AMG Review of Too Tough to Die [Expanded]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

With the Ramones' original drummer, Tommy Erdelyi, producing, the group returns to simple, scathing punk rock on Too Tough to Die. The group takes the big guitar riffs of Subterranean Jungle and makes them shorter and heavier. The Ramones' rhythms are back up to jackhammer speed and the songs are down to short, terse statements. The results read like a reaction to hardcore punk, but the Ramones are more melodic than any hardcore band, as well as smarter than most. Apart from the occasional foray into pop, such as the surprisingly effective Dave Stewart-produced "Howling at the Moon," the album is a sterling set of lethal punk, the best the Ramones had made since the end of the '70s. It was also the last great record they would ever make. [The 2002 reissue adds more bonus tracks than there are original songs. These new tracks include the unreleased tracks "Smash You," "Out of Here," and "I'm Not an Answer"; a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man"; versions of "Planet Earth 1988," "Danger Zone," and "Too Tough to Die" with Dee Dee singing; and demos of "No Go," "Mama's Boy," "Endless Vacation," "Daytime Dilemma," and "Howling at the Moon."]