With the three-chord assault of "Blitzkrieg Bop," The Ramones begins at a blinding speed and never once over the course of its 14 songs does it let up. The Ramones is all about speed, hooks, stupidity, and simplicity. The songs are imaginative reductions of early ock & roll, girl group pop, and surf ock. Not only is the music boiled down to its essentials, but the Ramones offer a twisted, comical take on pop culture with their lyrics, whether it's the horror schlock of "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement," the drug deals of "53rd and 3rd," the gleeful violence of "Beat on the Brat," or the maniacal stupidity of "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue." And the cover of Chris Montez's "Let's Dance" isn't a throwaway -- with its single-minded beat and lyrics, it encapsulates everything the group loves about pre-Beatles ock & roll. They don't alter the structure, or the intent, of the song, they simply make it louder and faster. And that's the key to all of the Ramones' music -- it's simple ock & roll, played simply, loud, and very, very fast. None of the songs clock in at any longer than two and half minutes, and most are considerably shorter. In comparison to some of the music the album inspired, The Ramones sounds a little tame -- it's a little too clean, and compared to their insanely fast live albums, it even sounds a little slow -- but there's no denying that it still sounds brilliantly fresh and intoxicatingly fun.
Of all the New York bands that ever were perhaps none are more famous than The Ramones, the band that is widely regarded as the first punk band (they probably weren't) and wrote songs that almost never surpassed three minute in length. The repeated choruses and verses all the time, and if you listen to it on a regular basis it sounds like some grown up nursery rhyme with dirty or dysfunctional ...
More >
Of all the New York bands that ever were perhaps none are more famous than The Ramones, the band that is widely regarded as the first punk band (they probably weren't) and wrote songs that almost never surpassed three minute in length. The repeated choruses and verses all the time, and if you listen to it on a regular basis it sounds like some grown up nursery rhyme with dirty or dysfunctional ...
More >
My father, a distinguished professor of History at Columbia University, may be on his way to becoming an aging hipster. The problem is, he skipped the part where you're supposed to be young. Like most problems in this country, this can be traced to public television.Here's the incriminating email:In order to try to understand your music reviews and the cultural history of this country in the la...
More >
Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "The Ramones")
