Ramones - Ramones (Dlx)
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Artist: RamonesBrand: RAMONES
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2001-06-19
Music Label: Rhino
Soundtracks:
- Blitzkrieg Bop
- Beat On The Brat
- Judy Is A Punk
- I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
- Chain Saw
- Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
- I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement
- Loudmouth
- Havana Affair
- Listen To My Heart
- 53rd & 3rd
- Let's Dance
- I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You
- Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World
- I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (Demo)
- Judy Is A Punk (Demo)
- I Don't Care (Demo)
- I Can't Be (Demo)
- Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (Demo)
- I Don't Wanna Be Learned/I Don't Wanna Be Tamed (Demo)
- You Should Never Have Opened That Door (Demo)
- Blitzkrieg Bop (Single Version)
Free Music Notes for Ramones (Dlx)
Free Music Review: The Blueprint
Hit: 5 Stars
Some artists enter the recording studio for their first album in a sort of embryonic state; the subsequent debut disc usually bears little resemblance to the band they will later become. (I'm thinking of the likes of the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, even U2.)Then there are those bands that seem to have been born fully developed; the acts for which virtually every sound or type of song that they would ever produce was present on the first album. The Ramones are a textbook example of this phenomenon. Though they would change producers a whole bunch and would occasionally turn down the amps and add some backing keyboards, strings, vocals, etc. they would never really venture far from the blueprint of the three chord blasts of overdriven noise pop that made up their self-titled first album.
At a distance of more than thirty years from this release, it's hard to remember how utterly revolutionary this sounded back in 1976. Up to then, if you were using a distorted guitar in your rock, you were a Hard Rock/Heavy Metal act, or possibly an offshoot of this like Glam or Southern Rock, period. There was no "Punk Rock". You played plodding stuff at generally slow tempos. Fretboard prowess and extended lead guitar histrionics was a must; no self-respecting Rock act just slammed out power chords with no solos. Five to seven minute songs was the norm; two minutes was barely enough time to get through the first verse.
The Ramones came up with something no one had thought of -- a 60's AM radio sensibility (tuneful melodies, songs lasting less than three minutes, fast tempos) applied to simple songs about teenage, New York or just "I Wanna/I Don't Wanna" topics thrashed out over the din of the hard-edged wall of cranked Marshall amps (featuring Johnny Ramone's all-downstroke, barre-chorded Mosrite guitar in one channel and Dee Dee Ramone's "root of the chord only" bass work in the other.) Though their approach was influenced by the likes of the Stooges, New York Dolls and even the Beach Boys, the Ramones created a strikingly original hybrid of sound and presentation. And they stuck with it. Even their earliest demos sound pretty much the same as the album...any of their albums.
The wall of sound created by these four Forest Hills, Queens natives was like white noise from some distant galaxy to most ears in that Bicentennial year. It didn't seem to have originated on the same planet as "Frampton Comes Alive" or "Rumours", two of the biggest selling albums that were released within a year of this subversive little disc, which can be seen as the first shot in the battle against bloated corporate rock of the mid-70's. By the way, this album also predates every British punk album---the earliest, by the Damned, was released about 10 months after this. Given the Ramones live appearances in London in the summer of 1976, there is little doubt that the "brothers" from Queeens were a prime influence on British Punk.
This album still sounds fresh and exiting after nearly a third of a century. The entire Ramones album (14 songs in its initial incarnation--22 songs here with some bonus demos and mixes) takes almost a half an hour to hear but usually requires much longer to digest completely. The first spin usually results in a puzzled look on the listener's face and questions like, "What's with that accent?" "Are there really only two lines of lyrics in that whole song?" "Is it supposed to sound like this?" "Doesn't the word 'Basement' have two syllables?" "Is this a joke?"
Eventually though, most listeners get pulled in by the afore-mentioned wall of guitar sound driven by the propulsive beat provided by Tommy Ramone (it's amazing to focus on how gently he's actually hitting the drums to get those sounds--he is not a skin pounder of the Keith Moon/John Bonham school of rock drumming and stays away from elaborate fills or accents) and the Queens-by-way-of-a-phony-British-accent-sounding vocals of Joey, the tallest Ramone.
Most listeners start to "get it" by the second or third listen, and once you're hooked, you realize how crafty the Ramones are to have come up with something that seems so dumb at first but sounds so brilliant in hindsight. Though they are serious about their art, don't overlook their sense of humor here. The "brothers" Ramone weren't going to crack their deadpan scowls to let you know about it, but let's face it: lines like "Sent to spy on a Cuban talent show, first stop, Havana Go Go" or "Texas Chainsaw Massa CREE, they took my baby away from me" are just plain funny. Though occasionally touching on some disturbing subject matter such as male prostitution, Nazism or the misuse and abuse of power tools, model cement, sports equipment, girlfriends and children, the Ramones debut album is mostly just cartoon violence and fun, and is performed with a manic energy and wit that had been sorely missing from Rock music for many years prior to this release.
The Ramones consistency and stubborn resistance to evolution actually ended up working against them in the long run. What was startlingly new and different in the 70's eventually caused them to be viewed as a conservative anachronism by the mid-90's as other bands developed and refined what they started. Upstarts who were in diapers or elementary school when this record was first released went on to eclipse their idols in record sales and popularity while using virtually the same sonic blueprint as the Ramones by the 1990's.(I'm talking about you,Green Day, Offspring, Rancid, etc.)
The Ramones disc is an impressive debut and though they produced several more fine albums over the next 20 years (the best ones are the ones released in the next few years from this one), the first album is nearly as good as it gets in the Ramones catalog. It is recommended highly for those with a love of loud, fast Rock-N-Roll. It's the kind of historical document that is also a heap of fun to listen to repeatedly. And it's great to hear what it sounds like when a full grown adult band with a snotty adolescent brain springs forth from the womb and assaults the planet with its own peculiar and influential brand of Rock-n-Roll.
Ramones (Dlx) Poster
No Description AvailableNo Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: RAMONES
Title: RAMONES
Street Release Date: 06/19/2001
Genre: PUNK
The Ramones' April 1976 debut, recorded for little more than $6,000, long ago passed into legend. Its exalted status as the inspiration for thousands of punk bands worldwide, though, hasn't overshadowed its monolithic roar, the knowing hilarity of its lyrics ("Judy Is a Punk" crams the SLA, the Ice Capades, and a salute to Herman's Hermits into a 90-second frame), and the impulse to blast it for everyone within earshot: Hey, listen to this. Embracing and rewriting rock & roll history at once, Ramones speeded up heavy music, adding a pop patina to songs inspired by horror movies and glue sniffing, and claiming a great Chris Montez tune ("Let's Dance") from the supposedly fallow period that had fallen between Elvis and the Beatles. Absurdist, yeah (how could anything with Joey's super-affected Liverpool-via-Queens accent be otherwise?) and also smart: "Havana Affair" is the greatest song about the cold war this side of Dylan. This remastered edition complements the original LP with a slew of demos, including a Spectoresque "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," and the single version of "Blitzkrieg Bop," that, equally prophetically, puts Joey's vocal through a mixing trick that makes him sound like he's on the mic at a football game. --Rickey Wright
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