This is the Ramones album I've been listening to lately. It's the Ramones 8th studio album, and also their 8th best studio album. A lot of people think it is their 6th best, but Pleasant Dreams and Subterranean Jungle are both underrated. On the other hand, since it is their 8th, and 8th best, album, it is also better than any of their subsequent albums, although Mondo Bizarro and perhaps Animal Boy are probably close.
The only real classic is "Howling at the Moon." Although I've always loved "Mama's Boy," it probably wouldn't be quite as great for someone not already a fan. "Chasing the Night" is very catchy but probably not quite a great song. Some of the lyrics on the album are awful. For example:
The jails are filled to the max
Discrimination against the blacks
and
People talk behind your back
Most of them drive a Cadillac
always seemed pretty bad to me too. "I'm Not Afraid of Life" is a wretchedly bad song. The rest of it is pretty solid, although bad lyrics ("All alone in the danger zone" is a terribly weak tag line) mar a lot of it. It's more heavy metal-ish than any of their previous albums.
This won't be strictly a music blog, that's just how it's starting out. Stay tuned...
Dee Dee Ramone released a rap album titled Funky Man, married a sixteen year old Argentinean woman then died of a heroin overdose. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys also released a rap album, equally as bad as Dee Dee's. He also did a lot of heroin. What I find interesting about this, aside from the sort of train wreck aspect of it all, is that they both participated in bands that made really amazing music at one time then went on to make some of the worst music ever recorded.
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