Ramones - Rocket to Russia (Dlx)
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Free Music Notes for Rocket to Russia (Dlx)
Free Music Review: Do you need the re-issue?
Hit: 5 Stars
You need the albulm, in some form or other. On this, the third of the first four classic Ramones albulms, every minute is relentless early guitar punk brilliance.But choosing between this Rhino re-issue and "All the Stuff (And More) Vol. 2" is going to be difficult for first-time buyers. The re-mastering available here highlights some craftsmanship in "Rockaway Beach", "Sheena...", and other tracks that careful listeners will appreciate. Older fans might be surprised to hear "Teenage Lobotomy" and "I Wanna Be Well" almost foreshadowing the uberproduced "End of the Century". Is this able remastering a worthy exchange for "All the Stuff... 2", which contains the entirety of "Road to Ruin" (the fourth albulm)?
The best of the 'bonus tracks' on this albulm, "Slug (Demo)", is also available on "All the Stuff... 2", which makes it even more difficult to recommend this release over the earlier two-albulm collection. The booklet, with its touching Arturo Vega salute to Joey Ramone, certainly cannot contribute that much to this release's value, although it's up to Rhino's excellent standard of producing breathless nostalgia-laden hymns to the artists they clearly love as much as we do.
In the end, I'm forced to say that "All the Stuff... 2" is the better buy for most. Truly dedicated fans will, however, want to pick up this albulm for the remastered quality and the four previously unreleased/unavailable tracks.
Free Music Review: Let's Dance with the Ramones
Hit: 5 Stars
The best thing I can say about this record is that it is so eminently danceable, beginning with "Cretin Hop." This album is chock full of good, fun, songs, that hailed from a time when punk was still tongue-in-cheek enough not to take itself seriously as some kind of "social movement." "Rockaway Beach" brings back memories of much of my childhood spent there. It's the ultimate surfer song spoof, not about California, but the filthy beaches along the outer borough of Queens, on the rotting boardwalks...stepping on pop tabs in the sand, and swimming in diluted sewage.
"I Don't Care" is Joey's hepcat to British Invasion rock as he affects a limey cockney whine. "We're a Happy Family" is reality radio a quarter century before the farce of "reality TV." Sort of a harbinger to the Bundys.
"Teenage Lobotomy" is also prescient, predicting almost word-for-word personages such as 'n'Sync and Backstreet Boys and their nubile, airheaded, fans.
However, the gem of this one is the bonus tracks "Needles and Pins" (a nice salute to the now late Sonny Bono, who wrote it, and who never knew what a great song he wrote until the Ramones put it down on wax) and the stripped down demo for "I Don't Care."
This is my second favorite, right behind "Road to Ruin," but about 10 of their albums can easily make that cut.
Joey and Dee Dee, your hard work and dedication to rock and having a good time have not been in vain.
Free Music Review: Their best studio recording
Hit: 5 Stars
The debut saved rock 'n' roll and is an all around more important album, but when it comes to the songwriting and consistency, this is their best studio offering. In an age of overblown arena rock and overpetentous prog rock, the Ramones kept things simple with their raw and primative style of pre-Beatles rock 'n' roll. Despite the fact that they were totally derrariative, they were completely original at the same time, making them something other than just an oldies band. They took the classic style of early Garage and Surf rock, and played it at a breakneck speed. There wasn't anything else out there quite like what the Bruthas had to offer. Dee Dee Ramone said "Our early songs came out of our real feelings of alienation, isolation, frustration, the feelings everybody feels between seventeen and seventy-five". Some may claim this is looking deeper into songs that really aren't too deep. I disagree. Everybody can relate to sitting around, eating hamburgers for lunch, hoping for better days, and wanting to go out an have a good time on a Friday night. Despite the simplicity of a Ramones song, they manage to speak to bored alienated teens. One of the best punk albums ever, there is so much more to the band than "Blitzerking Bop". Buy the first four studio albums and they amazing "It's Alive" live album (don't get a greatest hits you loser).Free Music Review: The Ramones keep on rockin'
Hit: 5 Stars
Their debut may be more historically significant, but this is still the better album. Rocket To Russia, the Ramones' third record, is one of the greatest punk records ever waxed, and a watershed moment in the tortured history of rock 'n' roll. Here, the group's signature mixture of Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, Black Sabbath, Iggy Pop, and Phil Spector is at its absolute zenith. These songs are pure gutter angst, burnt-out bursts of emotion that ring with hilarity and hatred, joy and spite, love and confusion, apathy and honesty. And you can dance to it! The end result is a package of pure, unfiltered goodness, full of meat 'n' cheese masterpieces like "Cretin Hop" and "Locket Love." "Rockaway Beach" and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" are metallic bubblegum-surf ravers, and "Teenage Lobotomy" is an irresistible, ferocious anthem. "I Don't Care" is quintessentially bemused teenage sneer, and the cover of "Do You Wanna Dance" is just plain fun. And then there's the rollicking cynicism of "We're A Happy Family," and the bounce of "I Wanna Be Well." So, a punk classic then...Free Music Review: Punk Pop Perfection
Hit: 5 Stars
"Ramones" (1976) and "Leave Home" (1977) were the birth of punk, but their third album "Rocket To Russia" signaled further growth. They incorporated more pop and melody into their fast and furious sound in an attempt to be accessible. It worked. "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" and "Rockaway Beach" were the closest they ever came to having hit singles.
The fact that it includes such famous tracks as "Cretin Hop", "We're A Happy Family", "Teenage Lobotomy", and "Ramona" only sweetens the pot. Well-chosen covers "Do You Wanna Dance?" and "Surfin' Bird" really seal the deal. Great bonus tracks? Yep, plenty of 'em. This CD is a must-have.
I love all 14 Ramones studio albums, but favor the first 7 (up to and including 1983's "Subterranean Jungle"). After that they took on a metal edge. Still great, but different. Hugely influential, always humorous, engaging as all-get-out - the Ramones are a band for the ages. Don't miss them!