I don't know whether or not the Ramones invented punk rock, but they sure made being a teenage boy a lot more fun for me. Of course I considered this album magical when I first heard it back in the ‘80s as will the generations of teenage boys who come after me (hopefully lots of them will be from the Middle East). Perhaps we’ll never really know what possessed the Ramones- four guys from Queens- to create this kind of music- twisted bubblegum, I think Johnny Ramone called it- though the band later claimed they were just tired of twelve minute guitar solos and smoke machines and wanted to get back to basics (short, fast songs about girls and being a creep).
By the mid-‘70s, rock music had become the Roman Empire at its most bloated and corrupt and the Ramones were tattered leather barbarians crashing at the gates. It’s hard to find anything wrong with this album though some songs are better than others. I recently watched the documentary Danny Says about the Ramones’ manager, Danny Fields, who tape recorded Lou Reed’s initial reaction as Reed sat anxiously listening to these songs for the first time circa 1976. Lou Reed- the Long Island godfather of punk- lost his mind over the Ramones’ music because he understood what it meant: rock gods and their minions were finished and music would never be the same. Oh, and your grandkids will probably dig this album, too. "Hey, ho, let’s go!" Grade: A
By the mid-‘70s, rock music had become the Roman Empire at its most bloated and corrupt and the Ramones were tattered leather barbarians crashing at the gates. It’s hard to find anything wrong with this album though some songs are better than others. I recently watched the documentary Danny Says about the Ramones’ manager, Danny Fields, who tape recorded Lou Reed’s initial reaction as Reed sat anxiously listening to these songs for the first time circa 1976. Lou Reed- the Long Island godfather of punk- lost his mind over the Ramones’ music because he understood what it meant: rock gods and their minions were finished and music would never be the same. Oh, and your grandkids will probably dig this album, too. "Hey, ho, let’s go!" Grade: A
Listen to songs from the album on Spotify...
Recommended Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment