Ramones - End of the Century
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Free Music Notes for End of the Century
Free Music Review: bad production can't ruin good songs
Hit: 4 Stars
Controversial.. blah blah..
You already know the story.
Phil Spector's production on this album is awful. The sound is muddy, the group's instruments are buried under layer after layer of god knows what, and if there's one band that has no need for friggin echo, it's the Ramones. All that said, there are some great songs here. It's the same 50s and 60s influenced Ramones of earlier albums. It's just unfortunately muted a bit by the production.
My favorite song on the album is Danny Says. It's a really nice Velvet Underground homage (who themselves often paid tribute to the same type of music that the Ramones obviously loved). Danny Says is also the only song on the album which doesn't seem to suffer from Spector's overproduction. In fact, Spector may well have been the best producer the song could have possibly had.
If you're a fan of the Ramones, you'll probably like the album. Whether you love it or not will probably depend on WHY you like the band.
Free Music Review: an underrated classic
Hit: 4 Stars
I think the critical paradigm is to trash End of the Century and the band themselves haven't been particularly kind to it. In interviews they often recal its tumultuous creation and clashing with producer Phil Specter, who held the group at gun point during one of the recording sessions. Oh well, despite what Dee Dee says about how his worst songs went on the album, I disagree. It's NOT a hardcore punk rock album straight to finish. If you want punk to head bang to go to the first three Ramones albums. Instead the album mixes a few aggressive punk tunes with very catchy power pop, some surprisingly original playing - Dee Dee's bass melody in "I'm Affected" for instance - and one lousy cover version. But 11 out of 12 ain't bad! The production is a little muffled and Marky's drum sound is a little, I don't know, flat I guess. The original recording of "Rock 'n' Roll High School" is better than the one on the album and I can nit pick a few other things. But why? As a whole this album is really good!Free Music Review: Sadly Underrated
Hit: 4 Stars
For quite some time, End of the Century stayed in my CD rack. My first listen detected a thick production wall that I felt took away from the Ramones sound. However, upon having the album re-released, I took a second crack at it. Underneath Phil Spector's wall-of-sound, you have a great bunch of songs. "Let's Go" and "This Ain't Havana" could easily fit on one of the first four records, "Danny Says" is the best ballad ever written by Joey Ramone, and than there's "...Rock 'N' Roll Radio" and "Chinese Rock"... pure Ramones Magic. A few throwaways, of course... this version of "Rock 'N' Roll High School" pales in comparison to the Ed Stasium version and the "Return of Jackie & Judy" is a pointless continuation of an otherwise amazing song. The demo of "Danny Says" is also worth the price of admission... more of a punk rock ballad than the acoustic masterpiece that was released.Free Music Review: Pop meets punk
Hit: 4 Stars
This album seems to combine what the Ramones do best; mix pop music with hard hitting rock and roll. The album starts out with Rock and roll radio, probably my favorite song on the album followed by Rock and Roll high school, Danny says and other good songs. The lyrics on the album are kind of goofy at times(There's a line in Danny says about not being able to surf In Idaho because it's twenty below. Hmm? I'd say the more serious obstacle to surfing in Idaho would be the lack of something called an ocean.) but sweet all the same, just like pop should be. Although it doesn't have the hard hitting crunch of early Ramones End of the Century is still an essential album.Free Music Review: Middle-Age Crisis?
Hit: 4 Stars
After four albums of slash-and-burn buzzsaw pyrotechics, all layered with pure pop sensibility, 1980's "End Of The Century" saw da bruddahs Ramone' Wall Of Noise battle producer Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound to a virtual draw, and Joey's aspirations for pop success finish in a dead heat with Johnny's staunch punk populism. Although Spector's production is a muddy sounding hit-and-miss affair when applied to Marshalls and black leather, with individual instruments indistinguishable on some tracks, the band's signature air wreck sound shines through on stormers like "I'm Affected," "I Can't Make It On Time," and "This Ain't Havana."