Customer Reviews

Ramones (Dlx)

5 star:		(124)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The debut Ramones album reigns as my personal favorite, although all their other 70s recordings come in a close 2nd place. No doubt it's an "apples & oranges" call amongst any Ramones fans, but if this aging music fanboy were to try and introduce the Ramones legacy to some Blink182'd youngsters who never heard of these legends before their time, this is definitely the album I would point them toward. The music is raw yet catchy, and in my uneducated opinion best embodies The Ramones desire to play fun, energetic rock & roll with lyrics that carry no overbearing messages.

These songs have the innocent beat of early rock, but coarse, edgy and fun lyrics that were shocking for 1976. My personal favorite come from "Havana Affair," "PT Boat On the Way To Havana/I Used to make my living, man,pickin' the bananas!" with a close 2nd place favorite being from "Judy Is a Punk:" "They both went down to Frisco/Joined the SLA/ Ohh I don't know why/Ohh I don't know why/Perhaps they'll die!" Any group who can take a tagline from the folk novelty "There Was an Old Lady" and modernize it into something all their own is A-OK by me! Dig into these songs, this album is solid from beginning to end.

The bonus tracks are plenty of fun for avid Ramones fans like me, but I'm not certain they 'll offer much for those who are just getting familiar with the group.

What do studied and accomplished musicians think of The Ramones? It doesn't matter; really, it doesn't. The Ramones made music that was fun, and you'd catch it in your head faster than a winter cold. Their music is the ultimate audio-adrenaline rush, and no matter your age or status,I highly recommend this particular CD in the morning along with a serious cup of coffee.....BLAST OFF! HEY-HO! LET'S GO!

This is an absolutely amazing album. Originally clocking in at under thirty minutes with fourteen tracks, it started an era that still holds true today. "Blitzkrieg Bop" truely was the shot heard 'round the world. And "Beat On The Brat", their ode to rich mothers' children, keeps the album rocking all the way through. "Judy Is A Punk" is based off of two Ramones fans, Jackie and Judy, who were always seeming to get into trouble. The Ramones would later do a less successful sequel to the song on the Phil Spector-produced "End Of The Century". Speaking of Spector, "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" sounds something right out of the early sixties. It's excellent. The entire album is fantastic, and defines true punk.

Okay, to clear something up. Some people are saying that the Ramones are more pop-punk, and that they did not actually start the era, but artists like The Stooges, New York Dolls, the Velvet Underground, T. Rex, and MC5 did. This is both true and false. Those five artists may have helped start an all-new sound, but the Ramones were more influenced by the likes of the Beach Boys and The Beatles than any of those three. They wanted to play music that was unlike anything else at the time, becasue like many others they were dissatisfied with the current pompous and exaggerated music. When this album was released in 1976, it sparked hundreds of other bands, calling themselves "Punk". The Ramones were the first band to truely be a punk-rock band. Once that was established, The Stooges and those bands becames known as Pre-Punk.

Buy this album.

In retrospect, it's easy to overlook how revolutionary and different this album was when it hit the streets in the second half of the '70s. Just play a Yes album, a Styx album, or an Emerson, Lake & Palmer album beside it to try to get an understanding.

Recorded for barely over $6,000, The Ramones' debut album broke all the rules of pompous '70s rock and a new type of music was "invented" in the process: punk rock. Not very different from '50s and '60s rock, just a lot louder and faster. No solos, just a bunch of power chords and catchy melodies.

Not counting the bonus songs, there are 14 songs on this album. None of them are longer than 2:32, and many of them come in at under two minutes. It's all over in less than half an hour. But there's more packed into those 30 minutes than many bands pack into an entire career.

The sound quality is very raw. However, the remastering has made the lows a bit lower and everything a bit crisper, making everything seem even more powerful than before. Dee Dee's bass is shoved into the left speaker, Johnny's guitar screams from the right, and Tommy's drums thud relentlessly in the background. On top of this, Joey spits out his lyrics with his unique accent and equally unique delivery.

And even though this album would have been a landmark just for the aforementioned qualities, the songwriting is strong as well. Everyone knows "Blitzkrieg Bop (Hey Ho Let's Go)," but every one of these tracks is fantastic. "Judy is a Punk" is my personal favorite, with three verses, three choruses and an instrumental break all packed into 90 seconds.

After this album was released, a whole new batch of bands started up. Suddenly, it didn't matter if you couldn't play like Keith Emerson or Steve Howe, all that mattered was how much you believed in yourself and your music. The Ramones were probably the first somewhat popular band to use its limitations in a positive way, and many other soon followed: The Clash, The Sex Pistols, Blondie, Talking Heads, U2, etc. Had it not been for The Ramones, these bands might not have formed, let alone have been signed to a major record label.

Quite simply, one of the most important - and fun - albums ever made.

Punk is not neccessarily politics, or a fashion statement. It's a state of mind, and the Ramones show this in their original release. All of the album is great, fast Punk, or Rock, whatever you want to call it,(just not Metal!!)it has all of the favourites. This is an absolute must have for Ramones fans, or people who want to get into real Punk, not that Blink 182 and Good Charlotte crap.

This is the first thing that pops in my head. Every ounce of praise this album receives is deserved. It's minimalistic, raw, fast, and perfect. Melodies and progressions that are painfully simple and hard to forget. Lyrics that fit perfectly delivered. With DeeDee pounding his bass in your left ear, and Johnny buzzing in the right, this is the punk sound and format that will be emulated forever.

Review no. 127. Essential 1976 body slammin' proto-punk debut record from Joey and crew. Blistering cuts that'll having you literally playing this CD over until you wear it out (possibly)are "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Judy Is A Punk", the in-your-face "I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement", the total *ss-kicking "Havana Affair" and "Let's Dance". Plus, you get six added bonus tracks of demos of the band's repertoire. One thing I'll give The Ramones is they DIDN'T just stay together for two or three lp's LIKE so many other punk bands did, like the Stooges, New York Dolls, Dead Boys, MC 5, etc. They remained intact for twenty years, plus they were active all if not most of that time. Too bad three out of four of them are no longer with us. Highly recommended.

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.

Most classic album ever of the ramones the first punk album of all time its one of those rock albums that go really good with albums like, Dark Side Of The Moon, Are You Expirenced, Tommy, Back In Black, Destroyer, Zoso etc.
this is the album that came out with some of their biggest hits like blitzierg bop and beat on the brat this is the only kind of 'punk' rock thats worth buying lengthing at just 30 minutes long it maybe a short album but all the songs are fast and oh yeah LOUD so if you listen to rock and havent really heard anything of the ramones this ones for you or greatest hits etc. buy it today

When this debut album by the RAMONES came out in 1976, it was perhaps the most revolutionary rock album since the BEATLES White Album. It was certainly the most original and influential album of the late 1970's and possibly more so than anything that has been released since then.

Some might be skeptical of my first paragraph, until you realize that the RAMONES (and this album) didn't just introduce the no-holds barred, autobahn fast, three chord punk rock genre to the world; but the RAMONES also influenced the creation of new branches of heavy metal - namely, speed and thrash metal.

And their influence didn't just stop there: In the early and mid-80's us goths were into bands like Depeche Mode, the Smiths, Joy Division, The Cure, Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, etc....all of us ALSO wore RAMONES shirts, we loved the Ramones, and we still do. Robert Smith of the Cure and Martin Gore of Depeche Mode have both worn RAMONES shirts onstage and cite them as influences. This is in no small part due to their lyrics being so dark and reflective of teen alienation with society. The sadly deceased Johnny Ramone would probably roll over in his grave if he knew that he and his band were being lumped into the same category with those goth bands that I just named....but...sorry Johnny, your band will always be one of our favorites.

Is this a "heavy metal" album (or band) as some reviewers below say? Well, I remember that they opened for Black Sabbath back in the 70's not long after this album came out. After a few minutes, the audience of metal hippies threw bottles and other trash at the Ramones, and ran them off the stage. Apparently, metal fans at that time were partial to these slow, drawn out, twenty minute songs with the long wanky guitar solos. The Ramones (whose songs on this album all clocked in under three minutes, and around only two) didn't buy into this, so the Ramones musical style as opposed to the heavy metal of the 70's was much different (though, again, they would influence many later heavy metal genres and bands....metal bands like Motorhead, Slayer, Metallica, Guns N Roses, Anthrax, and many other bands cite the Ramones as huge influences).

So, the Ramones "metal?" Well, all I can say is that if it floats your boat then call them what you want...hell, if calling the Ramones a metal band will make you like the band and buy their albums (esp. this one), then you can call em' a polka band, a jazz band, whatever for all I care. Just buy this record, you won't regret it.

My personal opinion? The Ramones not only hold the patent on punk rock, they were punk rock back in the days when "punk" meant something more than overpriced Hot Topic shirts from the shopping mall or car pool rides to Good Charlotte concerts with your mom and little sister. Oy Vay. Enjoy this album.

LMFAO...at the guy who said that. THEY ARE NOT HEAVY METAL PERIOD. Your an idiot if you think they are....they are a PUNK band...want me to say it again?..PUNK BAND!! It's not heavy metal crap. Lets get back to the cd before i snap once more. This album became inportant to punk. Without them there would not be Punk(imo). No Green Day, Clash,Adicts, Sham 69, SFL, Sex Pistols. You get the idea. All the songs are good. Maybe Repetetive for some, but i dont mind. I like "I dont Want To Go Down The Basement" I like the lyrics...even if it repeats alot. Still a good Fun CD to own. GOOD FOR PARTY'S!....and remember RAMONES IS NOT HEAVY METAL...IGNORE THE REVIEW.