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Ramones - End of the Century Audio CD

A fair review of the Ramones "End of the Century" 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 Ramones reviews here, or go back to the Ramones tabs.

Ramones Band: Ramones
Title: End of the Century
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-08-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio? 2: I'm Affected 3: Danny Says 4: Chinese Rock 5: The Return of Jackie and Judy 6: Let's Go 7: Baby I Love You 8: I Can't Make It on Time 9: This Ain't Havana 10: Rock & Roll High School 11: All the Way 12: High Risk Insurance 13: I Want You Around (Soundtrack Version) 14: Danny Says (Demo) 15: I'm Affected (Demo) 16: Please Don't Leave (Demo) 17: All the Way (Demo) 18: Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio? (Demo)

At Least They Tried
Nowadays it's common knowledge that "The Queen Is Dead" is the best Smith's album, but at the time a lot of us fans thought it was the weakest (and still do). Funny how we re-write musical reality over time. We also believe that the Ramones blundered with this album and attempted to "redeem" themselves with their following two. (Which, perhaps, is true, but whether they needed to--or whether they succeeded--was never a given with fans at the time. )

Here's the deal: as great as the Ramones' first few albums are, it's a formula that can only be milked for so long. They only had three options: to quit, to change, or to suck. (Of course those options weren't mutually exclusive. ) They tried to change, and going with Phil Spector wasn't the worst idea. For Christ's sake, it's not the end of the world to try and fail. They got some fresh sounds and fresh songs, so all things considered I think they did OK. No, of course it wasn't a continuation of their legacy, but thank God. Nothing's sadder than bands churning out the same old crap decade after decade, and slugs salivating and waiving their lighters at the first recognition of a 40 year old song's opening chords.

Really, by "Road to Ruin" the signs of same-old-thingness were beginning to sprout, making an attempt at change laudable.

The consensus of American musical lore aside, this is actually a better album than "Pleasant Dreams. " Why weren't more people belching in disgust over how "We Want the Airwaves" was just a lame rehashing of "I'm Affected"?

This album is pretty good, and you can't fault the guys for trying. Better to change for the worse than to become an imitation of yourself. End of review.


Production matters
Murder of an entire band's appeal. Phil Spector should have been on trial for murder years ago. I'm a pretty big Ramones fan, and I'll be the first to admit their later work is totally lame, but the blood of this record is on Spector's probably alreadly bloodied hands. (I mean, chances are, right?) Don't get me wrong, his wall of sound works some places - - pretty much of all of his work with The Righteous Bros. is quality i. e. "Unchained Melody", but "End of the Century" is totally flat. Even still, the music on it is only OK. If someone somewhere pulled a "Let It Be. . . Naked" on this album I would at most give it 2. 5 stars. Anyway, save your money. Personally, I wouldn't even check this out at the library. .


bad production can't ruin good songs
Controversial. blah blah. .

You already know the story.

Phil Spector's production on this album is awful. The sound is muddy, the group's instruments are buried under layer after layer of god knows what, and if there's one band that has no need for friggin echo, it's the Ramones. All that said, there are some great songs here. It's the same 50s and 60s influenced Ramones of earlier albums. It's just unfortunately muted a bit by the production.

My favorite song on the album is Danny Says. It's a really nice Velvet Underground homage (who themselves often paid tribute to the same type of music that the Ramones obviously loved). Danny Says is also the only song on the album which doesn't seem to suffer from Spector's overproduction. In fact, Spector may well have been the best producer the song could have possibly had.

If you're a fan of the Ramones, you'll probably like the album. Whether you love it or not will probably depend on WHY you like the band.


One of My Favorite Albums Ever
I just remember that whenever it was played at a party back in the day, the party was brought to life and everyone to their feet dancing. I just don't get the negative comments about this great album by the self proclaimed critics and all of the so-called 'controversy'. OK, it does not have the head banging of some of their more old school material. But I admit, I really enjoy the version of "Baby I Love You". The album really makes me sorry that these guys are gone. I just bought this CD because I could not locate my old album. The only problem is that now my 15 year daughter and her friend have taken claim of it. .


My opinion on the Ramones - "End of the Century" CD order
The CD was really impressive and I received this CD in less than a week from when I ordered it.


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

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