Ramones Album: “Hey! Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology”

Hey Ho Let's Go! Ramones Anthology(1999). The Ramones' Second Compilation.

Back in the Mid. to Late 70's, Underground Punk was taking the world by storm, with bands such as The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The Pixies dominating the Punk Scene. But one lone American band, taking influences from The New York Dolls and The Stooges, called The Ramones, were just as popular. Adding more traditional Rock N Roll to Punk, The Ramones were one of Punk's most influential bands, and were one of Kurt Cobain's biggest influences for his band Nirvana. Although nobody would say they were incredibly talented, The Ramones were able to mold a catchy, hooky, Punk tune, emphasizing vocals and inane lyrics to appeal to listeners, while always having the chugging guitar right behind it. So it's no surprise, at the Turn of the Century, The Ramones released a massive 2-Disc career retrospective, containing almost 60 songs, and a booklet containing The Ramones ENTIRE career. So how does Hey Ho Let's Go-Ramones Anthology stack up? Read on to find out?

PROS-

-ALMOST SIXTY SONGS ON TWO DISCS!- The Ramones Anthology has 58 songs on TWO(!) discs, so you can expect bank for your buck!

CONS-

-EXPENSIVE!-The Ramones Anthology will set you back 30 Dollars, while 'The Ramones Mania' and 'Loud, Fast Ramones:Their Toughest Hits' will only set you back Fifteen Dollars, making it less accessible to casual fans.

Overall, Hey Ho Let's Go- The Ramones Anthology is a very good and detailed compilation, but casual fans and diehard fans may be turned off because of its lack of new material and price. But, if you were only going to buy one thing by The Ramones, I would suggest picking this up. If your a casual fan, I recommend the 'Ramones Mania' compilation, because it's also very good and a lot cheaper.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, IF YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO BUY ONE THING BY THE

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Thanks For Reading!

Where better to end a story than at the beginning. The title of this anthology comes from the lyrics of The Ramones' first "hit" song, "Blitzkrieg Bop", from their first album released in 1976. It all ended 20 years and more than 3,000 live shows later in 1996.

The Ramones found their formula early, and stuck to it. Dress the same, take on the same name, and eliminate the unnecessary. So what was unnecessary? Guitar solos, guitar effects, playing to each other, drum fills, ten minute songs, and a big stage show - pretty much all the excesses of prog rock. And what was left? A steady, speedy backbeat, buzzing guitars, simple catchy melodies, and lots of fun sounding songs.

The Ramones were accused of being stupid on a regular basis. From the outside, they probably did seem a bit stupid. They all looked and dressed the same unfashionable (for the time) way, their albums were shorter than many songs of the 1970s rock dinosaurs, and their song titles and lyrics were almost childlike. Songs like "Beat On The Brat", "Judy Is A Punk", "Cretin Hop" and "I Wanna Be Sedated" were hardly intellectual in their content. The band were simply a "1-2-3-4" from Dee Dee Ramone, and they were away. Two minutes, three chords, and several "Gabba Gabba Hey"s later, it was time to start all over again.

Most people missed where The Ramones were actually coming from. While the songs were simple, employing catchy melodies with a minimum of complications, inspiration for the songs came from real life stories of the band, much darker than expected. "53rd & 3rd" was inspired by bass player Dee Dee Ramone's time as a male prostitute on a New York street corner to pay for his drug habit. "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", "Somebody Put Something In My Drink", "Chinese Rock" and "Carbona Not Glue" all dealt with substance abuse. Depression, mental illness, boredom, and messed up lives were all dealt with.

This anthology tracks the band from the carefree, simple days of the 70s, the almost disastrous time they spent with Phil Spector in the early 1980s (Spector's vision: The Ramones as the Ultimate Pop band), the line up changes of the later 1980s, and the resurgence of the band's popularity in the 1990s. Through all these changes, the songs remained the same, the albums remained short, and The Ramones stayed out of the mainstream. To this day, The Ramones remain firm favourites of punks all over the world, and a good number of metal fans too, because of that consistency and not bowing to commercial pressures. It is incredible to think a band of such standing among music fans around the world hardly managed to break the top 100 in the charts with most of their albums, with the 1980 album "End Of The Century" the pinnacle of their success at number 44.

With the deaths of Joey and Dee Dee, a reunion of The Ramones is impossible. The music will have to remain as a testament to this incredibly influential band. Somehow, it seems only fitting.

People discovering the Ramones for the first time are in for a treat. This anthology is certainly a great place to start. This collection of songs is merely a primer. Go out and get the true albums. Far too many buried tracks on the albums were not part of this anthology and really should have been.

Long time fans of the Ramones (as seen in previous reviews) will find this (song selection-wise) a disappointment. We've heard all these tunes before. I totally agree that this was an anthology squandered. The boys had so many fantastic B-side tunes throughout their career that it was a mistake not to include them in this anthology.

And where was "Questioningly"?? One of Joey's penultimate songs! I also would have dropped either "California Sun" or "Surfin' Bird" and replaced it their cover of "Time Has Come Today."

Still none of this detracts from the sheer fun of their music. Even this collection of songs deserves 5 stars. The Ramones were and forever will be the masters (creators) of the American punk scene.

It's highly unfair that bands like The Offspring and Green Day are making a bazillion dollars using the same three chords that are the cornerstone of the Ramones style of playing. But if they had to learn it from somewhere...thankfully it was from the true punks themselves.

Love this anthology or hate it. That's up to you. But this one thing is certain... it is the ULTIMATE party CD! From start to finish... a total blast!!

As Lemmy from Motorhead wrote: R-A-M-O-N-E-S! R-A-M-O-N-E-S! RAMONES!

There are two essential questions facing an overview such as this: What's On It and What's Not On It. The Ramones were very prolific over their 21 year existence, a smart band playing dumb music. They seemed untroubled by the oxymoron facing most bands as to how to change whilst at the same time staying the same. To whittle down their entire repertoire to just two discs seems nigh on impossible, yet the compilers here have made a fair stab at it, and managed to squeeze in 58 tracks by the band, from debut single Blitzkrieg Bop at the birth of blank generation punk in 1976 to final studio album Adios Amigos in 1995. The package comes well documented and with a fullsome, illustrated 80 page book detailing their career from an inside perspective.

As you would expect, most of the most famous singles are on it, along with representative tracks from the albums Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket to Russia, Road To Ruin, End Of The Century, Pleasant Dreams, Subterranean Jungle, Too Tough To Die, Animal Boy, Halfway To Sanity, Brain Drain, Mondo Bizarro and Adios Amigos. The first 21 tracks all date from the intensely creative 18-month period when the first three albums were released, and where the average Ramones track lasted just over two minutes.

Sometimes the singles versions varied from those on the albums and the 45 rpm versions of Swallow My Pride, Sheena Is A Punk Rocker, I Don't Care, Needles And Pins, My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg), Something To Believe In, Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) and Pet sematary have been selected for this anthology.

There are quite a few comparative rarities including the previously unreleased original film soundtrack mixes of Rock'n'Roll High School and I Want You Around. Carbona Not Glue only appeared on early pressings of the first album before being removed due to complaints from Carbona. I Don't Want To Live This Life (Anymore) was an out-take from Animal Boy that turned up on a UK 12", and Motorhead's tribute song R.A.M.O.N.E.S. was only on the Japanese pressing of Adios Amigos.

Despite being very effective composers themselves, the band loved to pepper their repertoire with some well-chosen covers, and this is reflected through the inclusion of California Sun, Surfin' Bird, Needles And Pins, Tom Waits' I Don't Wanna Grow Up and R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

So what's not on it? For a start, despite the Ramones releasing at least three live double-albums and numerous live B-sides, this Anthology features only studio recordings. This is probably sensible, as is the absence of any demos or unreleased out-takes. A couple of key tracks are noticeably absent, including Judy Is A Headbanger, Time Has Come Today and the Spector-produced Baby I Love You single, one of their biggest hits, though to me far less memorable than the Ronettes original. The album of psychedelic covers, Acid Eaters, is not represented by a single track and is written off in the sleeve notes as a "'covers' misfire", which seems a little harsh from what I know of the album.

Although I have been able to identify some examples of tracks I thought ought to have been included, it is harder to pick out what should have been left off to make way from them, since each disc has a playing time approaching the maximum, suggesting that the right balance has been achieved.

RIP Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny.

I am a fairly new fan of The Ramones, and after downloading some essential songs online, I bought the anthology as my first Ramones purchase. I must say I'm glad I finally opened up to this great band. Although I am not a fan of punk music, (not by today's standards anyway) I really enjoy listening to these melodic upbeat songs. The band incorporates ultra memorable hooks, unique vocal deliveries, and simplistic chord stylings, and when everything is in place, its a synergy. Musically its simple, but the songs are instantly invigorating. The only down side to the group, is that some of the songs sound similar, but that just comes with the territory, especially considering the (intentional) primitive back bone of the songs.

Whether you're a hardcore Ramones fan, or just starting to discover them (like me) this album will prove a very worthy purchase.

Dan.