Two way Monologues

Ramones: Weird Tales Of The Ramones Part 2 (Brandon)

Ramones - Weird Tales Of The Ramones (Part Two)
Brought to you by: Brandon "the Destroyer"

I think that I mentioned this in the first installment but this is the largest assignment that I think I have had to tackle as far as a CD review is concerned. I mean after a while when you do a review of these proportions then it just starts to feel like homework, which is crazy to say since that is an undesirable thing indeed. Anyways listening to the Ramones box set has not been homework, that part is a breeze, its all the typing that I have to do afterwards that makes it feel like work. Regardless of what I think this is the second review that I have done for this new box set the Ramones released in August. The second installment will focus more on popular Ramones songs that were the widely known singles that we still listen to on the radio to this day. One of the first Ramones songs to ever grab my attention was their cover of the classic "Spiderman", part of the reason for this is because when I was younger I spent a large portion of my life reading and collecting comics. The first time that I heard this song I was ecstatic so I found out how I could own it and before long I believe I bought the Saturday Morning Cartoons album where artists were covering cartoon theme songs. That album by the way is wicked and I'm glad that I still own it to this day, whenever you want to remember what it was like on a saturday for you when you were eight just pop that CD in and its like a friggin' time machine. In this review I am sure you are already well aware that I enjoy the Ramones so we can skip that part, but what you may not know is I plan to establish what song of theirs is my all time favourite. I think that finding my favourite song amidst these eighty-five on the box set should be doable but it won't be easy, so with that said its time for me to start the second saga in this two parter.

For the longest time I thought the name of this song was 'Hey! Ho! Let's Go!' or something like that, I finally figured out that "Blitzkrieg Bop" was the true name of the track and it is actually the first song on the first disc. I would say this is easily one of the best Ramones tracks of all time, between the chorus, the lyrics and the overall pace of the song it pretty much has everything it needs to be a popular song. Now I'm sure you've all heard the song before because the song is quite old and is played in lots of movies, TV shows and commercials. At one time or another you've likely heard the song, I think in my personal opinion that there might only be one other track by the Ramones that is more popular but again its hard to say with the success they've had one most of their music.

The song that I think was their most popular one, or at least is my favourite is probably "I Wanna Be Sedated". This song finds its home on the first disc of the set and its track twenty-nine and I would say because of the impact of the first disc and the singles that it contains I'm going to say that the first disc is probably my favourite one. The third disc is also good, but it just is missing a few tracks that would have me preferring it as opposed to the first one. The lyrics: '20 20 20-4 hours to go, I wanna be sedated, nothing to do, nowhere to go home, I wanna be sedated, just get me to the airport and put me on the plane, hurry hurry hurry before I go insane, I kick it to my fingers I kick it to my friend, Oh-No-oh-oh-oh-oh!'. When I listen to this song I think that just about everyone should share in my excitement as you hear the song, between the sicke vocals and the ridiculously catchy song in general its hard not to like this song.

I don't know if you remember the album or not, but a few years back there was a tribute album to the Ramones and it involved a fair amount of people who they no doubt had influenced throughout their career. The album was called We're A Happy Family: A Tribute To The Ramones and it featured artists like Rob Zombie, Green Day, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, U2, Eddie Vedder, Marilyn Manson, Kiss, and these are just a few of the seventeen artists on the discs. This is a good tribute album, most of the covers are fairly accurate, some of the artists like Rob Zombie went in a new direction with the Ramones song but that was to be expected. Regardless when I heard "Surfin' Bird" on the box set I thought for a second that it was a cover, I don't know why but I couldn't remember the fact the Ramones did the original of this song. This song is totally a beach song and if you have heard it you'll know that it is probably the best beach song that exists. I mean if there was ever a song that motivated me to surf or partake in those cheesey beach parties from the fifties it would be this one.

On the second disc the third song is "Do You Remember Rock And Rock Radio?" which is a classic Ramones track that I forgot existed until this box set was downloaded. This song is wicked, it almost makes me want to change my favourite from "I Wanna Be Sedated" to this song, but I won't because I put a lot of thought into my initial scoring and I stand by it. This song starts off with a fact radio DJ who is saying that the Ramones are coming up and they are playing "Do You Remember Rock And Rock Radio?". The best part of the song is the build up during the chorus's where they just repeat the end of the song title over and over: 'Rocking, Rock N Roll Radio, Let's Go!'. The chorus is the best part of the song, the verse actually doesn't have the same musical style to it. They seem to blend but almost awkwardly. I think part of the reason that I think this is because the chorus is so badass and the verses almost turn into a Christmas carol, or at least they have that sort of sound to them. The song itself ends with the same DJ coming back saying that we just heard the Ramones and to stay tuned for more rock on the station, this type of bit reminds me of Queens Of The Stone Age and their 'Songs For the Deaf' album.

There is no way I could go this entire second review without mentioning "Spider-man", its on the third disc and its the twenty-second song. Now I'm the first to admit that the cartoon that this song was originally made for was so shitty, I mean mid episode they would have all these acid-wash backgrounds and Spider-man would swing on one freaking web for the whole episode. They would re-use animation reels and really it was a cheap production, but it served its purpose at the time and that purpose was Spider-man kicks ass. This is a theme song that I have heard covered by several different people, the Ramones however I think did the best job with this cover out of all the imitators. The video for this song was also animated if I remember that correctly, and I'm always a sucker for an animated video, I find that it adds to a video because really cartoons can do pretty much anything that they want and usually that makes for trippy viewing. As you know the Spider-man theme is not particularly long, it last just about two minutes and then its done, one thing I will say is that this version on the box set isn't the same one that is on the Saturday Morning Cartoons disc, the one on the box set isn't better.

So this will be the last song that I talk about with this box set, its "Beat On The Brat" and you can find this song on the first disc, its the second song. The lyrics in this song are hilarious, basically they are encouraging people to beat on whoever the brat is with a baseball bat, so more or less they are all for people assaulting each other with weapons. The song has strange vocals I'll admit but they are definitely vocals that I like to hear, Joey Ramone shines again on this track. From song to song he is usually my favourite portion of every track. The drums in this song are actually something that stand out to me more than they do one some of the other tracks, they seem to have a nice addition from the snare that fits well with the music of the song. The guitar isn't anything incredible but the riff that is played still has some catchieness to it so you can't help by like it as well. All in all the Ramones box set has been one of the better compilations of music that I will likely ever hear a band throw together. Since I really only looked at about ten songs of the eighty-five that the whole set contains I can't stress enough that you should at least go to Amazon.com just to check out the tracklist. After you see the list its likely that you could be in the same position as me and you'll be adding it to your Christmas list

Does The Ramones: Weird Tales Of The Ramones live up to the hype? If I haven't already made my point with this box set then I will elaborate, this is the best collection of Ramones music that exists, they do have Greatest Hits CD's but nothing compares to the vast anthology of music you get with this three disc set. Do yourself a favour, if you like anything about the Ramones at least check it out and see if its something you might like.

How influential are the Ramones? Any band that has a tribute album has to be influential because that means that someone was listening to them when they were younger and decided that because of that Ramones track they would go into music. Well I suppose thats one way, another is that just by being involved in music, bands like Green Day, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Eddie Vedder, U2, etc may have heard a Ramones song they liked and used some of that style in their music. Either way its obvious that bands have been taking pages from the Ramones for quite a while now.

Should you buy this box set? Well its not that cheap, but you should probably buy it. Hell I should also buy it but I'm going to probably just ask for it for Christmas thus eliminating the expense. I have found it for a few different prices but usually its anywhere from 85-95$, so that pretty much means I'm going to keep the album on my hard drive until after Christmas.

posted by Daysthatareover @ 3:01 PM