Ramones |
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Released: April 23, 1976 Peak: 111 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 0.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: punk |
Tracks:Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts.
Total Running Time: 29:04 The Players:
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Rating: 4.317 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings)
Quotable:The Ramones “defined punk music and gave rise to an entire music movement.” – Clarke Speicher, The ReviewAwards:(Click on award to learn more).
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The BeginningThe Ramones formed in 1974 in Queens, New York. The four members – singer Joey (Jeffrey Hyman), guitarist Johnny (John Cummings), bassist Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin), and drummer Tommy (Thomas Erdelyi) were not related, but all took the surname “Ramone,” inspired by Paul McCartney using the alias “Paul Ramon” when checking into hotels. They became part of the New York scene playing sets that didn’t even last twenty minutes at the clubs Max’s Kansas City and CBGB. They gained a cult following at the latter, “which is widely considered the club where punk and new wave were born.” CS The Ramones were signed to a record contract by Sire Records in 1975.Punk Rock’s Rosetta Stone“Prog rock, prepare to die.” BL “Very few albums are credited with starting a musical revolution, but this is definitely one of them.” CQ “Music historians long ago decided that Ramones is punk rock’s Rosetta Stone.” TL “The Ramones were the first true punk band, and their 1976 self-titled was the first true punk album.” CQ By way of “ripped denim, dumb lyrics and fuzz-toned guitars,” BL this “29-minute explosion of bratty speedy unschooled punk knocked the wind out of art-rock.” UT As Joey Ramone said, “Rock & roll had got bloated and lost its spirit.” BL“In comparison to some of the music the album inspired, The Ramones sounds a little tame – it’s a little too clean, and compared to their insanely fast live albums, it even sounds a little slow – but there’s no denying that it still sounds brilliantly fresh and intoxicatingly fun.” AM Tommy Ramone said, “Rock ‘n’ roll, man, just rock ‘n’ roll. THe way it should be – entertaining, a lot of fun, sexy, dynamic, exciting.” CS “Only The Beatles can claim to have influenced more bands than Joey Ramone, whose group somehow defined punk music and gave rise to an entire music movement.” RV Within a year of the album’s release, “thousands picked up guitars, and punk rock grabbed headlines.” BL “Prior to the Ramones every rock group started out learning blues and Chuck Berry. After the Ramones every group started out learning Ramones songs.” CM Short and to the PointRamones “begins at a blinding speed and never once…does it let up.” AM The album “packs 14 songs into 29 minutes of pure punk bliss.” CQ “None of the songs clock in at any longer than two and half minutes, and most are considerably shorter.” AM Maybe the Ramones knew that “if you don’t like one of their songs, who cares, because it won’t last more than a few minutes anyway.” NR-87l “The Ramones is all about speed, hooks, stupidity, and simplicity.” AM “It’s easy to consider Ramones a dumb album, considering the quirky lyrics, a nuance-free lead singer, simple three chord progressions and band members who haven’t quite learned to play their instruments. But the album is a carefully disguised act of rock criticism, knocking down rock ‘n’ roll’s idols.” RV New Sound?It wasn’t so much that the Ramones’ brand of punk was a revolutionary, new sound. “Earlier groups contributed to what would become the punk aesthetic – the Kinks’ fuzzed-out power chords, Iggy Pop’s primitive stage antics, the Velvet Underground’s minimalism, MC5’s raw politicking, the New York Dolls’ amateurism – but the Ramones were the tipping point.” CSHeck, even the term “punk” wasn’t new. It “had been used in the 1960s, usually applied to what were more commonly called garage bands, such as The Standells, ? and the Mysterians, and the Sonics.” TB The Ramones shared “a certain brazen attitude” TB with these bands as well as “a slavish devotion to the notion that a great song never lasted more than three minutes and never employed more than three chords.” TB These “four misfits from the ‘burbs of New York were not trying to tear rock & roll down. They loved it. It’s just that the things they loved, such as glam rock, the Stooges, Phil Spector and the early British invasion were no longer being heard. The Ramones simply wanted to play the music they loved.” CM “The over-amped guitars recalled Sabbath and other metalsters – and even the New York city-scum persona had its antecedents in the Dolls and whatnot.” JSH They delivered a “kind of adrenaline bubblegum bounce” JSH that were really just “imaginative reductions of early rock & roll, girl group pop, and surf rock.” AM “Classic rock fans ambivalent about ‘punk’ should recognize that the Ramones were really just the Beach Boys on speed: a ‘1-2-3-4’ intro, simple 4/4 beat, and 3 surf guitar chords played at rapid-fire pace.” PK The Ramones “reminded their fans that music is supposed to be fun, loud and fast, like The Beatles and The Beach Boys before they strove to be ‘artists.’” RV However, the Ramones “somehow articulated it in a way that was new – and that’s a rare feat.” JSH Critic Robert Christgau said, “It’s clean the way the Dolls never were, sprightly the way the Velvets never were, and just plain listenable the way Black Sabbath never was.” CS Subject Matter“Instead of singing about surfing and riding in hot rods,” PK the Ramones wrote “about what they knew – which was being a drug addict and male hustler, in the case of bass player Dee Dee Ramone, or being OCD and too tall and kinda strange, in the case of Joey.” CM They created “a repertoire of songs that brought the sparkling innocence of the Ronettes to the mean streets of ‘70s Manhattan.” CM “Songs about sniffing glue sit with songs about schlock horror films, cartoonists, kids with death wishes and the eternal quest for the pure love of a girl.” CM “Then repeat-repeat-repeat until the neighbors complain. Now, that’s rock & roll!” EW’12“They understood the structures of pop songcraft but were young and steamed up enough to use it as a canvas on which to paint scenes from their favorite horror films, real-life scenes from the grimy streets of downtown New York and valentines to potential partners rendered in garish colors. The snotty and the sweet presented in one under-30 minute speed trip.” PM “Not only is the music boiled down to its essentials, but the Ramones offer a twisted, comical take on pop culture with their lyrics.” AM “Songs about sniffing glue and headbanging would never again prove so incredibly revolutionary.” RV They also offer “the horror schlock of I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement, the drug deals of 53rd & 3rd, the gleeful violence of ‘Beat on the Brat,’ or the maniacal stupidity of Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.” AM In addition, “the Ramones highlight the difference between American and British punk in the mid-1970’s – unlike the Pistols and other British punk bands, who had a frequently political message (if an occasionally garbled one) behind their aggressive and stripped down music, the Ramones opted for a raw, regressive sound without the political sloganeering.” PK RecordingRecording for the album started on February 2, 1976, at Plaza Sound Studios at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Sire Records’ A&R man Craig Leon took on production duties. TB The album “came together in a blur. A week-long recording session wherein all the instrumental tracks were knocked out in a few days and the vocals were kicked down in a few more.” PM Sure, they could barely play their instruments but these songs “work because they’re so simple. Anyone could play them – even though the Ramones had a relentless energy that was hard to duplicate.” TMThe record was done by February 19, reportedly costing a mere $6400. The question is, “Where’d all the money go? These…tracks sound like they were mixed on a runway at LaGuardia, but the playing is impressively clean…and Joey’s singing proves you don’t need range to sound exuberant.” TL “While in-fighting would afflict the band throughout its history, the chemistry…on their first album is undeniable.” CQ “The process sounds like the ultimate, do-it-yourself, amateur reckless ethic that is associated with punk. In truth, however, the Ramones approached the recording process with a high degree of preparedness and professionalism. They had already been playing together for roughly two years – including at least seventy live shows – and had fully developed their defining sound.” NR-5 The SongsHere’s insights into individual songs on the album. “Blitzkrieg Bop” Author Nicholas Rombes goes so far as to call it “the best opening song to any rock album.” NR-76 It “sets the stage for an entire album that would be fast and loud.” NR-76
“Beat on the Brat” “Judy Is a Punk” “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”
“Chainsaw” “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” “I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement” “Loudmouth,” “Havana Affair” and “53rd & 3rd” As the two opening songs on side two, “Loudmouth” and Havana Affair “proceed at nearly exactly the same tempo.” NR-88 These songs and 53rd & 3rd “show how “Ramones-style punk sounded like a speeded-up version of heavy rock, or heavy metal.” NR-88 “Songs like ‘53rd & 3rd’ are much closer to heavy metal than to Herman’s Hermits or early Beatles.” NR-89 “Listen to My Heart” “Let’s Dance” “I Don’t Wanna Walk Around with You” and “Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World” |
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First posted 3/23/2008; last updated 8/14/2024. |
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