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!
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