Ramones
Leave Home

THE REVIEW

Leaving the house with messy hair and the first t-shirt you grab, without too much fuss, quickly without losing the moment.

Shouting in the ears of those who, distracted, didn't expect it. Leaving a mark forever, suggesting that one can't stay comfortable and carefree, basking in the idea of a silent and perfect world. This was also the spirit of Punk at its birth. It had to be quick, before everything disappeared to be passed down to history. Urgency, frenzy, this was the historical impact of what was happening, as fast as the songs that represented it, lightning-fast in their few minutes of duration.

It is following this line that the second album by the Ramones came to light, in all rapidity, delivering another blow within their brilliant career: "Leave Home", which followed the debut album after just a few months, immediately becoming a classic.
The album contains some of their all-time battle horses, while also bringing with it the rebellious spirit of Punk in the controversial song "Carbona Not Glue", in which the Ramones joked that sniffing Carbona was much more "intriguing" than sniffing common glue. This song is present only in the very first pressings of the album and was quickly removed because, like the previous "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", it could encourage the use of glue as a drug, but mainly because Carbona was actually a registered trademark (a cleaning liquid), and therefore, to avoid possible legal troubles. Subsequent pressings included "Baby Sitter" for albums destined for the European market, and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" for albums destined for the U.S. market and the rest of the world, although recently a reissue with bonus tracks includes the original song in its place, since with everything that is going around now, it no longer causes a scandal.

Although the history of the Ramones lasted longer than that of the real Punk movement, and although some critics consider them slightly more distant from the standards expressed by other bands (the Sex Pistols for example), the four brothers undoubtedly opened the doors to a world still to be discovered, also thanks to works like this.
The peaks are reached with the historic "Pinhead" and "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment", certainly the most famous and representative songs besides the already mentioned "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker", true and proper pillars of the Ramones' career. But even more carefree pieces like "Swallow My Pride" and "I Remember You" are often present in the countless compilations and greatest hits, more or less official, available around.
Compared to the first album, this has a more energetic character, also blending more distinctly pop elements ("Oh, Oh, I Love Her So"), but due to the poor production, the overall weight of the work lies more in the intentions than in the substance, a thesis that has been demonstrated in the following years (about twenty) by the fact that the same pieces proposed live (always present) have a much more explosive energy.

Ultimately, it is one of the cornerstones in the history of this group and without a doubt of an entire genre, along with "Ramones," "Rocket To Russia," and "Road To Ruin," proving that the Ramones were much more than just a novelty. Those who are lucky enough to have the vinyl with the original track list possess a piece of rock music history.

"Gabba! Gabba! Hey!"