592 Ramones - Leave Home (1977)

 592 Ramones - Leave Home (1977)

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 second record. It is regarded to have higher production values than most punk albums of the time.

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

So, this is, like, the eighth Ramones album I have reviewed in this list. I feel like mostly I have been saying "this is not really punk", and the albums have been from later in their career. This, however, I am pleased to say, is punk. 

So, I know that my history of Punk is far from deep and knowledgeable, but I do get the impression that not only did Punk actually originate in the US before the UK, but also the Ramones were a major part of that, in the NY punk scene. So, of course, I should be impressed. It has been said that "Like all cultural watersheds, Ramones was embraced by a discerning few and slagged off as a bad joke by the uncomprehending majority." 

It's fairly fast, it's fairly furious. It is loud and simple. It is led by the guitars and fast-changing chords. It has that general somewhat out-of-control sound, immediacy and lack of production that screams "punk". If anything this is as pure punk as I have heard, possibly. It's...

...dull. Sorry. At the time I'm sure it was ground-breaking. It was certainly in the forefront of a massive movement that in the UK was huge and important. So let's break this down a bit.

Fast and loud, lo-fi guitar-based punk. Check.

Energetic. Check, maybe less so in the vocals.

Anarchic and anti-establishment. Well, a bit, I mean there's songs about the punk culture, probably drug references, and the song "Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy" is obviously meant to be ironic. Some of the songs are about breakups, but some like "Oh Oh I Love Her So" are almost straight out of the edgier rock n roll of the 60s. I want to be fair, the anarchy thing was particularly true of the UK punk scene, pretty much manufactured by Malcolm McLaren. This is still suitably "underground" in attitude.

It ticks the punk tropes, but it doesn't do it for me. It's not quite exciting enough to get my blood racing, but also not intelligent enough to engage my brain. I think I might have to face a basic truth, that Punk does not grab me just by being Punk. Some punk I love, this just makes me yawn.

6/10

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1RBiytzhzGEKwqbovsjqPO

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBnJv6rImVe_wI98YxutclL9vz8DfeqmJ

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



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