"Our early songs came out of our real feelings of
alienation, isolation, frustration -- the feelings everybody feels between
seventeen and seventy-five," said singer Joey Ramone. Clocking in
at just under twenty-nine minutes, Ramones is an intense blast of guitar
power, rhythmic simplicity and ferocious brevity, a complete rejection
of the spangled artifice and hollow, artsy pretensions of 1970s rock.
The songs were fast and anti-social, just like the band: "Beat on
the Brat," "Blitzkrieg Bop," "Now I Wanna Sniff Some
Glue." Guitarist Johnny Ramone refused to play solos -- his jackhammer
chords became the lingua franca of punk -- and the whole record cost just
over $600 to make. But Joey's leather-tender plea "I Wanna Be Your
Boyfriend" showed that even punks need love. (Rolling Stone)
Total album sales: Under 500,000, Peak chart position: 111
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