Customer Reviews

Acid Eaters

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I admit, this isn't the best "Ramones" disc ever, but it's something fun. I actually think half of these covers work really well, it's the other half that's just so-so. Overall I'd call this a must for the fanatic, but others could pass on it. I will say this though, most cover songs usually make me want to hear the artist covered, but in this case, I just want to hear more "Ramones".

A record full of tracks that influenced the Ramones, it is the more unexpected songs here that are the best. "Somebody To Love", "My Back Pages" and "Journey To The Center of the Mind" are great, while there are no really bad songs on the tape. Nobody can make a song sound the way the Ramones can, so if anybody out there likes oldies, but ever thought that they somehow lacked energy, this album might change your mind. It was the best Ramones album released in years when it came out.

This is a great CD full of cover versions done in the great Ramones style. Highly recommended!

Acid Eaters is by no means a bad album, it just doesnt hold up to the Ramones standards.

Releasing an entire album of 60s phycodelic cover songs doesnt seem to be a good idea for the Ramones and the results are mixed.

Some songs on here are very enriched by the Ramones touch and manage to sound very punk. But other songs are a little boring.

I did notice that Joey doesnt seem to be giving 100% on this album. The songs that CJ sings have alot more energy than the ones Joey does. However, the Substitute and When I was Young are excellent, excellent songs. Joeys vocals on when I was young sent chills down my spine; he managed to sound as desprate as on Needles and Pins from the Road to Ruin Album.

Journey to the Center of the Mind, Shape of things to come and My back pages are all great tunes as well.

Some of the other songs seem very forced though. All in all, a mixed bag. I would recomend this album to hardcore fans only.

The title of my review comes from a track on Mondo Bizarro (which I also own and love). Yeah some folk get heated because it is a album of covers and they might have come to it with the mind frame of wanting new material---but weighing it on its own will let you find a really fun album.

Pick up Mondo Bizarro while you are at it and have some fun!!!!

Only the Ramones could pull something like this in such a fun and carefree manner! This is a must for Ramones fans, and a lesson for others to hear how it's done! Bravo!

Punk icons the Ramones have always stayed true to their roots of 50s and 60s rock-pop, and though covers of the songs they appreciate most have appeared in past albums like "Rocket To Russia" and "Leave Home," "Acid Eaters" is their first full-album ode to classic FM staples.
"Acid Eaters" (the punk pioneers' own version of The Band's "Moondog Matinee") finds the the quartet tracing their roots to the "golden era" of rock and roll. Attention-grabbing versions of the Rolling Stones' "Out Of Time," The Who's "Substitute" and Jefferson Starship's "Somebody To Love" are among the many highlights of the album. It's also obvious that the Ramones' limited--yet genuinely appealing--musicianship has grown gradually after nearly twenty years. Whether it's for the sake of the song they're covering, or if it's progressed on its own, one can't tell, but the spark is always there. Guitar solos are found here as well, something that was rarely part of the band's magical punk formula, as well as vocals from bassist C.J. Ramone (though they can't compare with the powerhouse pitches of frontman Joey). Top notch tracks are The Amboy Dukes' "Journey To the Center of the Mind," Eric Burdon's "When I Was Young," and a pure punk reading of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," the latter few would have expected to appear on a Ramones cover album.
"Acid Eaters" is an accomplished set that could only be delivered in such progressing fashion from the forefathers of punk. Few bands can pull off such an album without flaw, but as always The Ramones prove worthy of the challenge.

The Ramones are my favorite band of all time. But this album of 60's hippie-style cover songs was the worst thing they ever recorded. Don't just take my word for it, here's CJ Ramone: "It should have been an EP...The Jefferson Airplane song we did, oh Lord...it was just horrible, horrible." (Quote taken from Hey Ho Let's Go: The Story of the Ramones by Everett True)

Why this particular era of music was covered is beyond me. Consider the track record of the good cover songs they had done before Acid Eaters: "Needles and Pins," "Do You Wanna Dance," "California Sun," "Palisades Park," to name a few. These were early/mid 60's bubblegum pop songs, not psychedelic tunes. These songs sounded great when played in the Ramones' guitar-heavy, simple-is-better fashion. Not so for the hippy-trippy material.

One of the main problems with Acid Eaters is the production, with the guitar being too low in the mix on most songs. "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" is one of the few exceptions, with the signature power-chord sound we expect from the Ramones finally emerging. Unfortunately Joey's vocals are not at their best. In fact, on all the songs he sounds tired and lackluster. It's obvious the whole band was pretty uninspired. They sound like a mediocre bar band trying to make a few bucks. The high point for Joey vocally is their version of "Substitute" by the Who, but even that is just OK, not great. The Rolling Stones cover "Out of Time" would have made a good track on Joey's solo album, since it was more mellow than most Ramones material. Here it just becomes part of the tiresome parade of cover songs. The closest thing to bubblegum pop here is "Surf City," but by the time I got that far I was just tired of listening.

My favorite track on this was "Journey to the Center of the Mind," with CJ on vocals. It's pretty sad when CJ sounds better than Joey. But it still sounds like a good opening band, not like the powerful entity that was the Ramones. One of those bands that sounds good after a few beers live, but the next day when you listen to the CD you're disappointed. Sorry CJ.

The compilation "Ramones Anthology" was a pretty good summary of the Ramones material. There is not one song from Acid Eaters on there, so that should tell you something. Buy any other Ramones release other than this one. And if you're a completist who has to buy all the Ramones stuff, get "The Chrysalis Years" instead. For a reasonable price you get a 3 CD set that includes five albums: Acid Eaters, Brain Drain, Loco Live, Mondo Bizarro and Adios Amigos. Plus you get their cover of the Spiderman TV show theme as a bonus track. Sadly enough, that cover song is way better than anything off of this disappointing release.

No, this isn't the sixties. This is THE RAMONES: ACID EATERS, their 1994 release that kicks! Personally, this is on my top five Ramones albums list.. its just a bunch of sixties trip songs covered as only The Ramones could do. Well, Ramones circa 1994, when they had CJ RAMONE on bass instead of Dee Dee, but he plays his ass off here.
True, this is not a traditional RAMONES, due to the fact that there are session players and special guests (Who legend Pete Townsend appears on SUBSTITUTE to name one) this album has a different feel than other albums. However in the nineties The Ramones gave the sound a little louder edge, and CJ, who does vocals on MY BACK PAGES adds a much more heavier feel.
Now, I think every RAMONES album can rock the house, if played loud enough. Of course the earlier albums are the classics, but all of the understated eighties albums kick too, and so do the handful of albums released in the nineties. The band experimented with different stuff from here to there, but they were always without a doubt true to themselves. This album is a ton of fun, so don't disregard it just because its not as established as other records, be a pioneer and ROCK this piece!

The greatest thing about The Ramones is their total lack of pretentions. They simple want to rock and that's all. But that's something very important. No matter if some of the songs on Acid Eaters are classic radio classics (in the other hand there are some pretty obscure numbers) cos' all of them really rock.
Journey to the Center of the Mind by the Amboy Dukes (with a very young Ted Nugent on the line-up), Substitute with Pete Townshend as guest singing back ups is simply amazing, as well as Marky drumming. My Back Pages is taken from the version that the Byrds did in their Younger Than Yesterday album instead of the 3/4 tempo of the original Another Side of Bob Dylan version. When I Was Young is another "hidden treasure" cos it's a single of the second-era Animals when they were called Eric Burdon & The Animals circa 1967.
Not a single bad song on the album. Essential purchase. Do yourself a favour and go quickly to find the originals. Satisfaction guaranteed.