Leave Home
Rocket to Russia
Road to Ruin
1976
Hoo boy, hoo boy. Impressive. This debut from those four boys from Queens is the one Ramones album to get if you were to get only one. Heck, it could be the one punk album to get if you didn’t want anything else punk. Forget yer Never Mind the Bollocks, that one wasn’t hot. The Clash debut album is pretty good, but inferior and slightly confusing from a discography standpoint. London Calling isn’t really punk, so you better get that one as well. This here album is something special.
I don’t quite share the same ‘this is rock'n'roll stripped to its essence, bi-otch!’ opinion as Starostin and Feeny, among others. But I must say this debut is a testament to a little budget going a long way, much like..Bleach? I don’t know how much it was recorded for, but it sounds pretty bare-bones. But wait! It’s a good thing! Once you get into that bass-in-one-speaker-guitar-in-another-double-tracked-vocals groove here, you won’t want to leave. Joey’s intonations are at their untrained best too, I will give examples within. The same verse is often repeated three times or so. The chord progressions are simple. But it’s the best. Individual songs now.
“Blitzkrieg Bop” pretty much speaks for itself as the opener, and introduces the aforementioned groove that is on every song here. Most sporting events don’t play the parts where the kids lose their minds and the generation steam heat, just the immortal ‘hey ho, let’s go!’ No matter. You may also know the slower but no less awesome “Beat on the Brat,” with some of Joey’s most amusing intonations; I initially thought he was saying ‘oh yuck! oh yuck! oh-oh’ after each verse. Haha. “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” was their first love song, but is direct and not really sentimental, unlike some of their later love-song efforts.
Oh I have other personal favorites. “Judy is a Punk” is one and a half minutes of rock and roll heaven. Just three verses about Jackie and Judy going to Berlin and later on the SLA. They even toss in the ‘second verse/same as the first’ bit from a Herman’s Hermits song. And the sound. I listen to this 3 straight times every time I hear it. “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” is even more lyrically sparse, with a strange guitar solo in the middle. “I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement” could just as well be ‘I Doan’ Wanna Go..Dannnn to the Baise’’ for how Joey says it. “Chain Saw” has a chain saw sound effect and ‘texas chainsaw massaCREE’ pronunciation, “Havana Affair” is also damn catchy, “Listen to My Heart” is strangely affecting, “I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You” again scores for being direct, and “53rd and 3rd” has the slowest rhythm on here, but pretty good percussion.
I couldn’t namecheck every song on here, the other three are slightly inferior, and I have prattled on long enough. Let me just say though, I have been a Ramones fan for many years, but just recently did I get this album, if you know what I mean. Well, I liked the three biggies and I already had my ‘perfection’ opinion of “Judy is a Punk” a long time ago. But it clicked after a while, and it will do the same to you. Get this album. If for nothing else, it’s fun.
1977
Oh they’re leaving home!!! Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and C.J. are growing up!! (sniff sniff). Seriously though, this album is both similar and different than the debut. They still talk about B-movies, love topics, with the occasional politics. They still have simple chord progressions. But the sound is more mono, no more separating of instruments into different speakers. And Joey’s punk vocals are a little more articulate. There’s more of a betrayal for a love of the ’60s, especially among Joey. Personally, these changes are OK. The joke would have gotten older much faster if the Ramones continued all of the lo-fi elements of their debut album. Still, Leave Home is a little bit weaker, as not everything registers with me.
I forgot to mention that the Ramones really started to pursue their famous mental-patient imagery in earnest on here. Both of such songs kick booty: “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” is utterly flawless, and “Pinhead” has several quotables for the ages: ‘gabba gabba hey,’ ‘D-U-M-B everyone accuse-a me’ ‘we accept you, we accept you, one of us’ etc. “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” is one happy tune that has sleigh bells, of all things! I’ve also dug the hell out of “Commando” for years. I tell you, that ‘first ru’ IS’ section is one of my fave sections in the Ramones catalogue. Too cool for words.
Lesser known goodies include the trailer-love classic “Oh Oh I Love Her So,” and I won’t mention the very first line, every other review has quoted it already. Their cover of “California Sun” is very faithful and, yes, fun. “I Remember You” and “What’s Your Game” show more sadness than “Boyfriend” but are still tasteful, while the similar “Swallow My Pride” wins by the way the sing the title in the chorus. I also love the final two B-movie numbers: “You’re Gonna Kill That Girl” starts off with a dramatic mock-’60s slow section (oh no, Meat Loaf territory!) and turns into your average Ramones rave-up afterwards. Not a rewrite of the Beatles’ “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl,” but ah well. “You Should Never Have Opened That Door” would have sounded so good on Ramones, but I love it as it is.
The other tracks are more of a letdown than the ones on the debut album. Like how “Glad to See You Go” just isn’t a great opener, “Suzy is a Headbanger” does have that rockabilly riff that pops up often but is otherwise ehhh, and I don’t remember the other one. As I said before though, I think subjectivity is the only way to decide which Ramones songs are better than others. Leave Home is very worthy though, just don’t expect things to be exactly the same as before. Well, they kind of are. They are the Ramones. Gabba. And gabba again.
P.S. “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” actually only appears on here as a replacement to “Carbona Not Glue,” another glue-sniffing song that was taken off Leave lest they get sued for copyright infringement. “Carbona” is pretty good, and if it were on Leave it wouldn’t affect the album for worse.
1977
Another step down here, ever so slightly. The well-known songs are as awesome as ever, but stagnation is appearing on other numbers, or maybe those numbers are lacking in fun and whatnot. No matter, I guess there isn’t a huge difference between this one and Leave Home, unlike Leave Home having different production values than the debut. But nothing against Rocket at all, I still find a lot of goodies.
“Cretin Hop” makes for a better opener than “Glad to See You Go,” and is another hook-fest a la “Pinhead.” “Rockaway Beach” shows los Ramones making their own “California Sun,” this time a sunny ode to a really dirty beach in New York. “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” is still good, and “We’re a Happy Family” is my favorite songs on here: it’s a sarcastic, dark tune about a dysfunctional family sung in a really ominous tone. However, I don’t like “Teenage Lobotomy.” It lacks the hooks-a-minute feel of “Pinhead” and the relentless drive of “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment.” Though it may get some points for using the word ‘cerebellum.’
Lesser-known winners include the two slower-paced tunes, that sort of look ahead to Road to Ruin. “I Don’t Care” has great vocals not just from Joey but Dee Dee as well (listen to him squeak ‘he don’ carrrre!’), and “I Wanna be Well” is also, uh, well. The two covers “Do You Wanna Dance” and “Surfin Bird” are usually lauded, and while I am indifferent to the former (am the only person in the world who is just fine with Bobby Freeman’s shaky original?), the latter is just inane glory. I love it. “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” is the first Ramones ballad to really go overboard, not to mention, overlong, but I actually still like it all right.
As for the remaining tracks, they’re really nothing tracks: “Locket Love,” “Ramona,” and “I Can’t Give You Anything” are just bland, Ramones pro forma. I almost put “Why Is It Always This Way?” in this category, but it is surprisingly desperate. Maybe the lines about the girl ‘contemplating suicide’ do it, but it sounds actually concerned. So, Rocket gets an 8, one lower than the previous, but that’s still better than a lot of other records out there. Nyeah.
1978
Ever so subtly, the Ramones changed some things here. No one will accuse them of turning metal on us, they are still punk through and through, but slower tempos and longer times are abound here, and an almost heavier guitar tone. Plus, there are a few more production tweaks, as in the lush sound of “Questioningly” and others. It’s something different, but not quite enough to be on par with the debut or Leave Home.
You can tell these changes right from the start, as “I Just Wanna Have Something to Do” is like a heavier “I Don’t Care.” The length and plodding tempo are perfect for conveying the song’s bored feel. Even better is the quintessential “I Wanna Be Sedated,” which is somewhat well known since appeared it some movie, I forget which. Isn’t that almost one-note intro riff the greatest?? “Needles and Pins” gets my vote for all-time best Ramones cover, as they retain the jangle of Searchers classic. And Joey’s accented New York vocals can really show heartbreak. No, really!
My personal favorite on Ruin might be “I’m Against It,” where we find where the Ramones stand on those other punk bands. They say they’re against a lot of things in this song, but it’s pretty clear they’re being sarcastic. They’re not about anti-anything. They’re about sniffing glue, rocking out on the beach, etc. “She’s The One” and “It’s a Long Way Back” have awesome pop melodies, “I Wanted Everything” has a great chorus, and the lighter “Don’t Come Close” is slightly overrated but is still nice.
As before, several songs toward the end aren’t that great, and I don’t really dig the dual-guitar drenched ballad “Questioningly.” In the end, Ruin is about equal with Rocket, some classics but a few nothing tracks as well. One can detect a few changes in the Ramones sound, but no one will confuse them with Led Zeppelin or whatever. But if you want changes, well, look no further than the next album!