Mondo Bizarro Review

It's hard to write about the Ramones without talking about their context, their significance, what they were responding to, what they were influenced by, etc. This is because, at least in their early period (which I would define as their first three albums), their music was as much music about music as it was anything else. Every song was a manifesto for their minimalist and primitivist aesthetic. What is most remarkable about the early period is that they produced three albums of pretty much equal merit, and it should go without saying that I think this means each one is a classic. It's not as though these albums are stylistically undifferentiated--their sound did evolve a bit from album to album, and the songwriting sort of tiptoed ahead too. And, of course, the closer one focuses in on these albums (The Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket to Russia) the more differentiating characteristics one is likely to find among them. Anyway, the most astounding thing about these albums is that the Ramones, minimalists though they were, were world-class songwriters (and this is probably true for both Dee Dee and Joey, whose contributions are probably less recognized but equally important).

With Road to Ruin the Ramones didn't really take a quantum leap, but they clearly inched across a line, it seems to me. Whether this was a step forward or not is debatable, but the band clearly could not have kept putting out albums like the first three indefinitely. If they were painted into a corner, there is little indication of it on Road to Ruin. How highly I rate the album varies from time to time; sometimes I think it's my favorite, other times I decisively prefer the first three. But in any case, it is impossible to consider the album a failure; the Ramones clearly evolved (in a value-neutral sense) without becoming crappy. Certainly "You Don't Come Close"  and "Questioningly"would be unimaginable on any previous Ramones album, and they are two of the strongest, most engaging songs on the album. The rest of it is closer to the same kind of thing only a bit different; some acoustic guitars, a little less frenetic of a mood, and more noticeable tinges of mid-tempo heavy metal (a trend which began on "Rocket to Russia" and remained throughout the rest of their career).





Unfortunately, the Ramones never successfully completed the transition into a middle period; decline was about to set in. "End of the Century" contains some classic tracks, but the Phil Spector production does not work for all of the material, and the songwriting is not as uniformly brilliant as it was on the first four albums. "Pleasant Dreams" is very underrated, but it is not a classic album in the way the earlier albums were. For my money, it's a collection of a lot of really good songs, but probably not any great ones (the possible exception being "The KKK Took my Baby Away"). As a fan, that's a hard distinction to make, but it has to be done.

"Subterranean Jungle" is harder to evaluate. The production is kind of poor, and there are a couple of so-so cover songs. But what makes evaluation hard is that the good/great distinction is not always an appropriate metric, as sometimes certain minor or offbeat works have a certain merit that is inseparable from precisely those qualities--part of the reason "Let it Be" is such a great album is that the Beatles are no longer writing instant standards (with a few obvious exceptions), but rather are pursuing minor pleasures in a fascinating way. Whereas "Pleasant Dreams" just seems like a less-successful attempt at making a total statement of Ramones intent than something like "Road to Ruin," "Subterranean Jungle," which doesn't contain any major Ramones songs, seems to abandon any such ambition, but it is a treasure for the dedicated fan.

This brings us to "Too Tough to Die," probably the first late-Ramones album if I am identifying periods. It is certainly the most overrated album of their career. Judging by allmusic, Mark Prindle and his interlocutors, and a lot of the anecdotal evidence I have gleaned over the years (including statements by the Ramones themselves), this was considered a major comeback, even one of their best albums. It is definitely neither of those things. "Howling at the Moon" is a first-rate song, "Mama's Boy" comes close,   "I'm Not Afraid of Life" is putrid, "Endless Vacation" is pointless, and the rest of it is somewhere in between, with a lot of listenable moments, a little too much macho and turgid slow metal, and some really horrendous lyrics (particularly "Humankind," "Danger Zone" and "Planet Earth 1988," each of which could have been much better with decent lyrics). And "Durango 95" is a really great instrumental, which turns into "Wart Hog" and makes the latter a lot more enjoyable than it would have otherwise been. Anyway, it's hard to see why this is a comeback album, since every previous album the Ramones made is better.

Animal Boy probably takes another step down, being the only album where the Ramones really sounded like the 1980s (foreshadowed by "Chasing the Night" on the previous album). This one isn't to be skipped by fans, though. The title track, "She Belongs to Me," "Crummy Stuff," "Mental Hell" and "Something to Believe In" all have a minor place in the pantheon of Ramones songs. "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" is marred by keyboards and bad lyrics, but it is beloved by some, and probably no hardcore fan can really despise it. And that's six songs already...maybe this album is on a par with "Too Tough to Die" after all; I just listened to it a few days ago for the first time since the 80s so I'll have to reserve judgment.

Incidentally, on Leave Home Joey gives us these lyrics: "Things don't last forever, and somehow, baby, they never really do..." On Animal Boy Dee Dee writes: "I don't know where to start, and I don't know where to begin..." It took me years to get over the first and realize that "I Remember You" is a classic. I'm still trying to work my way around the second and give "Something to Believe In" it's proper due. These things can tie me up in knots.

When Halfway to Sanity came out, I convinced myself it was way better than it is, just because I was excited to have a new Ramones album. "I Want to Live" is good, and very different, until the boring chorus "I want to live, I want to live my life, I want to live, I want to live my life..." takes all the air out of the tires. Maybe somebody can convince me I'm wrong but I've never been able to dig the chorus, and that kind of spoils the song, dunnit? "Bop 'Til You Drop" is tolerable slow heavy metal, "Garden of Serenity" probably comes close to working, with maybe pointless lyrics and cool vocals from Joey. I think "Death of Me" is actually totally great, and hence out of place on this album. That's about it, all the other songs either suck or I've forgotten them ("Bye Bye Baby" is almost good but it's really actually bad) (EDIT: I haven't heard this album in 20 years and now I'm checking some of it on youtube. I've reverted to thinking that this is actually kind of a good song). This is the worst Ramones album yet.

This brings us to 1989 and Brain Drain. I only heard this once or twice, and that was around the time it came out. I will buy this soon and check it out and then maybe I'll come back and revise this post, but my impression of this is: terrible. There is also one album after Mondo Bizarro (not counting Acid Eaters), the 1995 farewell Adios Amigos. I've hear a couple off that and my impression there is also: terrible. But I suppose I'll have to get that one too eventually and give it a chance. Being a fan can be tiresome.

So anyway, in 1992 the Ramones released Mondo Bizarro and, against all odds, it's pretty good. The album opens with "Censorshit," a song Joey Ramone wrote about the PMRC. I remember at the time thinking this was tired shit, and that it was ridiculous to write yet another song grousing about the PMRC in 1991 or whenever. In retrospect I can be a little more forgiving; for one thing, I can only remember one other song about the PMRC at this point (I think by Megadeth, but Dead Kennedies must have gotten something in there somewhere too). There were probably more. And the timeline doesn't seem as significant any more now that we're looking back on all this stuff. "Censorshit" is tolerable but it's never going to be one of my favorites.

Next up Marky writes "Job That Ate My Brain," catchy but not very momentous; nevertheless it would probably be the best song on Halfway to Sanity.

Apparently, Dee Dee (who had left the band prior to this album) traded the band three songs for them bailing him out of jail. The first, "Poison Heart," is the most affecting song on the album, a little ponderous and overly produced but a really great song anyway, although the lyrics drag it down a bit in spots. This seems to be the beginning of Dee Dee's semi-paranoid, quasi-messianic, self-mythologizing late period. It's hard to swallow a line like "A poet's gut reaction is to search his very soul." A poet's reaction is to reach for a cliche (two, if you count "gut reaction")? And the word "homeless" should probably never be used in a song. On balance this is an excellent song though, at least it is for the fan, if not the casual listener.

Marky has another lightweight but catchy and totally respectable contribution with "Anxiety," then new bassist CJ takes the mic to sing a Dee Dee composition--and it's good, believe it or not. Again, maybe "Strength to Endure" is not the song to introduce people with, but for a fan it works.

Joey (with Andy Shernoff of The Dictators fame) next contributes "It's Gonna Be Alright" and the song is a lot of fun, probably one of the best on the album. The ensuing Doors cover is decent, and a good choice (I don't like the Doors much but have to let Joey indulge himself here). Dee Dee's final contribution, "Main Man," is again sung by CJ and is decent. "Tomorrow She Goes Away" is pretty good, not half bad anyway.

"I Won't Let it Happen" is probably the closest thing to a classic the Ramones had in many years; it would fit in perfectly on Road to Ruin. "Poison Heart" and this set this album apart. The album is definitely better than Animal Boy, Halfway to Sanity and Brain Drain. That brings us back to Too Tough to Die, and if we consider the best two songs on that album, "Mama's Boy" and "Howling at the Moon," the aforementioned two at least equal them, and the rest of the album is much stronger than Too Tough to Die (it's especially to this album's advantage that there's nothing embarrassingly bad on it, unlike most late Ramones efforts). So this must be the best Ramones effort since Subterranean Jungle.

There are three more songs, and since I've talked about all the others, I might as well cover them: "Cabbies on Crack." I've known people who really like this song, it doesn't do very much for me but it's tolerable. "Heidi is a Headcase" is decent but not particularly distinguished. "Touring" is a leftover from the Pleasant Dreams era and it's a reworking of "Sheena" and "Rock and Roll High School" that basically sucks but at least isn't totally embarrassing.

So there you have it, an unexpected good one from 1992. The album is actually fun to listen to, although it has some pretty mediocre stretches. But it blows away all the others from Animal Boy to Adios Amigos  (although I'm going partly on reputation with the latter and may have to revise my opinion some day). And it at least edges Too Tough to Die. It can stand next to Pleasant Dreams and Subterranean Jungle without embarrassment, and I like those albums.