The Ramones

The Ramones' second album suffers a bit from being sandwiched between the twin triumphs of their debut and Rocket to Russia, but crunchy guitar riffs and pop hooks are still here in spades, even if a few of the songs aren't that memorable. Still, it's the Ramones and "Pinhead," "Good Boy" and their cover of "California Sun" are all priceless.

These bands achieved their initial notoriety while playing in the same place (an esophagus
of a bar called CBGB, in lower Manhattan) and have been lumped together with other
habitués of this joint as purveyors of "punk rock." In their self-consciousness and liberal
open-mindedness, these bands are as punky as Fonzie: that is, not at all. Blondie is a
quintet which juggles genres of fast rock, from a thick, Spector-ish vision of stre... More >