The Ramones

When the Ramones released their first album in 1976, corporate American radio reacted as
if someone had belched at a board meeting. In a way, this response was entirely
appropriate: after all, it was the Ramones' utter contempt for mid-Seventies
superstar-saturated radio that had compelled these self-styled oddballs from Queens to
pick up their instruments in the first place. Armed with simple sentiments ("I Don'... More >

Sad. The best cut is "I'm Affected" (note double-edged title); the second best is a Ronettes remake (Joey outsings Andy Kim); the third best is a ballad about their manager (now departed). They also remake two of their own songs--"Judy Is a Punk" (good sequel) and "Rock 'n' Roll High School" (unnecessary Spectorization)--and one of the Heartbreakers' (inferior). And take on the Sports and Joe Jackson with a song about the radio that would be the worst they'd ever written were it not for "This Ain't Havana" and "High Risk Insurance," in which the group's reactionary political instincts finally escape that invisible ironic shield (bet Johnny provided worse-than-Barry-McGuire rhymes like "on your way to life's promotion/You hinder it with emotion"). Phil Spector doesn't make that much difference; his guitar overdubs are worse than his orchestrations, and they're not uncute. But this band sounds tired. (Grade - B+)