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Animal Boy

The Ramones - Animal Boy Audio CD

A fair review of the The Ramones "Animal Boy" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Ramones reviews here, or go back to the The Ramones tabs.

Band: The Ramones
Title: Animal Boy
Rating:

Release Date: 1994-03-08
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Somebody Put Something in My Drink 2: Animal Boy 3: Love Kills 4: Apeman Hop 5: She Belongs to Me 6: Crummy Stuff 7: My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg) 8: Mental Hell 9: Eat That Rat 10: Freak of Nature 11: Hair of the Dog 12: Something to Believe In

The Ramones' Classic Sound With A Twist
However that doesn't stop me from enjoying this album very much. The first thing that should be said is that with this album the band went for an unusually more polished production by Jean Beauvoir rather than the raw typical Ramones sound. In fact it's one of my favorites from them! Maybe it has to do with the fact that apparently this album was released in 1986 on May 30 which happens to by my birthday! Fortunately the production didn't stop the band from shelling out their classic loud, fast, and short song approach! There are only two or three minor detours along the way. The twelve tracks that make up the LP were recorded at Intergalactic Studios in their home town of New York City.

Things start great with "Somebody Put Something In My Drink" written by drummer Richie Ramone and it's sound is closer to hard rock rather than punk but it's one of Ramones' best songs including a memorable vocal performance by singer Joey Ramone who sings in an unusual throaty voice. Guitarist Johnny Ramone and bass player Dee Dee Ramone wrote together three of their typical hard core inspired songs this time which last less than two minutes each. The first of these fast paced numbers is the album title cut. Next is the Dee Dee sung "Eat That Rat" and the last one is "Freak Of Nature" in which Joey returns to his throaty voice.

Then you have the more straightforward punk numbers like "Hair Of The Dog" with a catchy chorus. This particular tune shows a very interesting songwriting structure. Let's analyze it in depth: First of all, it makes use of all the twelve chord letters available! It starts with an A5 chord, then it quickly moves to the Eddie Cochran's "Something Else" inspired figure Ab/A for a few bars but here is the interesting part: the bulk of the song is made up of three verse/chorus parts, all three are played in a different key each time!! The first one uses this note pattern: A E A D, A G E then the 1st chorus follows: B F# A F#, B E B A F#. After the first chorus concludes the Cochran figure is reprised but now it's B/Bb instead! Now take a look at the second verse!: B F# B E, B A F# while the chorus is: C# Ab C# B Ab, C# F# C# B Ab! A bridge shows up after the second chorus with Joey singing the song's title over this set of chords: Eb C# Bb B (repeated twice) then, a short instrumental bridge follows: Ab B C# F# Eb. After that's over it's time for the third and final verse that, like I said, is played in yet ANOTHER key!: F C F Bb, F Eb C. And so it's the final chorus!: G D G F D, G C G F D. The reason I described the song in depth is because that approach of moving the verse/chorus to a different key multiple times within a song is not something that happens very often!! Perhaps a lot of groups could learn a cool songwriting trick by listening to this tune!
"Bonzo Goes To Bitburg" is one of their political protest songs that Dee Dee wrote with producer Beauvoir. Nice background vocals in the chorus and the glockenspiel adds extra depth. In a similar vein is the album's closing song "Something To Believe In" which is also a protest song by Dee Dee and Beauvoir and again utilizes the combination of background vocals and glockenspiel. Joey's voice is in fine form throughout and the keyboard synths blend well with the rest of the band. At four minutes, it's the longest song on the album.
"Mental Hell" is another of their more hard rock sounding numbers while "Crummy Stuff" and "Apeman Hop" head in a pop direction. But the biggest detour comes in with the ballad "She Belongs To Me". Very unusual song for the Ramones! One of the very few ballads that this group ever wrote! Here is a rare occurrence in that for the first time the guitar takes a back seat and the synths completely dominate this song. Surprisingly it's one of my favorite songs on the album!! Joey has a nice voice here.
Last but not least is the other song that Dee Dee sings that is "Love Kills". A memorable intro riff starts this pop sounding song and is a tribute to bass player Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols and his partner Nancy.

One of the most underrated Ramones albums that I think more people should hear!
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Later.

It's All Good - Almost
But the cheap price eventually go me. I held off purchasing this CD based on the mixed reviews I found, figuring the best cuts were already on the anthologies [6 of the 12 tracks are included in the Weird Tales compilation). This is a very good disk - and pretty varied as well. You've got 4 hard core tracks [including two great songs IMO - Animal Boy and Freak of Nature], a couple of excellent fast-paced classic style Ramones tunes with Dee Dee vocals [Love Kills and Crummy Stuff], a couple of mid-paced classics included for years in the live shows [Somebody Put Something in My Drink and My Brain is Hanging Upside Down] and a really good Joey ballad [Something to Believe In]. The remaining three tracks are pretty forgetable [particularly the idiotic Apeman Hop and the sappy She Belongs to Me]. This is the oldest Ramones album not to have been re-issued with bonus material; so maybe a re-issue will eventually come. But if you can pick this up for $10 or so, it's well worth it.

re-issue please! its too short as of now
this album is the one where i have to look back and say "this is a Ramones record, right?" keyboards, metal tinged music? yep, this is the ramones. not saying that it is bad at all. maybe it is because im not used to richie ramone. i think this album right here is the bridge between older classic Ramones and the Ramones we would see until Adios Amigos. . . sure, there is too tough to die, but that album is more comparable to the older classic short fast punk style offerings. anyways, animal boy is worth the purchase.

also, why no stellar packaging with bonus tracks and stories for animal boy or halfway to sanity like the first 8 or the last 4 (captain oi re-issued those)? i mean even if the creative well of the Ramones was undergoing changes that differed from the classics around this time period, they are at least worthy of being re-mastered to fit the rest. i mean this is the period in which i know the least of the Ramones "story wise" and yeah, they could even pay a little tribute to johnny in the notes like the ones to joey and dee dee in the first 8.

just a thought. great album though. get it cheap if you are expecting a re-issue to pop up.

Something to believe in
It's their 9th album right win they said "Forget it lets play what we're best at, Loud, fast Rock 'n' Roll!"

Somebody put something in my drink (6/10) A alright song written by Richie Ramone who joined after Marky was kicked out. This is not The Ramones at their best but it's still a great album.

Animal Boy (7/10) Not their best but better then their pop songs

Love Kills (10/10) Orignally for the film Syd & Nancy one of the more remembered tracks from this album.

Apeman Hop (8/10) It's just alright

She Belongs to me (4/10) The weakest song on the album

Crummy Stuff (10/10) A personal favorite. Still applys to today.
"Crummy music, Crummy TV, Crummy people, Crummy movies. "

My Brain is Hanging Upside Down (9/10) I don't agree with the message but its got a great beat and course.

Mental Hell (6/10) Not the best

Eat the Rat (8/10) Another Dee Dee vocal which normally means louder and faster

Freak of nature (8/10) "FreaK!" Alright not the best on the album but alright

Hair of the Dog (8/10) Just Alright

Something to Believe In (10/10) I love this song. The video pokes fun at all the "Aid" songs and events of the 80's.

A good buy for any Ramones fan.
Hands Across Your Face!.

By no means The Ramones best work still enjoyable.
But while it doesn't do this, it certainly does stand it's own as a pretty nice album. As has already been said before, this album cannot live up to the likes of Rocket to Russia or The self titled debut but then again not much can. Being the cynic that I am I'm gonna start off with my main complaint, the producution. It sounds for lack of a better word. . . wobbly and unpolished but in a bad way. It feels like it was going for a nice produced sound but the producer got lazy if you know what I mean also some of the songs have a bit of cheese factor like She Belongs to Me but oh well every band has some cheese. Among this album's highlights though are four Ramones greats such as Bonzo Goes to Bitburg, Animal Boy, Love Kills, and Somebody put something in my drink. The other songs while they are at the very least decent, are not quite as good as those classics. While I wish Rhino would hurry up and get the Re-issue out this will suffice. Had the production been stronger a few of the songs like something to believe in would have been much better but alas it is not which leads me to give an album I find to be very enjoyable a 4 out of 5, get to work on the remastering Rhino, that oughta make this a five star album! Highlights: Somebody Put Something in my Drink, Animal Boy, Love Kills, Hair of the Dog, and Bonzo Goes to Bitburg.

You can see a complete list of all The Ramones discography, or go back to the The Ramones tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.