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We're a Happy Family - Tribute to the Ramones

Well, of course, covering the Ramones requires a good dose of imagination and not trying to slavishly resemble the four American "brothers," and it must be said that some of the artists here present manage this very well. The Red Hot Chili Peppers present us with a “Havana Affair” slowed down just enough to make it (almost) a ballad, while Rob Zombie does the opposite with a tense “Blitzkrieg Bop.”

Eddie Vedder is brilliant as usual in “I Believe In Miracles” and the Metallica aren't bad either, offering another track (“53rd and 3rd”) from the Ramones’ first album, the most plundered in this compilation. Both U2, who seem to return to their beginnings with a punkish “Beat on the Brat,” and especially Marilyn Manson, who makes “The KKK Took My Baby Away” quite different from the original, are surprising. The Garbage with “I Just Wanna Have Something To Do” and the Green Day with “Outsider” are standard. Disappointing are the Pretenders, it’s not possible to render “Something to Believe In” as a quiet parlor ballad. The Rancid, however, shine by making “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” twice as fast, as does Pete Yorn with “I Wanna Be Sedated.”

Someone had to do the “dirty work” of doing the only love song penned by the Ramones, and Rooney takes care of this with “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow,” while the closure is entrusted to a boozy and crazy Tom Waits, as usual, with “Return of Jackie & Judy.” Not bad, but one could have dared more.