I think "Pleasant dreams " is underrated , too , but , it took me several years to arrive at that conclusion. I was'nt crazy about "Don't Go" (With Ron and Russell Mael as The Beach Boys.) , but , I never hated it."She's a Sensation" is all right , too ."We Want The Airwaves" had a completely different Guitar sound than what you'd associate with The Ramones. It's like "Hijack The Radio" by The Nervebreakers , which I think is the better song of the two.
As I said , earlier , "Subterranean Jungle" was one of my fave later albums. "Outsider" should be one everybody knows ,but , does'nt. I liked "What'd Ya Do" ,too. Great guest Guitar from Waldo , The Werewolf of Wall Street , and on The Boyfriends' "I NEED YOUR lOVE" , GREAT DOUBLE TRACKED LEADS. I even liked their version of "Little Bit O'Soul", too. Dee Dee's vocal debut , "Time Bomb" rocks like fuck, and the "Youth in Revolt" lyrics are unintentionally hilarious. A very fun album. BTW - Did they ever correct the mistake in the liner notes? They had a lot of people thinking Joey had shortened his professional name to JOE.
Too Tough To Die - WELL , WHAT YOU SAID . THE BEST SINCE "THE BIG THREE". I even like the Pop numbers. iT DID MY HEART GOOD TO HEAR "Howlin' At The Moon" ON THE RADIO....once.
Animal Boy - "LOVE KILLS" WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE THEME SONG TO "sID AND nANCY". I thought it should have been , but , now , it's just as well. "Freak of Nature" and "Crummy Stuff" were among my favorites , but , I thought "Something To Believe In" was the hit that should have band. Ron Ross , a good friend of the band's , and a friend of mine too , in my Dullass, Texas daze , said the same. It's my favorite later "Pop" song , but , it's not for everybody.
I think "Halfway To Sanity" was much more solid than it's predecessor. I especially like ''Bop Til You Drop", "Go Lil' Camaro , Go", and "I Lost My Mind" (Someone on You Tube insisted Dee Dee's vocals were actually done by H.R. from Bad Brains. H.R. was probably still in jail when this was recorded. In any case , it's not him.), too . But I like it all. Even the "Goth" stuff , ha ha ha.
I have no complaints about Brain Drain , except that the back cover would have looked better on the front !
Loco Live is not the best , but it sounds fine to me , if I don't try to hold it up to "It's Alive" and several bootlegs...If nothing else , they slipped "Carbona , Not Glue" into the mix.
Mondo Bizarro is definitely the best of the last few albums . Vernon Reid's Guitar solo on "Cabbies on Crack" was a bit too Eddie Van Halen for me , but , I liked the album pretty much , start to finish.
I actually liked "Adios Amigos ". The reason I liked "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" (Besides the cool video that Dan Clowes put his honeymoon on hold to complete.) , it was laid out like a Buzzcocks song , with the solo imitating the first verse. THEY WERE'NT THROWING DEE DEE A BONE , it was the other way around . They were'nt coughing up the songs , and needed his help. Personally , I thought it was cool that they even still had a professional relationship , though I saw Dee Dee , twice , with The Chinese Dragons , and he KILLED.
John Battles said:
Well , I'd never defend that last Live CD. THEY JUST WANTED OUT OF THEIR CONTRACT AND SOME QUICK CASH , WHEN THERE'S PLENTY OF GREAT BOOTLEGS THEY COULD HAVE MADE LEGIT . i'M ONE OF THE RARE FEW THAT DOES LIKE "ACID EATERS" . MOST OF IT. i'M ALSO THAT RARE , RARE SORT..... A WHITE GUY OVER 30 WHO DOES'NT , AND NEVER HAS , OWN(ED ) A CREEDENCE ALBUM. MARKY TOLD ME HE WISHED THAT TOMMY ERDELYI HAD PRODUCED IT , INSTEAD.....IT WAS A LABOR OF LOVE , THEY HAD NOTHING TO GAIN , JUST LIKE JEFF BECK DOING THE GENE VINCENT TRIBUTE CD AROUND THAT TIME.....ARTHUR LEE TOLD ME HE LIKED THEIR "7 AND 7 IS". THAT WAS GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME.
Rev. Norb said:
I don't know if i agree that the Ramones didn't have a bad album -- who would listen to "Adios Amigos" or "Acid Eaters" if it didn't say "RAMONES" on the cover, and "Greatest Hits Live" was pretty lame. But, that said, i'll bite:
1) "Pleasant Dreams" is an underrated album. The production doesn't do it any favors, and Joey's weird "songwriterly" efforts like "We Want The Airwaves" and "It's Not My Place" and "This Business Is Killing Me" and "7-11" are pretty lousy. However, the record's got a number of really good songs on it, and it all works together fairly well. Everyone knows "All's Quiet On The Eastern Front" and "The KKK Took My Baby Away;" less appreciated songs on that record are "You Sound Like You're Sick" and "Sitting In My Room."
2) I love "Subterranean Jungle." I know lots of people really hate it. I love the bubblegum metal production, and even Walter Lure's guitar solos. The "hit" is obviously "Psycho Therapy," but "Every Time I Eat Vegetables It Makes Me Think Of You" is great as well, as are their covers of the CHAMBERS BROTHERS and BOYFRIENDS. I think the whole album is fun from start to finish.
3) I am also a fan of "Too Tough To Die." The songs are grouped together in an interesting way -- three drudgey slow ones to start ((in itself an odd thing)), then three punk tunes to kick it in the ass...then four synth-pop type things ((most of which are pretty good!)), two more punk ones, and it ends with "No Go," which is kind of a punkabilly thing. I thought the production could be brighter, i guess, but overall you can make a decent case for this one being the strongest album since the first three. "Durango 95," "Danger Zone," "Chasing The Night," "Humankind" and "No Go" are all underappreciated ((along with more appreciated numbers like "Wart Hog" and "Endless Vacation" and "Howling at the Moon" and "Daytime Dilemma" and such)).
4) I also like "Animal Boy," although i think it's a reasonable secondary jumping-off point for people who want to own all the Ramones records up to a certain point -- that point being somewhere after the first 3/4 albums but before "Adios Amigos" et al. I enjoy Richie Ramone's drumming more than Marky's. I think "Crummy Stuff" is the great forgotten song on this one. "Freak of Nature" and "Love Kills" are cool, too. I think the willfully-thrashy stuff like "Animal Boy" is sort of self-conscious and weak-ish, however, and "Something To Believe In" doesn't do much for me.
5) "Halfway To Sanity" -- this record is about halfway to good and halfway to shit. I liked "Weasel Face" and "Go L'il Camaro Go" and "Bop Til You Drop" and "I Lost My Mind" and "Real Cool Time." I did not like the gloomy crap like "I Wanna Live" or "Garden of Serenity" whatsoever. Lots of real duds on this album.
6) "Brain Drain" -- this is their first real dud. I liked "Palidsades Park" and i thought "Zero Zero UFO" was ok. Other than that, ick. I hate stuff like "Pet Sematary" and "Merry Christmas."
7) "Loco Live" -- yuck. It was depressing to go see them at this point, they had clearly played the songs so many times that they'd forgotten how to play them. I'd be trying to get into it, and they'd respond with these half-assed, raced-through tippy-tappy-tippy-tappy versions of songs that i once loved. Bleah.
8) "Mondo Bizarro" -- I thought this one was pretty decent, probably their last legitimately good record. The production was great; i think "Censorshit" "Heidi Is A Headcase" and "Touring" were the three hits ((although it should be noted "Touring" had been around since at least the "Pleasant Dreams" sessions, underscoring the band's difficulty in writing a dozen simple songs every two years)). I dislike stuff like "Poison Heart" and "Strength To Endure." Not my scene at all.
9) "Acid Eaters" -- um...tried to like it. Could not. Having C.J. singing lead on three songs, including the album's leadoff track, also did not sit well with me.
10) "Adios Amigos" -- not much here. Table scraps. So much outside songwriting influence as to render the final product completely incoherent. I guess C.J.'s songs like "Scattergun" and "Got A Lot To Say" were ok. The Tom Waits thing was kinda decent.
11) "Greatest Hits Live" and anything else i am missing -- yuck!
That's my take. Thanks for asking.
