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[Metallus Maximus]

Metallus Maximus � Maximus Archivus � Classic Album Of The Day Archive (Moderator: Hellboy)
Classic Album of The Day 10/3/08: Ramones - Road To Ruin

[Metal_King]

Ramones - Road To Ruin - Released September 22, 1978

Track Listing:

"I Just Want to Have Something to Do" (Joey Ramone) – 2:42
"I Wanted Everything" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 3:18
"Don't Come Close" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:44
"I Don't Want You" (Joey Ramone) – 2:26
"Needles & Pins" (Sonny Bono / Jack Nitzsche) – 2:21
"I'm Against It" – 2:07
"I Wanna Be Sedated" (Joey Ramone) – 2:29
"Go Mental" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:42
"Questioningly" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 3:22
"She's the One" – 2:13
"Bad Brain" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:25
"It's a Long Way Back" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:20

Mind you, I never really got into the Ramones until my late teens.  I was a close minded metalhead at an early age, and the Ramones were one of those bands that I took a liking to once I realized that it was OK to listen to non-metal bands.

Yesterday, while driving the boy to hockey practice, I put this one on for him.  One thing that I do enjoy about the Ramones is that the songs are easy to sing along to, and my 8 year old was doing just that. 

My Son: "Hey dad!  I Wanted Everything is a good song.  I like singing to that one."

**Dad sheds a tear**

My response, "You know what Matt, you're absolutely right.  "I Wanted Everything" is a GREAT song!"

We continued to listen as we got to practice.  A father/son/Ramones moment. 


Now, I think "I Wanted Everything" is an absolute GEM of a song in the Ramones collection.  At almost 3:20, it is a marathon of a song for Ramones standards, and it never lets down.  Just bone crushing. 

But, the album has so much more......Go Mental, I'm Against It, Bad Brain, and She's The One.

This band is the Led Zeppelin of punk....well, it's the band that I think sets the standard.  No band took 3 chords and did so much with those other than the Ramones.  I was lucky enough to see them ONE TIME at the Hollywood Palladium around 1994 as Overwhelming Colorfast opened up for them.

God I appreciate this band.  For my ears, this is the pinnacle of punk IMO.  Sex Pistols, Fear, Minor Threat, GBH....they tried, but give me the Ramones every single frickin' time. 

[Venom]

you got me here....I need to listen to the Ramones cd that Zeke burned for me still.

[Release]

GREAT album!!!! 

[mak28]

I have this.  I wanted to check out a Ramones CD after getting into Social Distortion earlier this year.  I figured maybe I could start digging some punk.  So, curiosity got to me and on the advice of several people I picked up this as my intro to the band.  Unfortunately all useful comments end there.  I'll leave you to your appreciation thread.

[Metal_King]

I have this.  I wanted to check out a Ramones CD after getting into Social Distortion earlier this year.  I figured maybe I could start digging some punk.  So, curiosity got to me and on the advice of several people I picked up this as my intro to the band.  Unfortunately all useful comments end there.  I'll leave you to your appreciation thread.

 

[zekeyou]

Great album; is there such a thing as a bad Ramones album?

[Release]

Great album; is there such a thing as a bad Ramones album?

Acid Eaters?  The covers album.  I didn't like that one very much at all.  But Rush did one of those too with songs that meant a lot more to the band than their fans, so who knows?

[zekeyou]

Great album; is there such a thing as a bad Ramones album?

Acid Eaters?  The covers album.  I didn't like that one very much at all.  But Rush did one of those too with songs that meant a lot more to the band than their fans, so who knows?

Yeah, I guess perhaps that might be it.

[mak28]

I have this.  I wanted to check out a Ramones CD after getting into Social Distortion earlier this year.  I figured maybe I could start digging some punk.  So, curiosity got to me and on the advice of several people I picked up this as my intro to the band.  Unfortunately all useful comments end there.  I'll leave you to your appreciation thread.

 

It's not that I dislike it.  Some of it is cool.  I'm Against It is even great but your talking to a person who puts Spiral Architect's "A Sceptics Universe" in his top 5 albums ever.  I know it's part of the point is that there is nothing to their music, even part of the brilliance but it doesn't hold my interest very well.

[nvmbrsdoom5]

Hey I like Spiral Architect AND The Ramones ;-)  Provides a nice counterbalance, yknow?

Anyhow, "Road To Ruin" was the first Ramones album I ever bought, when I was about 8 or 9 years old.  I'd seen "Rock And Roll High School" on pay t.v. one day and became an instant fan.  I think "Pleasant Dreams" was their most current album at that time, but I wanted "Road..." because of it's major inclusion in the film, especially the song "I Just Wanna Have Something To Do".  It's a great diverse album (well as diverse as the Ramones get) and it was walking the line between their raw punk sound on the first 3 albums, and the more produced, radio-friendly sound they'd start to chase on their following releases.  I always tend to love those "transitional" albums like that.

I'd probably say this is my favorite album of theirs, with "Rocket To Russia" very close behind.

As for there being a "bad" Ramones cd.....I don't know if any of them were completely without merit but some of them I don't care for very much, with only a few gems.  I think all of the albums from 1980's "End Of The Century" on were good but not from start to finish.  The only Ramones cds I find myself listening to all the way through enthusiastically are the first four, and then I really liked "Mondo Bizarro" and on.

There's a few tunes on "Acid Eaters" I could live without, but I really enjoyed that cd at the time!  GREAT tour for that one too.  I was (and am) a big C.J. Ramone fan, he really brought them back to life IMO.