Ramones Album: “Ramones Mania”

The Ramones were a perfect antidote for disco and new wave when they started, and nowadays they help ease the bitter taste of boy bands and teenyboppers. They play stripped-down punk rock, driven by four-on-the-floor drumbeats and powered by electric guitars and Joey Ramone's sneering, but on-key vocals.

The Ramones and the Sex Pistols are often paired together as the founding fathers of punk. While there's no denying the Pistol's raw power, I prefer The Ramones because they were more musically astute (translation: they could sing and play their instruments), and didn't let their rebellion translate into sloppy playing and singing. This greatest hits package serves as a good anthology of the band's work, collecting all of the essential tunes.

A lot of it is mindless fun, like "Sheena is a punk rocker" and "Rockaway Beach." Despite the amped-up sound, The Ramones are rooted in 50's and 60's pop; some of their best tunes sound like the Beach Boys with the distortion cranked up.

What's surprising, though, is the intelligent edge that creeps around the corners. "Bonzo goes to Bitburg" is a clever attack on Reagan's visit to a Nazi Cemetery, "Commando" is a good anti-war rant, and "Chinese Rock" gives a portrait of a drug addict hitting rock bottom.

The only detriment to the album is that it reveals the Ramone's technical limitations. Even with some tracks produced by Phil Spector and the like, slick studio work can't hide the fact that they're strictly three-chord rock. But at 30 tracks, any artist would start to sound repetitive.

So take it in smaller doses, and let the Ramones' rock their way into your central nervous system. Their music is not only listenable, it's better than caffeine.

in my opinion, it's impossible to create a perfect ramones collection. that being said, this has most of the songs that you'd expect to be on anyone's ramones mix tape ('i wanna be sedated,' 'rockaway beach,' 'the kkk took my baby away,' 'sheena is a punk rocker' etc) as well as some of their more accessible/poppier materal ('i wanna be your boyfriend,' 'howling at the moon,' 'we want the airwaves' and 'needles and pins'). of course they had to leave out some of the ramones most important tracks like 'chasing the night,' 'judy is a punk,' or 'here today, gone tomorrow' due to time restrictions. this is a great introduction for a new fan or a person who's not really into punk rock but wants to hear what the ramones could do.

In light of Joey Ramone's recent death, I think this album would be a good place for those who are wondering what the Ramones music was like. The Ramones are a seminal band, without them the whole punk movement would never have begun, and we'd still be listening to 40 minute drum solos.

Listen, learn, enjoy. The sheer fun of the 2-3 minute romp with Dee Dee yelling 1-2-3-4 can't be beat. Of course, when you get done with this, you'll want all the albums, and that's to be expected. If you're new to the Ramones, start here, and discover.

"I don't wanna be a pinhead no more/I just met a nurse that I could go for."

This is an awesome career retrospective! It covers the material from the album "Ramones" (1976) up to "Halfway To Sanity" (1987). It's a prefect sample of the band's recorded output with Sire Records. Before I purchased this collection back in 1995, I only had "Pleasant Dreams", so all songs here except for two were new for me, and I thought all the remaining 28 were fantastic right on the first listen!

Some of my favorites are "I Wanna Live" (killer intro), "Somebody Put Something In My Drink" (a killer chorus), plus the punk pop classics like "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Sheena is A Punk Rocker", "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment", "Commando", "Rockaway Beach", etc.

The booklet contains a very detalied essay about the group's formation plus some info about the albums and the songs taken from each. The problem is that the printing is quite small!

There are three songs featured in their single edit/alternate mix form instead of the original album version: "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" - the main difference is Johnny's buzzsaw rhythm guitar is lower in the mix, "Howling At The Moon (Sha-La-La)" - the whole second verse is edited out, and "Needles & Pins" - there's some extra electric rhythm guitar that appears from the second chorus. Also included is a rare single b-side that the band recorded during the "Subterranean Jungle" sessions in 1982 titled "Indian Giver", a cool song!

If you like pop infused punk rock, then you can't go wrong with this compilation or any album from the Ramones!

Thanks for taking the time to read!

Later...

MANIA is a compilation of the greatest hits of the RAMONES. You get 30 songs on one disc. If you are already a fan of the Ramones, this is another gem to add to your collection. If you are tired of the music that is being played today (boy bands and Britney Spears), then go out and get this CD. It is a breath of fresh air. The songs are short and brutal and their is no BS in their music. How can you not love songs with titles such as: BEAT ON THE BRAT, I WANNA BE SEDATED, THE KKK TOOK MY BABY AWAY, SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER, PSYCHO THERAPY, SOMEBODY PUT SOMETHING IN MY DRINK. The RAMONES showed that all you need is 3 chords, and an attitude and you can rock. So go out buy this album and be ready to rock. If you want a good companion to this album, pick up DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME by Joey Ramone. Rock On