Ramones - Ramones [LP]

The Ramones: Joey Ramone (vocals); Johnny Ramone (guitar); Dee Dee Ramone (bass); Tommy Ramone (drums). Producers: Craig Leon, T. Erdelyi, Marty Thau. Reissue producers: Gary Stewart, Bill Inglot. Engineers: Rob Freeman, Jack Malken, Don Hunerburg. Recorded at Plaza Sound, Radio City Music Hall, New York, New York and 914 Studios, Blauvelt, New York. Includes liner notes by Donna Gaines and Arturo Vega. Digitally remastered by Dan Hersch and Bill Inglot (Digiprep). The Ramones' self-titled debut is a justifiably adored album--not just one of the best albums to come out of the initial New York punk explosion of the mid-'70s, but one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time. RAMONES is one of those rare records where there is not a single weak or out-of-place song. Changeups like the bubblegummy near-ballad "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and the uncharacteristically harsh "53rd and 3rd" (an unsentimental song about Dee Dee Ramone's days as a teenage hustler) vary the album's sound and mood more than its detractors (and even some of its fans) maintain. The 2001 reissue adds eight bonus tracks. Most are culled from early demos, including two songs, "I Can't Be" and "I Don't Wanna Be Learned/I Don't Wanna Be Tamed," that were never officially recorded, and two others, "You Should Never Have Opened That Door" and "I Don't Care," which eventually appeared on their second and third albums respectively. None of the demos are particularly different from the final recordings, but, interestingly, they tend to be a little slower and poppier-sounding. The cleaner-sounding, more trebly single mix of "Blitzkrieg Bop" closes the package.