615 Ramones - End of the Century (1980)

 615 Ramones - End of the Century (1980)

Studio Album - 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, and was produced by Phil Spector. There seem to be many contradictory stories about the album, about whether Phil threatened them with guns to stay and work in the studio, about how much time was spent, and about whether or not (and when) what you hear is in fact session musicians. It contains a cover of the Motown song Baby I Love You.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

So this is the seventh Ramones album on this list, and yet again they have failed to impress me. Mercifully, like the others, it was short. They brought in Phil Spector to produce, in an attempt to gain popularity. It worked, and this was their best-selling album.

It's kind of rocky, loud guitars and so on, simple chords and simple songs, with crunchy rock guitars. At times they do sound more rock than punk (look, don't ask me what that means... a deeper guitar sound maybe?) It doesn't have the unpolished rawness of other punk, but it still retains an urgency. It's still not that good, though, either as an anarchic punk album or as a rock album. It's unfortunately pedestrian.

Some of the lyrical content is questionable, Chinese Rock is about heroin for example. Most of the time, the vocals are kind of empty of quality, either of singing ability or expressiveness, and again I might forgive that if the overall thing was more punk. 

I think most of the Ramones albums I have encountered in this list have been later in their career. I wonder if they were better earlier. My encounters so far have mostly led to a "meh" opinion from me. Not impressed.

5.8/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4AZArreHFJ5m8mo1SZT3Iv

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBnJv6rImVe_HKhoRYIYlMBhiQc5_1ffE

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



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