Expanded Edition
A few of Pleasant Dreams's extras are of major historic interest as three songs on the extras are early editions of future tracks.
In the case of "Touring", you are almost listening to the same track that's available in Mondo Bizarro. It has the same drum opening and the vocals are about the same with only CJ adding his backup vocals on the later cut. The only difference is that the guitars are noticeable on the Mondo Bizarro cut, as they are loud! (Honestly, you can't hear them on the original.)
"I Can't Get You Out of My Mind" is brighter and professional in tone than the stripped down, dark sound of the track when it's re-done for "Brain Drain". Joey's double-tracked vocals the main interest here as it gives the impression of someone recalling a memory (It goes with the song.) Of course, Brain Drain omits that and it doesn't sound as good compared to this cut.
"I'm Not An Answer" also makes it's debut here, a track with a similar chord arrangement to "You Sound Like Your Sick", but with different lyrics and tougher in mood. This track sounds tough, but not as tough or quick like the Too Tough to Die bonus track edition with Dee Dee taking over the vocals(and Dee Dee does his hardcore voice, so it's quite a song).
"Sleeping Troubles" wouldn't be of any interest if it wasn't for the way that Joeys sings the verses as it is similar to the CJ-sung "Strength to Endure". The similarities end after that as this has a different riff and musical arrangement.
After that, the other tracks are not of much interest. I hate "Chop Suey" for its obvious cheesiness. It's the kind of song that tries hard to sound appealing, but fails to do so and lands on its face. "Kicks to Try" and "Stares In This Town" are milquetoast and almost add nothing to the extras other than being extra tracks.
Album Info
All time references are taken from my iTunes tracklist.
# of Tracks: 12 (original), 19 (Expanded)
Album Length : 34.9 minutes (original), 54.2 minutes (expanded)
Shortest Track: "All's Quiet on the Eastern Front" : 2:14
Longest Track: "7-11" - 3:36
No "Blitzkrieg Bop" on this album.
Note
This is the last CD that I review that has an Expanded Edition. CDs past Too Tough to Die are the same as the original LPs, therefore nothing changes between formats.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Road to Ruin Addendum
Expanded Edition
The big addition to this album are the "Rock 'n' Roll High School" soundtrack songs. Aside from the Ed Stasium cut of the title track, you also get "I Want You Around" (which I hate..), and the mini-concert that was performed in the movie. The mini-concert includes "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Teenage Lobotomy", "California Sun", "Pinhead", and "She's the One". I think this mini-concert is the only official live release of "She's the One", and the guys play the songs without much pause so you're getting a small taste of what a concert might of been like. You also get demos of "Come Back, She Cried A.K.A. I Walked Out", and "Yea, Yea", but those have been available on previous compilations.
Album Length
All time references are based on my iTunes tracklist.
# of Tracks: 12 (original), 17 (Expanded)
Album Length: 31.1 min (original), 52 min (Expanded)
Shortest Track: "I'm Against It" - 2:07
Longest Track: "Questioningly" - 3:22 (original)/ Mini-Concert - 11:00 (Expanded)
The mini-concert includes "Blitzkrieg Bop", but due to it being one whole track and not separated tracks, I can only guess that it starts around 0:15 and ends on 2:14-2:15, which makes it about two minutes in length, thus being the average run time for "Blitzkrieg Bop" in this era.
The big addition to this album are the "Rock 'n' Roll High School" soundtrack songs. Aside from the Ed Stasium cut of the title track, you also get "I Want You Around" (which I hate..), and the mini-concert that was performed in the movie. The mini-concert includes "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Teenage Lobotomy", "California Sun", "Pinhead", and "She's the One". I think this mini-concert is the only official live release of "She's the One", and the guys play the songs without much pause so you're getting a small taste of what a concert might of been like. You also get demos of "Come Back, She Cried A.K.A. I Walked Out", and "Yea, Yea", but those have been available on previous compilations.
Album Length
All time references are based on my iTunes tracklist.
# of Tracks: 12 (original), 17 (Expanded)
Album Length: 31.1 min (original), 52 min (Expanded)
Shortest Track: "I'm Against It" - 2:07
Longest Track: "Questioningly" - 3:22 (original)/ Mini-Concert - 11:00 (Expanded)
The mini-concert includes "Blitzkrieg Bop", but due to it being one whole track and not separated tracks, I can only guess that it starts around 0:15 and ends on 2:14-2:15, which makes it about two minutes in length, thus being the average run time for "Blitzkrieg Bop" in this era.
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...
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...
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