23rd April - Ramones' Ramones

Artist – Album: Ramones - Ramones

Released: 23^rd April 1976

Sounds Like: Changing the world three power chords at a time

Make no mistake, the Ramones – with their simplistic, frenzied songs and retro leanings – changed the course of popular music with this album. Reacting against the proggy direction rock music had begun to take and hankering for a return to the true rock and roll sounds of the 60’s and earlier, they turned to hectic and melodic power pop songs to manifest their distaste for the overly complex music being produced by their peers. The record was a major factor in greasing the wheels of the UK punk movement (The Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned were all blown away by the band during a brief tour of England), which in turn demolished rock’s old guard and rewrote the rules for the new alternative scene. Not bad for a group of gangly New Yorkers who claimed that they couldn’t even play.

Well, I hear you say, well, It’s all well and good being important, but what we really want to know is, is it still worth listening to Joe? Yes, (insert name). Yes it is.

From the first chant of “Hey Ho, Let’s Go!” on ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, the Ramones tear through fourteen vital snippets of American punk. The high tempo never lets up, and each song sounds pretty much the same. But when the songs sound like this, that doesn’t matter. Especially when they’re each only a couple of minutes long. ‘Beat on the Brat’ is a great nonsensical paean to violence, ‘Judy is a Punk’ led to an upsurge in the number of girls being called Judy, and ‘I Don’t Wanna Walk Around with You’ is a brilliantly brash dismissal.

Raucous, rebellious, cool and cocky, and a true game changer to boot.  

Albumaday... rating: 10/10

1.       Blitzkrieg Bop – 2:12

2.       Beat on the Brat – 2:30

3.       Judy Is a Punk – 1:30

4.       I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend – 2:24

5.       Chain Saw – 1:55

6.       Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue – 1:34

7.       I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement – 2:35

8.       Loudmouth – 2:14

9.       Havana Affair – 2:00

10.   Listen to My Heart – 1:56

11.   53^rd & 3^rd – 2:19

12.   Let’s Dance – 1:51

13.   I Don’t Wanna Walk Around with You – 1:43

14.   Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World – 2:09

Listen to ‘Judy Is a Punk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLq6KaWaQYQ

Also released on the 23^rd April:

1971: The Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers

Also released on the 23^rd April:

2002: Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Also released on the 23^rd April:

2007: Feist – The Reminder