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THE REVIEW
Ramones - "Rocket To Russia" (1977)
From a historical perspective.
Notoriously, the true inventors of punk are the American Ramones, in a demented and euphoric version, before the British made it depressing with nihilism and political commitment. The musical roots of the Ramones are indeed in the good time music of the Beach Boys, the girl groups of Phil Spector (Ronettes), and so on. Their name, as declared by a member, comes from a pseudonym used by Paul McCartney during the early years of his career (Paul Ramon).
From a disc perspective.
A dense sequence of little songs filled with riffs and catchy choruses, played with brisk guitar passion at two minutes per track.
Apparently, all they want is to be cheerful and feel good ("I Wanna Be Well"), and the wise method they use to achieve this end is cretinism. An anthem to cretinism, bearer of lightheartedness, indeed seems to be the opening track ("Cretin Hop"), and on similar tones, there is also an appreciation of psychiatric techniques of a surgical type ("Teenage Lobotomy"), while when reality gets really tough, the way of cretinism chooses drugs, with a particular penchant for "improper drugs" (specifically, DDT seems to elicit notable enthusiasm in them). Elsewhere, the euphoria is entirely musical, while the lyrics rattle off neuroses in a merely demented manner, making things darker with a naive, cartoon-horror approach, which seems to reassuringly transform them into a B-movie seen on TV, after which everything can continue as before ("Why Is It Always This Way?").
Associations.
Teenagers in the city in the summer, with long hair but not too long, flared pants, and sneakers, while zombies invade a shopping mall. But it’s all normal.
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Summary by Bot
The Ramones' 1977 album 'Rocket To Russia' is praised as a seminal punk record that captures euphoric, catchy music rooted in American 60s pop influences. The review highlights its short, energetic songs and lighthearted yet demented lyrics. It contrasts the band's joyful punk with later British punk's gloom and politics. The album is depicted as a fun, rebellious soundtrack for youth culture with a unique cartoonish horror twist.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
Ramones
Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in Queens, New York, in 1974 by Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, and Tommy Ramone. They helped define punk’s sound and look with ultra-fast songs, downstrokes, and leather-jacket iconography. After relentless touring and 14 studio albums, they disbanded in 1996 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.43 Reviews
Other reviews
By peeck
Rocket To Russia is THE RECORD par excellence of the New York quartet that will forever be punk rock as we know it and how we wish it were.
The Ramones laid the groundwork for the 90s punk rock revival, emerging as the true pioneers of the most important musical genre of the past thirty years.
