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Halfway to Sanity

The Ramones - Halfway to Sanity Audio CD

A fair review of the The Ramones "Halfway to Sanity" 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: Halfway to Sanity
Rating:

Release Date: 1990-10-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: I Wanna Live 2: Bop 'Til You Drop 3: Garden of Serenity 4: Weasel Face 5: Go Lil' Camaro Go 6: I Know Better Now 7: Death of Me 8: I Lost My Mind 9: Real Cool Time 10: I'm Not Jesus 11: Bye Bye Baby 12: Worm Man

It's the Ramones!
Perfect for the picture, and as for the other songs? Pretty damned good (Garden of Serenity is the next best though. If you ever saw the Zero movie "Misled Youth", you'd know how perfect the song "I Wanna Live" really is. . . . . Chilling). However, for a True Ramones knockout, get one one of the earlier gems like Rocket to Russia or Just Good 'Ol Ramones (They recorded bass in one ear and guitar in the other----- brilliant!!!!!)

Gonzo.

They still got it
" The album is packed with energy, giving each song a fast-paced feel. Dee Dee Ramone reaches his lyrical peak in "I Wanna Live" and "Garden of Serenity.
This album is not for those looking to be introduced to punk's forefathers, but certainly a must-have for veteran fans of the Forest Hill's foursome.

as good as the best! bridges a musical progression between too tough to die and brain drain
. . with animal boy being the black sheep. anyways, this was the last Ramones album i had heard and i must say, it completely blew my low expectations out of the water. i shyed away from buying this cd for mainly two reasons. . . . 1. )i had heard i wanna live and bop till you drop on ramones mania and didnt care for them at all. . and 2. ) i didnt wanna spend cash on a bare bones disc and have a remaster expanded cd pop up out of nowhere, but i must say, im glad to have this now as it gets tons of play.

1) I wanna live- i must say, this song doesn't deserve as much praise as it gets. it is near the bottom of the pile of the more popular Ramones tracks. does have a good opening though.

2)bop till you drop-a lot better than i wanna live. its nothing id put on a playlist of their best songs, but its a cool listen.

3)garden of serenity-definately one of if not the best song on this cd. it reminds me of an early experiment that would eventually lead up to pet semetary on the next album. i bet it sounds better than pet semetary live though.

4. )weasel face-reminds me of a bare version of a brain drain track. great song. usually nevers gets skipped by me. also, makes me wonder. is this the song that screeching weasel got their name from?

5. )go lil camaro go-this song has the potential to really stand up to the classic era ramones songs. i dont know why it didnt go down as one of their classic "hits. "

6. )i know better now-this is a good song with a nice buildup. i love the vocals especially.

7. ) death of me-this is definately reminiscent of a brain drain songanother contender for best song on the album.

8. )i lost my mind-amazing. one last glimpse of dee dee's crazy vocals on a ramones studio album. brain drain would have a slower dee dee vocal performance which is pretty cool too. anyways, this song is usually played a lot by me as well.

9. )real cool time-some lighter music to this album. sounds like it could have been on the forthcoming mondo bizarro album.

10. )im not jesus- fast song! the song is too tough to die and the chorus is brain drain. amazing! go richie!

11. )bye bye baby-this is the lightest song on the album. i sense it sounds similar to maybe a pleasant dreams or end of the century song.

12. ) worm man-honestly, this is the only song i never truely listened to on here. it just never drew me in. at least i wanna live could do that.

anyways, the album is great. id place it above albums like sub jungle, end of the century, acid eaters, and animal boy for sure. i think animal boy and halfway to sanity are in dire need of a remaster. . whether rhino does it or captain oi does it. . or some other company, they need it! if you are a fan of hardcore or metal, start out with this album, too tough to die and brain drain.

Play Loud !
Who knew? Every song is a tight, well crafted gem, and it rocks hard, really hard (aside from one nice ballad) from start to finish. Very surprised about how good this album is. Favorite songs are "Death Of Me", "Weasel Face", "I'm Not Jesus", and Dee Dee's fierce "I Lost My Mind", which is an all-time classic. The ballad "Bye Bye Baby" is one of Joey's best as well, a real gem. Drummer Richie Ramone shines on this record, he's great. This may be the best 80's era Ramones album. By far, it's the most underrated Ramones album in their entire catalog. Check it out-it's better than you may remember, or may have heard. Like the liner notes say. . . PLAY LOUD. .

The Ramones go heavy metal.
I got into The Ramones rather late, I'm afraid. . I didn't buy one of their albums until 1994. If I had been a Ramones fan earlier, maybe I wouldn't have liked this album as much as I did. Maybe this album was a bit too heavy for early Ramones fans, maybe they didn't think the songs are up to snuff. . . I don't know. I was disc jockeying at a college radio station when "Halfway To Sanity" came out and I remember this album being in heavy rotation and playing the #$! out of the tunes "Garden Of Serenity" and "I Wanna Live". I believe it was one of my favorite albums in rotation at the time and this was before I became a Ramones fan!

In terms of songs, I think this one of the Ramones best albums. It is certainly one of their heaviest and the closest ( I think) that The Ramones got to all out metal. It is a more consistent album, in terms of songs and production, than their two previous albums, with barely a weak track. It has a nice flow to it, broken up just slightly by Joey's wonderful electric guitar ballad "Bye Bye Baby". Highlights to me include the song I just mentioned, along with the very catchy and slightly psychedelic "Garden Of Serenity", Dee Dee's hilarious punk rocker "I Lost My Mind", Ritchie's "I'm Not Jesus" and Joey's "Death Of Me", whose guitar riff reminds me of the riff for The Scorpions' "Rock You Like A Hurricane", except I like "Death Of Me" much better.

This is a very loud, electric guitar driven hard rock-n-roll, heavy metal/punk rock album with great songs, outstanding drumming from Richie, wonderful singing from Joey and one pummeling, bone crushing guitar riff after another. Fans of The Ramones more pop side will probably enjoy "Go Lil' Camaro Go", which has a barely audible vocal from Debbie Harry. What else can I say? I love this album!!
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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.