685 Ramones - Pleasant Dreams (1981)

Studio Album - Pop Punk

About the Act:

The Ramones were an American punk band that existed from 1974 to 1996. They were one of the most influential punk bands in the New York punk scene in the late 70s. They have been recognised in many lists as being of the most significant rock bands, well, ever.  

Unlike other punk bands who's style often included colourful dyed hair, the Ramones adopted long hair and leather jackets as a kind of uniform. Also, all members of the band adopted stage names with the surname "Ramone" even though they were not related. The "classic" line-up was Dee Dee Ramone, Joey Ramone, Tommy Ramone and Johnny Ramone, all of whom are now dead.  

Their music was categorised by fast beats, raw, simple rock and short, abrupt songs. Later, they diversified into more poppy music.

About the Album:

This was their sixth album. The band wanted Steve Lillywhite, a producer of punk bands to produce the album, but the record company brought in Graham Gouldman of 10CC instead. The band were falling out and there were drug and alcohol problems.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

This is not a good Punk record. So I know that The Ramones were part of the New York Punk scene that started the whole thing off, and I know that Malcolm McLaren effectively stole Punk from NY and brought it to London. When I hear British Punk, invariable I think it is better punk than this. This is basically tame and watered down, there are some punk feels every now and then, but actually it sounds more like 50s Rock and Roll, as sung by somebody with a stuffed-up nose, and with thrashy guitars, at times. The lyrical attitudes are also tame.

But there is a problem here, which is that I try to review these albums without context if possible. This is because the intended audience for these reviews is people who might be tempted to try the albums, and to give them an idea of what they are like. If I were reviewing for Punk fans, this would be a legitimate criticism, but I need to think differently, I need to put aside my pre-conception that The Ramones are a Punk band and listen to it as if it was just any other album. Rewind, start again.

This is not a great record. Certainly, it is mostly not punk, but it does have some punky bits, mostly the introductions and guitar sounds. The singing is slightly punky, but the whole thing doesn't have the energy or nihilism of punk, and so it's rock. Actually, as I said before, it's more like Rock and Roll, and I can hear a lot of Buddy Holly and maybe Eddie Cochran in this. There is a strong relationship between Punk and Rockabilly, but this is more of an updated 50s sound than anything, with songs that might not be out of place at a High School Dance in "Happy Days", but maybe with a bit more attitude. The music is mostly in that sort of style with the addition of rocky guitar and more prominent drums. The backing vocals are very vocal group, the tunes are definitely like that and so are the songs. 

The lyrics are mostly quite banal, or should I say simple. They are not clever or complex, but they are often about girls or relationships, and 7-11 is probably the worst of these, it's a classic "I dated a girl and then she died tragically" story, and the rhymes are really cheesy. All in all, if there were any hint that this album was a parody, I would cut it more slack. 

Critics didn't like it much, and it didn't sell well. Apparently two important members of the band were pulling in different directions, one to Punk and one to Pop, and they were falling out anyway because of a love triangle, and while I wouldn't say I could feel the tension, I would say I can hear the lack of clear direction. It might be better as a pop album, or as a punk album, but it's not good at being both. It's basically mostly cheesy and facile. I'm overstating a bit, it's mostly OK to listen to. If one of these songs came on the radio I wouldn't turn it off, but I wouldn't consider rushing out to buy the album.

If you are a big fan of stuff like Buddy Holly in particular, and want to hear that sort of thing with an updated sound, you might like this. Otherwise, my advice... next!

6/10

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4Z0YHXghWhViyBCpEulR2Z

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBnJv6rImVe_xN_l-dFIPHu5gl1Qzh71n

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Dreams