End of the Century [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Ramones

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 20, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B0000691TG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,704 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
End of the Century is the musical documentation of a form looking for rebirth. Having burned itself out in four short years by 1979 (that's a short century!), punk rock cast about for a spark to reignite the flames. The Clash found it in political rage and musical wanderings; the Ramones found it by infusing their already well-honed pop sensibilities with a huge dose of pathos. Who'd have thought these boys--the same ones who cried "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" and who wanted to "Beat on the Brat (with a Baseball Bat)"--had it in them?

The concept looks great on paper. Combine the famed "Wall of Sound" producer Phil Spector with the three-chord, three-minute, speed-laced ditties of the Ramones--and it sounds even better on vinyl. The Ramones never needed any help sounding massive, but Spector's production brings out subtleties hidden within, making Johnny's lone Mosrite guitar blaze like a bomb squadron, coaxing some evocative and emotional singing from Joey, even (gasp!) shading some of the songs with strings--punk-rock sacrilege in those days. The Ramones live up to the task by writing some of their best--and most overlooked--songs to date. "Rock & Roll High School" and "Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio?" are exhilarating (and somewhat nostalgic) bids for commercial recognition. Even the covers here--"Baby, I Love You" and "Chinese Rocks"--transcend the original source and become solid members of the Ramones' community of songs. Though they've been accused of rewriting the same album over and over, End of the Century proves the Ramones were much smarter, more adventurous, and more innovative than we'd ever expected. --Tod Nelson

Product Description
Expanded & remastered edition of their 1980 release features the original Phil Spector-produced 12-song album plus 6 bonus tracks and a hidden track (a Joey Ramone radio spot). Bonus tracks, 'I Want You Around' & the previously unreleased demos 'Danny Says', 'I'm Affected', 'Please Don't Leave', 'All The Way' & 'Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?'. Slipcase. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Most Controversial Album in the Ramones' History, October 19, 2004

By	Bud Sturguess (Seminole, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

It's quite interesting to read about cases in which a band is matched with a producer whose ideas clash with those of the group he or she is assigned to. Rock is filled with examples. Cheap Trick was dealt former Beatles producer George Martin for their 1980 "All Shook Up" album, much to the confusion of the critics. The Byrds suffered a blow when Terry Melcher covered their 1971 record "Byrdmaniax" with an array of keyboards, strings, and backup singers after the group had recorded the basic tracks (the ironic thing being that Melcher had been the Byrds' longtime friend and producer). And just recently, Paul McCartney re-issued the Beatles' legendary "Let it Be" album, but minus the input and infamous "Wall of Sound" of producer Phil Spector, who was paired with the Ramones in 1980 for "End of the Century," perhaps the punk rock pioneers' most controversial album, and one that raises a lot of points. The Ramones had started to expand their three-chord buzzsaw approach with "Road to Ruin" and a gradual progression was inevitable. But this album was a shock to many, as it contained such surprising bits as string arrangements and other things that don't come to mind when one mentions the Ramones. But "End of the Century" is a fascinating piece of history, not only of the Ramones, but of punk in general (even though the group was being overshadowed by the countless bands who had ripped them off, i.e. "the acts they had inspired").
In all fairness, it must be said that a big part of the progression in the album comes not from Spector's producing, but in the Ramones' songwriting. There are the typical Ramones-style punk rockers like `Let's Go,' `The Return of Jackie & Judy,' `All the Way,' and `High Risk Insurance' but there are other elements that have begun to sprout. There's storytelling in the dark cocaine tale `Chinese Rock,' a song as dark as the obsession in `I'm Affected,' in which it seems the Ramones are actually in control of producing and not Spector, whose input is most obvious in the catchy ode to the 50s and 60s pop scene `Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?', opening the album with a collage of radio sound effects, and in a dripping pop cover of `Baby I Love You' (a hit which Spector had co-written many years earlier), which became the Ramones' biggest single in the UK, while `I Can't Make it on Time' remains one of the many numbers on the album that should-have-been-a-hit. The hard rocking but catchy `This Ain't Havana' has a bit of cynicism in it, and there's even a punkier version of `Rock N' Roll High School,' the title song to the cult film the group had starred in (the more poppier single version showed up on the 1988 compilation "Ramones Mania"). Another notable point is guitarist Johnny's ability to pick and strum in the well-arranged `Danny Says,' an innocent, weary look at the rush of the music business.
For years, some of the Ramones pronounced "End of the Century" as their worst album, but it has become accepted by most bandmembers, and many fans, over time. The recently departed Johnny Ramone is quoted in this remaster's liner notes as saying he's glad the band worked with Phil Spector. It's actually hard to imagine the Ramones' catalog without the album. "End of the Century" was a necessary step, even if the public wasn't ready for it, in showing that the Ramones were growing as musicians and as individuals, even if the band was quite uncomfortable with it. Naturally, and fortunately, their next step was to stray from the wild ideas of Phil Spector and write history with their own definition of expanding, as shown on their next two albums (and two of their best), "Pleasant Dreams" and "Subterranean Jungle."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of a kind masterpiece, December 5, 2006

By	Thomas Plotkin "[e-mail]" (West Hartford CT, United States) - See all my reviews

This is my generation's Exile on Main St., totally misunderstood by idiot critics (and seemingly, the Ramones themselves. Only Joey seemed to dig it) Here, the Ramones stake their claim to the whole of American Rock 'n Roll, not just parochial NYC punk, and Phil Spector (who legitimately loved this band) justifies his own sorry existence by giving them the gift of the biggest wall of sound he ever came up with. After this album, Johnny stole Joey's girlfriend and the magic was gone, they started claiming individual song credits, they brought in ringers to play guitar solos on the albums, DeeDee started shooting up again, Joey started boozing and not caring, and the band went down the toilet. But this record just sounds better and better with each passing year. (Except "Chinese Rocks" -- interesting to hear the boys jump from household solvents to hard drugs, but Johnny Thunders friggin' OWNS this song; Joey just ain't a convincing junkie. Still, the tune's darkness adds to E of the C's stylistic diversity). Did I say my generation's Exile on Main St? It's also my generations White Album and London Calling. (wait a minute, London Calling is my generation's London Calling -- but End of the Century is a better London Calling than London Calling...)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is the one you've all been waiting for, December 26, 2004

By	Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This, of course, is the controversial Ramones album that was produced by Phil Spector. Some people love it and some people hate it. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle. It's a good album, but it's inferior to all the Ramones' previous albums. Spector's "magic touch" certainly gave the Ramones a more "sophisticated" sound, but it's debatable whether or not the Ramones needed to sound more sophisticated. Some songs definitely benefited from Spector's production flourishes, like "Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?" and "Danny Says". And some songs probably would have sounded better if Spector had just left them alone, like "I'm Affected" and "All the Way". (Demo versions of all those songs are on the CD, for comparison's sake.) The single most controversial song on the CD is "Baby, I Love You". This cover version of the Ronettes hit is not the least bit punk, which is why many people hate it. It feature Joey singing to the full Spector "Wall of Sound", with nary another Ramone in sight. Ironically, "Baby, I Love You" went on to become the Ramones' biggest hit in the UK. It is actually pretty good, if taken on it's own terms. Which can also be said for the whole album in general. The CD has one unlisted bonus track, which is Joey doing a radio spot for the album.