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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Ramones' Best (?), July 23, 2001
Don't listen to the likes of Legs McNeil (whose inappropriate liner notes all but damn this album as some kind of sell-out. Note to Rhino: why be so apologetic?). The fact is, you can pretty much defend any Ramones album as being their best, well beyond the indisputable classics of the 1970s (my other favorites - "Halfway to Sanity," "Brain Drain," and "Adios Amigos," none of which are considered great by allegedly in-the-know rock critics). In many ways, "Road to Ruin" is their best album, the one that truly marks the end of an era for the band, their euphoric highs with their disenchanted lows. It mixes strung-out nihilism with gooey bubblegum so deftly that its simplicity, once again, somehow managed to fly way over people's heads. In any case, the greatest punk was founded on bubblegum aesthetics, and the Ramones knew this better than anyone on the planet at the time...and "It's A Long Way Back" is the greatest album closer ever.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The End of the Beginning, March 31, 2005
Contrary to what some fans and critics believe, "Road to Ruin" is not the last great Ramones album. It is, however, the final album of the band's classic period. It's also the sound of a band trying hard to bust out of the cult basement, maybe realizing that the stripped-to-the-bones punk sound of its first three LPs wasn't going to crack the Top 40 after all.
Which is not to say that "Road to Ruin" is a sellout. Sure, there are a pair of tunes ("Don't Come Close" and "Questioningly") that veer far away from the Ramone-defining buzzsaw guitar sound. But, given the band's obvious love for bubblegum and 60s pop, even the (stellar) cover of "Needles and Pins" doesn't seem such a stretch.
And the rest of the tunes? Well, they're the kind of full-on, jet-fueled rockers you'd expect from the Ramones, but with just a dose of the grim realization that the years ahead may not be filled with limos, champagne and other perks of rock stardom. There are nods to punk boredom ("I Just Wanna Have Something To Do"), an angry kiss-off ("I Don't Want You") and rock's all-time most cryptic ode to angst and desparation ("It's a Long Way Back.") In the hands of a lesser band, such sentiments could result in a depressing record, indeed. But if the Ramones knew anything, it was how to write a catchy tune. And on "Road to Ruin," their pop sense overpowers any hint of punk negativity from start to finish. Along the way, we even get some boy-meets-girl Ramones ("She's the One") and the closest thing the band has probably ever had to a Classic Rock/FM Radio staple ("I Wanna Be Sedated"). And, like the songs themselves, the production of "Road to Ruin" foreshadows future Ramones releases. It's a more muscular sound than on the first three albums with bigger drums, louder guitars.
The Ramones did in fact have more great albums up their leather sleeves in the ensuing years, but for any fan, it's hard not to see "Road to Ruin" as a turning point. This is probably the first album on which the Ramones understood that they had become THE RAMONES - and that any respect this brought was met in equal measure with heartache, inner turmoil and the indifference of the record-buying public. It's the first album on which the band toyed just a bit with its formula in search of a hit, and the last on which the boys reasonably hoped they might go gold without resorting to more extreme, Spectorized measures. And it was probably the last album the Ramones recorded before figuring out that to make a go of this punk rock thing, they'd have to earn their bread and butter by keeping an ungodly tour schedule - a neverending series of one-nighters they'd keep up till damn near the end of their lives. Road to ruin, indeed.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This was the beginning of the end!, January 10, 2005
I eagerly awaited the release of the "classic' Ramones album, "Road To Ruin" way back in the day. When it came out, I was surprised by the "slick" cartoon-like album cover, first of all. AND, who was this "Marky" guy, anyway?
I opened up the album, slapped the vinyl (yes, VINYL) onto my cheap $20 turn-table, and book! Here it was!
Okay, first of all, the production was arguably the best of the first four Ramones albums. We got a slight taste of it with the then import only live album "It's Alive", produced by the classic soundmaster Ed Stasium. Stasium had a bit to do with "Rocket To Russia" as well, but the credit for that album goes mostly to Tommy Ramone. Anyways, before I rate the songs, I should note that "Road To Ruin" is absolutly crunching when it comes to the guitar sounds, and the drums are hard hitting and heavy. So THAT's who "Marky" is, I thought to myself!
Now to the actual album. "I Just Wanna Have Something To Do" is pure genius, pure Ramones. The simple yet stunning lyrics ("Hangin' out on second avenue; eatin' Chicken Vindaloo"), the steady beat, this song is the epitomy of the Ramones "sound". And songs like "I Wanted Everything", "I'm Against It" (with the classic line; "I don't like Burger King, I don't like anything"), "Bad Brain", etc, were good stuff. BUT, there was the strangly inappropriate "Questioningly", with it's COUNTRY steel guitar (which of course everyone knows that Jonhnny didn't play), and "Don't Come Close", well, I must admit that I was a bit frustrated at the time (little did I know that "End Of The Century" was less than a year away!). But now these songs make sense in the context of the fact that the Ramones were trying to "diverisfy" their sound in order to (perhaps) get that hit single that had so unfairly eluded them thus far.
It didn't work.
As any old time Ramones fan will tell you, the Ramones were the most unlucky band of all time. Their management either released the wrong song for a single (as was the case when WEA decided to release "I Wanna Live" from the so-so album "Halfway To Sanity", even thought it was released in mid-summer and "Go 'Lil Camaro, Go" was a classic "fun/car/girl" song that could have made a big hit for the Ramones), or they were quite simply way to ahead of their time for the mainstream to "get it". This is the case with "Road To Ruin".
The Sex Pistols got a lot of press and even album sales due to the fact that in their oh-so contrived "rage" they said the "f word" and sand about anarchy, nuclear submarines, dethroning the British Queen, and of course; abortions. And the Pistols only stayed together for 18 months, leaving us with basically one studio album (which, in my opinion, is the most over-rated "punk rock" record ever made), and a dead so-called "bass player". The Ramones were the band that INSPIRED the Sex Pistols, and theby never resorted to such shock value pap as "f words", abortion innuendo, and anarchy. Instead, the Ramones rallied all of us outsiders with the classic war cry "Gabba Gabba we accept you, we accept you, one of us!". And it was a hell of a lot more "punk rock" to sing about selling your [...] for dope money as Dee Dee penned in the immortal "53rd and 3rd". Oh well.
So anyways, "Road To Ruin" is a good "hard rock" album, striking a "punk" chord every now and again. The sound is loud, the guitars are heavy and buzzing, and Marky, when he wasn't drunk, laid down some good beats. This album is worth having, if not for the fact that it has "I Just Wanna Have Something To Do" and "I Wanna Be Sedated" on it. Also, the "bonus-tracks" on this re-issue are nothing new; the live scene from "Rock 'N' Roll High School", a slightly different version of "I Want You Around", and one newly discovered gem, that's all. The bonus tracks on "Too Tough To Die" are the REAL revalation, man!
So if you wanna "rock out", then get this album first. You'll tap your feet, drown in country music inspired beer delirium in the nasty "Questioningly", and just basically go nuts to "Bad Brain" and "I'm Against It". BUT, if you're looking for the truly definitive Ramones sound, then start with "Rocket To Russia" and gradute to the definitve "post 70's" sound of "Too Tough To Die" (wich is, in my esteemed opinion, the Ramones overall best album).
Either way, buy all fo the reissues since you jerks didn't buy 'em while the Ramones were ALIVE, so get 'em now and show that you were really "punk rock" back when you were ACTUALLY listening to Poison, Motley Crue, and Winger!
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG!
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