catchy riffs and hooks, and that's all there is to it. This may not be a good album for new fans, but older fans should give it a try.

NEXT: Dee Dee Ramones's Last Stand - BRAIN DRAIN!

Animal Boy!

At the moment of this writing, Animal Boy has reached its 29th anniversary (released in May, 1986, recorded on December, 1985), and I have a feeling that no one will commemorate its release with a special 2-CD edition. Prior to Animal Boy, most Ramones albums barely hint at the age of their conception. The first four, for the most part, sound as good and timeless as they did in the Seventies. End of the Century was probably as retro then as it is now due to the efforts to make their album sound like it was made by Phil Spector in the 60s. Pleasant Dreams continues the retro sound with a few songs that stand out of that theme, and Subterranean Jungle was stuck in the '60s-'70s hard rock/pop sound for most of the album. Too Tough to Die has some '80s influences in it, primarily in the synth-driven "Howling at the Moon" (and "Planet Earth 1988" just on title alone), but there's enough tracks to make the album free of the decade it was made in.

Animal Boy wears its age on its sleeve like no album before it. Look at the cover and tell me that it was not made in any era other than the '80s. Those horrible pastel blue letters should be the warning sign, and the script used to write Animal Boy could not have been used prior to the decade. After you get over the cover, the album is a mixed bag. Animal Boy is not as bad as Subterranean Jungle, but not as good as the album preceding it, Too Tough to Die. The album starts well, but the quality plunges towards the middle and never comes back.

It's quite a shame that it's nowhere near as good as Too Tough to Die, as that album was supposed to be a comeback of sorts after the experimental pop era. Half of the songs here are clearly influenced by the pop of the era and whatever is left ranges from tolerable to good. The album itself opens with the fast rocking "Somebody Put Something in My Drink", a catchy tune made by Richie Ramone about receiving a spiked drink (LSD?). Joey starts his growling vocals in this album, and it works for this song. Next is the title track, "Animal Boy", and it's another fine track. The lyrics are the usual Dee Dee nonsense for a Ramones song in this era, but it's just dandy. Those two tracks are the best on this album and they give the impression of a promising album. It's all smoke and mirrors as the rest of this album collapses on the weight of its overproduction.

The Sid and Nancy ballad "Love Kills" irritates me with Dee Dee's annoying hardcore voice and I really couldn't care for this song past the subject matter (Dee Dee was good friends with couple). The same goes for "Eat that Rat", as Dee Dee is just barking everything to the point of it being incomprehensible. I didn't like "Wart Hog" on the last album, and while I understand the context of his voice on those tracks, it just stinks.
The first bomb on this album is "She Belongs To Me", a bloated love ballad that is so synth-ridden and cheesy than not even Joey's vocals can save it from the cesspool. "Crummy Stuff" is a song that I wish would have a live version that I could listen to as it's probably ten times better than the crap that was put on this album. It starts off well and sounds like a genuine Ramones track, but then the synthesizers hit. I don't understand what happens next but let's just say it's the closest to a musical suicide as the band would get. It's a shame that they butchered that song without thinking twice about playing it straight.

"Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" suffers of the same problems that "She Belongs to Me" has - long, bloated with every '80s bell and whistle and barely a hint of the Ramones's sound. While I'm in the subject of bloated tracks, "Something to Believe In" is another poor song that just becomes a chore to listen to. Both tracks are commentary on then current events, ("Bonzo" is about Reagan, "Something" is supposed to be a satire of "We Are the World") and they both suck. It doesn't mean that boys can't do good political tracks, but they didn't cut it on this album. "Planet Earth 1988" is an example of a good current events track, and those two are not as good as that song.

Special mentions should go to "Mental Hell" and "Apeman Hop"."Mental Hell" is tolerable musically, but Joey's vocals save the day. "Apeman Hop" has a good riff, but the stupid animal noises get irritating (I think Dee Dee is one of the apes, I can't tell who the other ape is.)

As for the rest of this album, Joeys barks out the lyrics to "Freak of Nature" and it's just short enough to be forgetful in the "I'm glad that's over" way. "Hair of the Dog"'s opening is similar to "Daytime Dilemma" from the last album, and Joey sounds bored while singing which pains me because it makes the song banal (in a Ramones-esque way) and a little oomph on his part could have made it fun. (Yes, it's another song that could probably be better live.)

With all said and done, I count 2 good tracks, 3 tolerable ones, and 7 stinkers. My praises go to Joey, as he makes some of the worst songs sound tolerable, but even he couldn't save this album's production problems. The synthesizer kills songs like "Crummy Stuff" and the ape noises on "Apeman Hop" are tripe, and some of the production choices make bad songs like "She Belongs Me" brutal to listen through. Animal Boy is one of the Ramones's worst albums, but the good tracks on this album should be on any Ramones fan's collection. Give those songs a shot.

NEXT: Halfway to Sanity
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NOTE
When I write that some tracks may sound better live, they probably would. Live tracks prior to Loco Live are generally faster, energetic, and it's usually the four dudes playing their instruments. (Unless there's a complex solo or riff other than the riff on "California Sun") The crappy bells and whistles are gone, leaving the boys alone to rip through tracks as best as they can.

Pleasant Dreams

Before I formally begin, here's a small paragraph on the album cover...

If you ever go to a record shop or search for Pleasant Dreams in any online store, you'll probably notice that
this album has one of the band's worst cover art pieces. It with a bizarre painting of a man hidden by a light, forming a silhouette with a trench coat and hat (Is it a noir detective? Maybe it's the Boogieman.). The Expanded Edition of the album has the original cover art on the back of the album's booklet; a black and white photo of the boys together with a dream-like appearance due to the smoke surrounding them. It was a creepier cover art that wouldn't have fit the music on the album, but it was ten times better than the horrendous art they stayed with.

So...



The era of Pop-Ramones began with End of the Century, the collaboration between Phil Spector and the Ramones, and ended with Subterranean Jungle, the closest the band ever got to giving up their original style. In between those albums was Pleasant Dreams, an album that has a poppier sound than End of the Century's attempted retro sound, but the sound is closer to the boys in spirit than Subterranean Jungle's misguided hard rock. I won't disregard this album as nothing more than the K.K.K. song album, as there are few tracks that are worth a listen.

I won't discuss the musicianship on this album in much detail as a Pop-Ramones album usually raises my bullshit meter with the intricate guitar and bass playing. Did John and Dee Dee really play those riffs and solos? Probably not. There are some extra bells and whistles that come out in the poppier tracks, like the alarm in "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)" and the weird sounding guitars on "We Want the Airwaves". Listening to these albums back to back makes me miss the band's original sound, but this album has "The K.K.K. Took My Baby Away", a song that sounds akin to the earlier material (in simple terms - they can actually play this song without help.) Joey gets double tracked in a bonus song, and Marky bangs the drums like he should, so yeah...This album has a cleaner sound than albums before it, but the boys have tightened up their production since Rocket to Russia, so it isn't much of a factor. One thing I do have to point out: Dee Dee should have been put aside for "All Quiet on the Eastern Front". The song is not the band's best, and Dee Dee's vocals make it worse to listen to.

Songwriting-wise, this album is a mixed bag (Pure 50/50 for me. I can listen to about half of this album and discard the rest.). I love the opener "We Want the Airwaves", a song about their lack of airplay on radios (and TV by this point). "The K.K.K. Took My Baby Away", whose title is basically the song's whole premise, is one of my favorite Ramones songs overall and it's the highest point on this album.

"7-11" is an unheralded track as it works more as a pastiche of 60's death rock ballads, complete with a talking bridge a la the Shangri-Las' "Leader of the Pack". (It's a brilliant homage with great lyrics..."Oncoming car went out of control. It crushed my baby and it crushed my soul" This song is Joey's finest on the album.) There's a few stinkers in here. I've discussed "All Quiet on the Eastern Front", but "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)" is close to vile. The lyrics are nothing but endless name drops (Stephen King, Spector, Clint Eastwood...really) with crappy music backing it. If you ave free time to search for stuff online, this song also has a music video which makes it about 10 times worse. "You Sound Like Your Sick", "Come On Now", "Sitting in My Room", they all go under the category of bad filler. Every song on this album has its hooks, but the way they are presented make all the difference - and the songs I named are skippable. You can live without ever hearing those tracks (and most of the stuff on Subterranean Jungle...)

Pleasant Dreams is better than Subterranean Jungle, and it's as equally retro as End of the Century. Unlike Subterranean Jungle, there is a legitimate classic on this album, "The K.K.K. Took My Baby Away", and a minor goody, "We Want the Airwaves", plus the deep cut "7-11". There is some major filler on this album, but most of the songs are tolerable and a few caught my attention. It's fun album, and while it won't easily compare to band's finest moments, it's not an album that deserves most of its negativity.

-----------------

Having looked back at Pleasant Dreams, I am done with the Early Ramones and the Pop Ramones era. After this, the Ramones become darker and edgier (in Ramones terms - it gets personal) with the Tough-Ramones era, symbolized by the drumming sounds of Richie Ramone and Dee Dee's lyrical takeover. I already looked back at Too Tough to Die, therefore our next album will be Animal Boy.

Road to Ruin

Road to Ruin is the "I Wanna be Sedated" album, complete with several songs to keep your mind at bay while waiting for "I Wanna Be Sedated" to play...


Road to Ruin is actually one of the Ramones' best albums and a successful experiment towards a poppier sound.This is the 4th Ramones studio album, with Marky making his drumming debut and the team of Tommy Ramone and Ed Stasium take the helm as producers.The album is slower than the prior three albums, but it does not make the boys sound any less stronger than they were before. In fact, I would say that some songs benefit from the decreased speed as it helps them add moods.

There are great songs on this album - I find the opener, "I Just Wanna Have Something to Do" to be one of the boy's finest songwriting  and musical moments. The song gives a cool, desperate vibe despite it being a slower than the usual Ramones song. The cover of "Needles and Pins" is something that could have worked in End of the Century, but I found it a bit of out place  if it wasn't for the mental theme that permeates this album. Joey is great on those types of songs and it's still a good cover, but I can't say that it feels like a Ramones song. "Questioningly" troubles me because it's another good song, but the sound is more of a Joey thing and I think there's even an acoustic guitar and solo in there (even though Dee Dee wrote this song...). "Bad Brain" is a bit lazy, but it's short so no long-term damage is done. "She's the One" is my personal favorite as it's a short, sweet love song but done in the classic Ramones speed and it's over before you know it. Finally, "I Wanna Be Sedated" is the classic Ramones track (and the only Ramones song other than "Blitzkrieg Bop" that's in rotation on the radio stations in my area.) about Joey's boredom and willingness to be knocked out of consciousness. The song still packs the punch without a bit of staleness and age.

If you listen to the Ramones chronologically, this album is clearly the beginning of the inevitable change towards the Pop-Ramones. The boys still had a good grasp with their situation as the songwriting has all the crispness as before, but there are parts where a few bells and whistles are added and I strongly think there's a few solos in here (or maybe they're extended leads...Johnny probably didn't do those). The problem that this album has is that it is always bundled with the first three as the best albums the boys would ever make, but the sound is different enough to push towards the Pop era, thereby forcing its position in a type of limbo between the Early Ramones and Pop-Ramones. Outside of "I Wanna Be Sedated", "I Just Want to Have Something to Do" survived on live shows, and "It's a Long Way Back" is more of a fan-classic than a huge song. The album is good enough without having to bundle it with the first three or just mentioning it because of "I Wanna Be Sedated".

UP NEXT: We return to the Pop-Ramones era with Pleasant Dreams...

TOO TOUGH TO DIE!!

Subterranean Jungle was the band at a low point. They sacrificed their earlier sound for a chance to reach the pop charts, only to find themselves in a worse position than the one they left. Going back to their loud, fast style was not an easy option, as their sound was now commonplace amongst the hardcore punks and heavy metal bands. The Ramones chose an alternate, yet necessary route: All our classic stuff but louder, faster, and put in whatever works with it!

Too Tough to Die does not necessarily mark of the return of the earlier Ramones sound but it does bring them back to what is considered to be their meat and potatoes. They play fast, loud, and some songs are actually short on this record. The solos and leads do return, and there's a 3 song stretch on the album with each song passing the 4 minute range, but it's well-executed. With Tommy Ramone and Ed Stasium back in production, the boys managed to combine their classic sound with the lessons learned from the Pop-Ramones era and Too Tough to Die is the best of both worlds.

Sound-wise, this album represents the band at its strongest. Joey voice sounds appropriately darker on this album as it has in fact matured nicely since the early days, and he could still pull of the sweetness when called for. Johnny, as usual, fiercely rips every chord and there are in fact pieces where I think he plays the lead (maybe "Mama's Boy", for one). Of course he doesn't do all the lead work because there's always someone helping him out (Walter Lure makes his return in some tracks, because I bet Johnny didn't play some of those parts in "Chasing the Night"), but it's nice to know that the guitar sound does not come off as strange or as forced as in Subterranean Jungle. Aside from his guitar work, Johnny's major contribution to the album is the only instrumental the band ever made, "Durango 95". It's a short piece piece, but it doesn't overstay its welcome and it would later be the opener for their concerts. As for Dee Dee, I never enjoyed the idea of him singing an entire song as his voice is borderline monotonous, but his singing is adequate for his "hardcore" songs. Finally, Richie Ramone makes his debut replacing Marky and he does not disappoint. He's a faster, metalesque drummer, and I think you can hear in this album the influence he brings in terms of the band's future speed runs. The only negatives I can think of are the synthesizers and KEYBOARDS on "Howling at the Moon", as I find that they make that song a bit dated and whatever that beeping noise on "Chasing the Night"'s chorus comes from is annoying. Finally, there's a piano riff on "Planet Earth 1988", which really sounds non-Ramones, but this album is really one bizarrely effective work the more I think about it.

(The boys have some great atmosphere on the tracks. The darkness of "Mama's Boy" and the tired feelings evoked on "I'm Not Afraid of Alive" really stand out.)

The songwriting on this album is stronger than previous efforts, but the lyrics have become stranger than even the song "Highest Trails Above". Dee Dee's material has the weirdest moments as he had become a bit political and aware of the world outside of the military/communism, but the stuff just go off the wall. (Some of my favorites include "Guerilla armies rule the street, no more Christmas or trick or treat." and "I see an old lady with a shopping bag, and I wonder if life's a drag."on "I'm Not Afraid of Life") "Mama's Boy" and the title track are great tracks, but what the hell was Dee Dee writing about? The first two verses on "Mama's Boy" are about an outcast and/or snitch, but then the song shifts about not wanting to work in different jobs in an abstract world. I think the lyrics on the title track were just written to get to the chorus because they too jump to different subjects without much coherence. His "hardcore" tracks are wacky, but I've read somewhere that "Warthog" was supposed to be about a rehab meeting he went to, so that makes some sense (still sucks). "Planet Earth 1988" and "Howling at the Moon" are Dee Dee's most focused works as he stays on subject and they're great because of it. I wouldn't make a big deal out of Dee Dee's work if it wasn't for the fact that it's so dominant on this album. 

Joey has fewer contributions than usual on this album, but his pieces are also entertaining. Always the romantic, Joey wrote "Chasing the Night" and "Daytime Dilemma". "Chasing the Night"  is similar to "In the Park" as it's topic is hanging out, but the song has an annoying chorus which I blame the instrumental side of things and not lyrics themselves. "Daytime Dilemma" is about some girl who fell in love and her life got unruly. It has a pretty catchy chorus and bridge, but I feel Joey was stressing his vocals a bit. Joey also wrote "No Go", the final track on the album and a fun little ditty to end the album.

(I didn't forget the Richie-penned track "Humankind", but it's lyrics are equally as bizarre as the stuff Dee Dee wrote and not as effective. If I remember correctly, he also wrote "Smash You", which is on the extras on the remaster and that is better.)

This album really is wacky, full of nonsense and pure stream of consciousness in a few areas - but it still rocks. A major, major upgrade from the wretched Subterranean Jungle by leaps and bounds, and one of the Ramones's finest moments. There may be keyboards and synthesizers, the lyrics may have expanded beyond the minimalism and humor of Ramones, and some songs are longer than the usual. Where else can you get love songs, hardcore tracks, politically aware lyrics, and an instrumental in one non-career retrospective album? All those pieces add up to a surprisingly tight album that's worthy of a listen. Plus, the Expanded Edition has a ton of added bonus that makes the album a must-buy!

NEXT: We're back to our chronological studies with IT'S ALIVE/NYC 1978!

Subterranean Jungle...

I can honestly say that Subterranean Jungle bothers me more than any Ramones album prior and after it.

I know that as a fan of any band or musician, there may be times when the artist attempts a new sound or a complete reinvention, and it may have crushing consequences to certain members of the fan base. For example, I enjoy Motorhead's Another Perfect Day despite the melodic guitar playing that would never make another appearance after that album. On the other hand, I can't stand the sound of Bob Dylan's Empire Burlesque at all. For the Ramones, I can count a few albums where I questioned the sanity of the band when I listened to one of their notoriously uneven albums, and this album is the one where I skipped the questioning and automatically assume that they lost their mind.

Subterranean Jungle is the third and final Ramones album from the Pop-Ramones era, a time when the band dreamed of reaching the top of pop charts, only to be marred by rotating album producers, inner bickering and substance abuse. This album is culmination of the band's failed experiment, an effort that can only be considered as Pleasant Dreams pt.2 - It Gets Worse.

As a testament to the "strength" of this album, Subterranean Jungle is the first and only album to open with no original songs from the band. The reason for no Ramones track as the album's opening probably has to do with the lack of strong tracks on this album. I never fail to mention the importance songwriting was to this group as it was their best and memorable skill, but the lyrics on this album range from strange ("Highest Trails Above") to mundane ("My-My-Kind of Girl"). While songs such as "In The Park" and "Psycho Therapy" provide a few moments of enjoyment, they are not representative of the strength of their earlier songwriting. The hooks are few and far between, and flashes of their earlier humor are now absent and filled with a sense of forced work. This is not the album that marked them as mediocre or anything, but when "Everytime I Eat Vegetables It Makes Me Think of You" is the closest song to classics such as "We're a Happy Family", it represents a low point that was evident in Pleasant Dreams and a sign of bad things to come in future albums.

As I wrote above, this album was the first to open with no original songs, as two covers were chosen for the start. There are three covers on this album, the most covers on any album (minus the cover-based Acid Eaters) and certainly the biggest departure genre-wise for a group whose earlier covers were mainly surf-rock based. The problem I have with the covers is that they give the album a horribly dated feel. A few tracks from Pleasant Dreams had that feel, but the covers really sound as they came from 1983. As I mentioned in my End of the Century article, the feel on that album was sweet and nostalgic, as evident on that album's opening track. The opening tracks on this album give the impression of a band trying to get the attention of the general audience with a few bells and whistles that they might have been familiar with. No chord-ripping, fast playing minimalism to be found. These songs are played straight and are as slow and boring today as they probably were in 1989, 1997, and 2004 (Note: random dates). Nothing comes of as greatly offensive as" Time Has Come Today", a four minute, 25 seconds long song with the worst singing Joey Ramone had ever done at that time. At this point, not even Pleasant Dreams had this level of long and awful.

The musicianship on this album is okay when it has to be (a la the covers), but it's just there for its own sake. Sadly, there's not much effort put into this musically from the boys themselves. Joey sings his pieces as best as he can. Whoever thought Dee Dee could sing a whole song by himself should be beaten, as "Time Bomb" blows chunks. There's no memorable playing here except for the LEAD GUITAR PLAYING ON MOST SONGS. The greatest departure from the Ramone sound is the added lead guitar, which is fine on the songs, but this is the band that had been known as being a band with no solos, leads, and above all else, NO NONSENSE, STRAIGHT TO THE POINT PLAYING. There will be more solos and lead playing in future albums, but it hits it's low point here and it's blatantly unnecessary  for the most part. As for the drumming, Marky was released from the band and replaced for this session with someone else, so there isn't anything else noteworthy to speak of. One more thing: "Somebody Like Me" is the laziest attempt at recycling a melody, as the opening is just "Blitzkrieg Bop" without any changes. No, not even the lead guitar will fool anyone into believing this song is anything but the worst rehash before "Eat The Rat" and "Learn to Listen" came into existence.

Final Words

There's a few things I learned from listening to recorded Ramones concerts (post-Jungle) that apply to Subterranean Jungle. Out of all the songs on this album, the only one that survived the years of frequent concert playing is "Psycho Therapy", the song considered a Ramones classic by fan majority. It was also a song that didn't require Johnny Ramone to play any lead guitar, something that he rarely did live except for the parts in "California Sun" that he preformed regularly. Subterranean Jungle is an album with many songs that require more than just Johnny at the guitar, as ex-Heartbreaker Walter Lure was called in to perform lead guitar with the boys for a couple of songs. Walter Lure nor any extra guitar player performed live on-stage with the band except for the guests in We're Outta Here, their final concert. Future songs that required lead playing would result in Johnny deconstructing them to their very essence, or someone else may have played the parts backstage. In the end, there were no other songs from Subterranean Jungle that would be played live after 1985. ("Highest Trails Above" was the only other song that stayed on their set-list up to '85).

UP NEXT: TOO TOUGH TO DIE!

It's the End of the Century! " Do the Ramones Sell Out?"

Due to my bad habit of refusing a good offer even if it messes up my chronological look back at the Ramones, I skipped It's Alive and Road to Ruin and headed straight to End of the Century! Three Ramones CDs for less than $20 was too good to let go, but I will return soon to the skipped albums (all in due time!).

End of the Century is the anomaly in the Ramones catalog, as it's a huge departure from the Ramones's previous albums nor does it fully compare to the next albums after it. The album is the combination of the boy's blazing style with Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound", creating the only legit Ramones pop album. (The group always had pop sensibilities and influences but they always played it on their terms. This album is definitely not on their terms.)

Comparing it to the rest of the Ramones catalog, this album is sweeter than anything before it. From the nostalgic "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio", to the saccharine "Baby, I Love You", Phil's "Wall of Sound" makes this mostly chord ripping, balls to wall group sound like cute professional pop stars aiming for your sweet jugular.  That is not to say that there's no Ramones-style tracks, as "Chinese Rocks" makes its band debut on this album, but it sticks out like a sore thumb compared to "I Can't Make it On Time" or "Danny Says". "Rock 'n' Roll High School" gets a "Wall of Sound" redux as Spector makes his own version, but it's really unnecessary with the version found on the soundtrack to the movie with the same name.

If there's any one member of the group that benefited from Spector's production, it's Joey. The man sings his heart out in every track with the highlight being "Baby, I Love You",  a cover of the Ronettes's hit song. His vocals are so dominant on EotC that he carries most of the weight on this album. The rest of the band is still there, but they're just the session musicians compared to the star. Joey's dominance wouldn't continue as his stinging style would be altered in later years and his contributions would lessen, therefore this is definitely Joey at his peak.

As all Ramones albums before it, it's the songwriting that carries each one and this one is mixed. The boys know how to lay each catchy hook down as usual, but there is a slight drop on this album due to rehashing older songs from Ramones and just pure laziness. "The Return of Jakie and Judy" is the sequel to the song "Judy is A Punk", and yes it does sound very similar to the original, except Spector added his touch to it. "This Ain't Havana" brings back "Havana Affair" with a few differences, but the "Havana-Banana" rhyme returns and it's just a drag. As I mentioned earlier, this album is mostly filled with love songs, so the usual Ramones topics barely show up and it's a shame because it would have been interesting to hear Spectorized songs with lyrics similar to "Beat on the Brat" or "Teenage Lobotomy". Now that I think of it, the writing is not the best part of this album. Where did the dark humor go? (Yes, this album starts the inevitable death of the band's dark humor...)

This album has longer songs than albums before it, and yes, there are tracks with strings and horns coming out of your speakers. It really is the Joey and Phil show, and it's a musically fun turnout despite the multiple levels of non-Ramones quality in it. The boys would never do experiment like this with an okay outcome again as this does mark the the beginning of a strange, stagnant era of Ramones history - Pop-Ramones.

One last note: This album shouldn't be considered a first purchase for anyone not familiar with the Ramones, as it does not represent a typical album and style at all.

Next: Pop-Ramones continue their radio playing in the Subterranean Jungle!

Rocket to Russia

Rocket to Russia was the last Ramones CD that I bought chronologically, as I later bought a 3 CD Ramones bundle that included End of the Century, Subterranean Jungle, and Too Tough to Die.

I've often come upon articles or interviews where Rocket to Russia is considered the top Ramones album (aside from the historical importance of Ramones). It's either something about the boys reaching their peak songwriting skills or the amount of near pop-masterpieces they put in this album alone, but it always boils down to Rocket to Russia or Ramones. (For historical purposes, even Johnny loved Rocket to Russia)

Coming in with the advantage of history and technology, I cannot agree with such opinions. The band continued to do what they did best - guns blazing fast, catchy pop. Everything about this album is the same as the previous two. Rocket to Russia does not break any new ground and I honestly believe that choosing one album over another depends on plain personal preference on an album's tracks.

The Usual:
1. Everything is still fast, loud, and less than 3 minutes a track.
2. All of the Ramones' established songwriting topics are repeated. (One topic I missed to write about earlier and remembered with Rocket to Russia is the "Location" song, when a song is based on a real location. It first started with "53rd & 3rd" and continued with "Rockaway Beach".)
3. The album is short.

The main difference with Rocket to Russia and the previous albums lies with the songs themselves. As stated above, the boys are still at the top of their game, but I personally didn't enjoy half of the songs on this album and the songs I didn't enjoy are mostly those that the band would continue to play live until their retirement. I felt "Cretin Hop" was not an enjoyable opening track, especially compared to the previous album openers ("Blitzkrieg Bop" and "Glad To See You Go"). Fan-favorites "Rockaway Beach" and "Sheena is A Punk Rocker" are skippable, especially "Sheena" as I find it to be rather bland lyrically and musically. (I do find both songs enjoyable on the live albums.) I'll finish this paragraph with: "Ramona" is the clearly the worst Ramones song from the first few albums. It's the best vomit-inducing cheese that the boys would write, and an example of how the boys could still write a catchy chorus at their worst.

As for the highlights, this album has a couple of good ones. "I Don't Care" has a good riff, and it's short length helps it from becoming stale. "We're a Happy Family" has the best lyrics on the album, combining their family problems and dark humor to create a memorable tune. "Teenage Lobotomy" continues the psychological songs and can stand up with the best of them. Finally, "Surfin' Bird" is a great cover, as good as their "California Sun" and Joey brings his A-game with the "ooh-mow-mow-papa-ooh-mow-mow!"

Rocket to Russia is not on my top 5 Ramones albums, but half of the songs on this album are great Ramones songs that are worthy of a repeat listen. This album does mark an end of a chapter of Ramones history, as it is the last album with Tommy, and the boys would begin to experiment with their style on the next album, Road to Ruin.


Up Next: Jumping around in time, we skip two albums and three years of history and head to the End of the Century!

Leave Home...

After Ramones, I bought Leave Home, their second album and one that has been upgraded as a result of the Expanded Edition. According to the liner notes and all sorts of places, the song "Carbona Not Glue" caused a bit of a trademark issue that resulted in seeing the song removed and replaced with "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" in certain markets. The Expanded Edition has the album as it was originally intended with "Carbona not Glue" reinstated.

Leave Home is a not a completely different album than Ramones, as the material is short, fast and to the point. In fact, it is slightly slower and longer than Ramones with 15 tracks played in 34 minutes compared to the prior album's 14 tracks at 29.2 minutes. While the songs are longer on average, the album is over as fast as Ramones. Most of the song topics are the same, and it really feels like like Ramones, Part 2 as even the saddest or most horrifying topic is engaged with the same joyously dark delight.

So, what's the difference? First, the production has changed to what will be the Ramones's distinct album sound from now until Road to Ruin - all instruments playing at once with no separation between the guitar and bass with an increase in loudness. I enjoyed the previous album's channel separation, but the sound on this album is much improved as everything sounds fiercer and faster. However, I think that Dee Dee's playing is lost in this increase in sound, as Johnny's guitar playing and Tommy's drum banging are now important to the overall sound-scape. The bass is still there, but you have to pay more attention to find it.

As stated earlier, the album songs are based on the same formula as before and repeated in future albums (a Joey love song or two, a drug song, an early rock and roll/pop cover, horror/murder, child/parental abuse - not necessarily in that order), but this album introduces us to probably their favorite genre (ties with horror) - mental illness. "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment", "Suzy is a Headbanger", and "Pinhead", all well written and just as memorable as any song on this album, are strange to me in that not only is the band embracing mental illness, but they perform their songs with a warm, non-ironic tone. I often find a web page or documentary discussing some of the band members dealings with mental illnesses, and its amazing to see a band write upbeat songs about that topic despite the problems they dealt with.

The songwriting in general is just as good as Ramones, but they did increase some of the comedy (dark humor) in songs like "Commando" where soldiers are ordered to love their mommies, eats kosher salami, and never talk to commies, and all while following the laws of (Nazi?) Germany.  "Your Gonna Get That Girl" which deals with a killer catching his prey to "get the glory like Charles Manson". "Swallow My Pride" is my personal favorite in terms of lyrics, as the song is surprisingly philosophical compared most of their songs, and it's done in a humorous Ramones fashion as the band eventually comes to the realization that it's better to "have a real cool time" than to be grim.

Their style is still as effective as ever, but the cover of "California Sun" is the standout of the album as it clearly shows the band (ie. Johnny) being able to play a song with a note playing riff. Unlike Ramones's inclusion of "Just Dance", "California Sun actually sounds different from the original as it is played and sounds like a regular Ramones song. Just to be clear, the original "California Sun" included an organ in the background, akin to "Let's Dance". Unlike "Let's Dance", the band did not choose to make a note by note cover and instead played it without the organ and went with the fast, to-the-point style that they're famous for.

Overall, this was the album that justified my positive feelings for the band. Leave Home is not only an improvement in sound, but an even bigger improvement in songwriting and musicianship. A worthy purchase today as it probably was so many years ago, and read the addendum for information on the excellent re-release!
 
Next: Rocket to Russia, and a giant leap in time!

The First Ramones Album

As I mentioned on my introductory post, Ramones is the first album I bought from the Ramones, and it is also the first album they made.

I bought it in early January 2008, almost 32 years since it was released, with high expectations. This was as big to me as listening to Abbey Road or Blonde on Blonde, as this album is considered a landmark in rock n' roll and the band's magnum opus. Reading album reviews didn't help lower my expectations, as reviewers often repeated the same information about its length, style (Three Chords and the Truth), and historical importance. Even at the time of this post, there is so much information on this album alone that it gives the impression that the Ramones could never do any better.

The Ramones did release 13 studio albums after this one, so I will save my opinion on what I consider their best until I finally reach the end of looking back at their albums.

Ramones is a great album, one that has enough ear worms and idiosyncrasies to leave you mesmerized after listening.

For one, the production on this album is different from any of their albums in that:
 1. Johnny and Dee Dee are playing in different channels (I think that's the correct terminology), with only Joey and Tommy coming in from both sides. It reminds me of  Beatles albums where you can actually listen to any instrument you want if you know what speaker it's coming from. This even works well in my headphones, where I can block Johnny's playing for one song or ignore Dee Dee's bass playing in the next.


2. The sound in general comes off as Spartan, with almost no special bells and whistles. There is only the singer, a distorted guitar, bass, and drums at all times and all of them sound a bit low. Every album after this sounds louder and obviously cleaned up, but Ramones has the distinction of sounding as if the four guys were the only ones in the studio.

As for the songs, every song on the album is catchy and brief, with a frequently repeated verse and chorus with all instruments continuously playing until the next song. The band wastes no time with solos or long instrument breaks (except in I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement", which happens to be the album's longest song at 2:40 and "Let's Dance", a cover song.) The topics are funny and still fresh, with songs like "Chain Saw" and "Beat on the Brat" alluding to horror films and childhood violence respectively. They even have saccharine love songs such as "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" that boggle my mind in their juxtaposition with the Nazi imagery of "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World! The songwriting is surprisingly impressive for a debut; it's the album's best facet and the reason I enjoyed it the most.

(One misconception that I got from reviews is that the band only played the same three chords per song, but that's not true. Just take a good listen to "Let's Dance" or "53rd & 3rd".)

If there is one thing that bothered me about this album, then it is the speed in which the songs are played.  I thought everything was good when I first heard the album, but the further I listened to their catalog, the more it seems as if their playing is constrained in Ramones. "Blitzkrieg Bop" sounds fiercer and faster in live albums, but the album's cut sounds slower. It could be that this was the speed in which they first performed, and future albums were faster due to the gained ease of playing through the years.

Overall, this album fulfilled my expectations. It's a fun, happy thirty minutes (45 if you have the expanded release), filled with some of the most so-simple-it's-genius writing and playing that is still as good today as it was 34 years ago. The band would eventually tighten their playing and studio experience, but this is still a great debut and a fine album to buy.

Next : Leave Home, Rocket to Russia, and a jump in time!