The Ramones Discography : Part 1 : Self-Titled

It's time for another discography review! And this time around, I'll be looking at one of the most important careers in all of punk music; The Ramones! So, lets not waste any time, it's time to sniff some glue!

The Ramones are punk band that formed in the mid 70's in Queens, New York. The band is considered to be one of the first true punk bands to ever exist, and their discography is full of absolute classics, but it is the eponymous debut record that many consider to be their all-time classic, and with good reason. To keep it short (because the band likes it that way), this debut album takes an 'all killer, no filler' approach giving the listener one searing punk track after another, stopping only on occasion to deliver a heartfelt 'love song' from time to time, such as the endearing "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend".

Nothing on this album is "smart", but that just adds to its raw appeal. Not one track on this LP is over three minutes, and the LP itself goes through fourteen of them in under thirty, making this self-titled debut feel like a compact punch to the gut, and brain. Furthermore, the subject matter on this album is just as simple and straightforward as the music; track titles like "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" and "Judy Is A Punk" describe literally the entirety of their respective songs content.

But lets talk about the music for a bit, since that is why this LP is so revered. Do you like your four major key power chords? Good, because the vast majority of the tracks use slight variations on these exact chords, and while that may be incredibly lazy, you have to remember that these guys were incredibly young and weren't concerned with being "musicians"; instead, they make up for their lack of virtuosity with raw attitude and noise: early punk in a nutshell.

And that may be the finest way to sum up this entire LP, since really. no other album so succinctly states punk's mission statement than this album does. So while it may not be a 'perfect' album, it is impossible to deny its importance to not just punk as a genre of music, but as an attitude and lifestyle.

9.2/10