•
Rating:
Being a fan, not just a fervent one, but more, of the fab-four of punk, I decided that this album could not remain without at least a review on Debaser for much longer.
We're talking about the seventh album by the Ramones, released in 1983, in the years just following the first five masterpieces, years that I consider a transition-settlement period and which, in my view, didn't deliver another album at the level of the aforementioned ones. The four come from "Pleasant Dreams", a work two years prior that received mixed reviews; many fans complained about the band's tameness and didn't appreciate the total conversion to the Spector wall of sound, which in "End of the Century" had worked by creating a unique syncretism. Personally, I also consider PD one of the less exciting works, despite its lightness and pure sound.
With Subterranean, the music changes, or rather the sound shifts slightly back to the tones we all know. On the already well-established style, there is now a framework that this time, while still maintaining in several tracks in pop tones, really has mixing that enhances the sharp power of Marky's drums and especially Dee Dee's bass. Not to mention the stunning cover (who, like me, couldn't find Marky?), one of the band's best, encapsulating much of the album's essence.
If, on one hand, the sound regains the classic compactness and hardness, melodically I found it recycled in more than one track ("Somebody Like Me", "My My Kind of Girl" and "Psycho Therapy" above all, which echo far more other masterpieces), a tangible sign of a period in which Joey & Co didn't seem to have their usual creative vein (let's remember that with four chords they built five albums, each more beautiful and, I might add, different than the last). Adding to this the fact that shortly after, Marky would leave for alcoholism issues, we get the picture of a less than idyllic situation in which to engage in composing music or writing lyrics. Nevertheless, tracks worthy of their (nick)name are not missing; finally a Dee Dee who, besides song-writing, ventures into singing (and I add with decent success) gifting us the explosively "Time Bomb"; the peculiar and groovy "Little Bit O'Soul", the almost experimental (for them) "Time Has Come Today" with the impressive length of four minutes and twenty-five; also a pop-punk madness reminiscent of older times just by mentioning the title: "Everytime I Eat Vegetables It Makes Me Think Of You". The cheerfulness of tracks like "Outsider" and the street bravado of others like "Highest Trail Above" and "In the Park" round it all off, giving us, yes, a minor work but one that still holds its head high considering the period the band was in and the truly too melodic and light direction they were taking. Let's not forget that in a few years they'll deliver more great hits with albums like Too Tough to Die and Animal Boy.
I can only conclude this digression with a "Gabba Gabba Hey!" to everyone, and with a thank you to these four madmen who changed the way I understand music.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Little Bit o' Soul (02:43)
Now when you're feelin' low and the fish
Won't bite you need a little bit o'soul
To put you right you gotta make like you
Wanna kneel and pray and then a little
Bit o'soul will come your way
Now when your girl has gone and you're
Broke in two you need a little bit o'soul
To see you through and when you raise the roof
With your rock and roll you'll get a lot
More kicks with a little bit o'soul
And if your party falls 'cause there's
Nobody groovin' a little bit o'soul and
It really starts movin', yeah!
Now when you're in a mess and you feel
Like cryin' just remember this little
Song of mine and as you walk through life
Tryin' to reach your goal remember what
I say 'bout a little bit o'soul
And if your party falls 'cause there's
Nobody groovin' a little bit o'soul and
It really starts movin', yeah!
A little bit o'soul A little bit o'soul
A little bit o'soul
03 Outsider (02:10)
I'm an outsider
outside of everything
I'm an outsider
outside of everything
I'm an outsider
outside of everything
everything you know
everything you know
it disturbs me so
I'm an outsider
outside of everything
I'm an outsider
outside of everything
I'm an outsider
outside of everything
everything you know
everything you know
it disturbs me so
Everybody tried to push me
push me around
everybody tried to put me
try to put me down
All messed up, hey everyone
I've already had all my fun
more troubles are gonna come
I've already had all my fun
ooh yeah, yeah, yeah
Everybody tried to push me
push me around
everybody tried to put me
try to put me down
I'm an outsider
outside of everything
I'm an outsider
outside of everything
I'm an outsider
outside of everything
everything you know
everything you know
it disturbs me so
04 What'd Ya Do? (02:24)
A Koo Koo Koo I don't care about you no more
A Koo Koo Koo I don't care about you no more
You used to make me happy but what'd ya do?
You better go now I think you better go now, baby
I don't want you hanging around my door
No, I don't wanna see you your face no more, yeah
You used to make me the happiest guy in this world
I thought we made a bargain I thought we made a deal
I thought it was the two of us I thought that's maybe how you'd feel
I thought we'd last forever I thought we had a plan
I thought it was the two of us I thought maybe that you'd understand
You used to make me happy but what'd ya do
05 Highest Trails Above (02:09)
Sinking into the stars diving in for a swim
Soaring like a superhero past the end of disneyland
Through dragon mist above alpine peaks
To the cloudy lace to the highest trails above
I feel so safe I feel content
Send you all my love
Southern winds, shining rays are all I need
For flight flying way past hero
Paradise is just a sight
Through the distant blue above the highest stars
To the silent dark send you all my love
I feel so safe flying on a ray
On the highest trails above
Sinking into the stars diving in for a swim
Soaring like a superhero past the end of disneyland
Every wish comes true most desired dreams
Happy endings too finally you find love
I feel so safe flying on a ray
On the highest trails above
07 Psycho Therapy (02:34)
Psycho therapy
Psycho therapy
Psycho therapy
That's what they wanna give me
Psycho therapy
Psycho therapy
Psycho therapy
All they wanna give me
I'm a teenage schizoid
The one your parents despise
Psycho therapy
Now I got glowing eyes
I'm a teenage schizoid
Pranks and muggings are fun
Psycho therapy
Gonna kill someone
Psycho therapy
Psycho therapy
I like takin' Tuinal
It keeps me edgy and mean
I'm a teenage schizoid
I'm a teenage dope fiend
I'm a kid in the nut house
I'm a kid in the psycho zone
Psycho therapy
I'm gonna burglarize your home
Psycho therapy
Psycho therapy
Loading comments slowly
