RAMONES - The Ramones

YEAR: 1976

LABEL: Sire

TRACK LISTING: Blitzkrieg Bop, Beat On the Brat, Judy Is A Punk, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, Chain Saw, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue, I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement, Loudmouth, Havana Affair, Listen To My Heart, 53rd & 3rd, Let's Dance, I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You, Today Your Love Tomorrow the World

IMPRESSIONS: The foundation document of punk rock. Deservedly considered one of the most influential albums of all time. Listening to it today, it perhaps startles the listener to hear just how slow it is. Back in the day, it was considered to have a tempo which was ridiculously sped up but after the days of thrash and speed metal, the album seems positively laid back. Which is something of a plus since now the naysayers can actually open their ears and listen to the terrific songwriting going on here. Besides the immortal "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Beat On the Brat" and "Judy Is A Punk", another favourite of mine is the horror-film inspired "I Don't Wanna Go Down To the Basement" which only features three lines in the lyric (as well as only three chords) and is hilariously the longest song on the album!

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Blitzkrieg Bop, Beat On the Brat, Judy Is A Punk, Chain Saw, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue, I Don't Wanna Go Down To the Basement, Havana Affair, Listen To My Heart, 53rd & 3rd, Let's Dance, I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You, Today Your Love Tomorrow the World

FACT SHEET: RAMONES is the Ramone's first album and is considered the start of the punk rock genre in music. The album was particularly championed by the British who would shortly take inspiration from it to create their own monumental punk rock movement with the Sex Pistols, the Clash et. al. The iconic cover photo was taken by Roberta Bayley and was made in a passport photo machine. Critic Robert Christgau described the album this way: "For me, it blows everything else off the radio." The Ramones got their name from Paul McCartney's use of the pseudonym "Paul Ramon" when checking into hotels.