Ramones
The Musikladen Recordings

"It's Alive", the double album that captures the concert held by the Ramones at the Rainbow Theatre in London on December 31, 1977, is the greatest live album in the history of rock'n'roll. But ...

But I have always thought that, had it been recorded a year later, it would have been even greater, having included tracks from "Road To Ruin", the fourth masterpiece created by the Ramone brothers within the short span of 1976/1978.

After years spent lamenting what could have been but wasn't, the summer of 2011 finally brought relief to my lament, gifting me with "The Musikladen Recordings".

It is the recording of the performance given by the Ramones on September 13, 1978, at the Radio Bremen studio for the German television show "Musikladen," of which a nearly complete version has been circulating online for some time, and an official but halved one is included in "It's Alive" (the double DVD that collects twenty years of performances by the band around the world).

Now, "The Musikladen Recordings" offers a combined DVD/CD release, and for the first time in an official and complete version with the entire encore set, of that historic performance by the Ramones.

Yes, historic: because on this occasion the Ramones offer a performance comparable in level to that in London nine months earlier and, to my very personal satisfaction, they perform songs from that soon-to-be-released "Road To Ruin".

And if "It's Alive" is just the live rendition of a best-of that draws heavily from "Ramones," "Leave Home," and "Rocket To Russia," "The Musikladen Recordings" is the reissue of that best-of, with bonus tracks from "Road To Ruin": it is no small feat, indeed, considering the setlist includes tracks such as "I Don't Want You", "Go Mental", "Don't Come Close", "She's The One" and "Needles & Pins" (a sappy hit by the Searchers from 1964).

True, inexplicably missing is "I Wanna Be Sedated," the only true classic from "Road To Ruin," but the five tracks chosen to represent it are more than sufficient to render "The Musikladen Recordings," on par with "It's Alive," the definitive testament to the group's greatness on stage, and thus an essential purchase for anyone, whether they are a Ramones fan or not.

And don't come to me saying "It's Alive" is enough, and that, after all, "Road To Ruin" is a "minor" episode in the Ramones' discography, because as far as I'm concerned (and independent of the historical relevance of the individual works) it is my favorite along with the previous "Rocket To Russia," slightly above the debut and "Leave Home".

"Road To Ruin" is, for several reasons, a revolutionary album: for the first time, a Ramones tune breaks the three-minute mark (two tracks to be precise, "I Wanted Everything" and "Questioningly"); for the first time, a Ramones album does not contain 14 songs, 7 per side, but 12; for the first time in rock history, a guitar solo consists of only one note ("I Wanna Be Sedated").

No jokes aside, "Road To Ruin" is an extraordinary album, which superbly combines playful and eccentric pop ("She's The One"), hard and incisive rock'n'roll ("I Just Want To Have Something To Do") and cheerful and catchy melodies ("Don't Come Close").

To quote Tim Carson, a critic from the Voice: "If before [the Ramones] seemed like a farce band with no outlets, they have now revealed themselves to be a group with infinite horizons".

It is also true that someone else described them as a joke and that they had "... made their music so limited as to make it a parody of themselves. They are a joke, the kind that one gets tired of quickly"; or even that "The saddest thing about Road To Ruin is that it shows how far the Ramones have fallen from grace" (if you wish to know who to sneer at, read Jim Bessman's excellent biography "Ramones. An American Band"): but to them, respond 22 years on the scene, 2263 days spent on stages across five continents, and the unconditional esteem of anyone who lives for rock'n'roll, more than just talking about it.

At this point, it seems like a review of "Road To Ruin" rather than "The Musikladen Recordings," but perhaps it is natural that it turned out this way, also because there is nothing to say about the 25 tracks (say it, t-w-e-n-t-y-f-i-v-e) included here, starting with "Rockaway Beach" (Johnny's guitar, Joey introducing with "Hey, we're the Ramones and this one's called Rockaway Beach" and then Dee Dee with his unmistakable "One, two, three, four", and I get chills just writing about it) to the concluding "We Are A Happy Family." It's enough to report the show's setlist, and you can find it at the end.

In conclusion, I reserve two thoughts on those krauts in the room, representing the Teutonic audience.

The first. Do you think it is humanly possible to mosh and headbang while sitting? Yes, it is possible, and this is demonstrated by four or five hilarious youngsters immortalized in some sequences of the DVD, which reminds me of those Japanese who, when they take to the streets to strike, orderly line up on the sidewalks not to hinder traffic or cause disturbance. Phenomenal, the reason to further enjoy the DVD "The Musikladen Recordings".

The second. Is there something more absurd than moshing and headbanging while sitting? Yes, and this is shown by the painted women and chic men (wonderful evening, to this well-dressed group like nothing was happening) who, as if it were nothing, sip a drink and chat amiably about this and that: now, I can understand those hanging out in the back, but the two blondes and the brunette in the front row, ten centimeters from that madman Dee Dee, how on earth do they do it? Aoh, you’re not at the Konzerthaus Berlin!

The setlist

Rockaway Beach / Teenage Lobotomy / Blitzkrieg Bop / I Don't Want You / Go Mental / Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment / You're Gonna Kill That Girl / Don't Come Close / I Don't Care / She's The One / Sheena Is A Punk Rocker / Havana Affair / Commando / Needles & Pins / Surfin' Bird / Cretin Hop / Listen To My Heart / California Sun / I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You / Pinhead / Do You Wanna Dance / Judy Is A Punk / Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World / Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue / We Are A Happy Family