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!