Published on Nov 8, 1998
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: The Ramones are a
band that are best experienced in small doses.
Of course, how could anyone say this about a band whose albums
usually averaged about a half-hour in length, and most songs
clocked in under three minutes? Take the band’s third album,
Rocket To Russia. The last album to feature Tommy Ramone
(who also produced the album under his real name) behind the drum
kit, this album contains some great material within its 14 tracks.
It also contains songs that get real tired, real quick.
There’s no denying the intensity of the three-chord guitar work
of Johnny Ramone or the grunting vocals of Joey Ramone; these two
things alone help power this band, backed by the thumping bass work
of Dee Dee Ramone and the frantic skin work by the aforementioned
Tommy Ramone. If you’re looking for classics from the Ramones
catalog, you’ll find many of them on this album, which opens up
with “Cretin Hop”. A less-than-two-minute blast of thunder, it is a
solid start to the album. Also included on
Rocket To Russia are “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker,” “Teenage
Lobotomy,” “Rockaway Beach” and the song that started it all for
me, “We’re A Happy Family”. (Believe it or not, I hadn’t listened
to The Ramones seriously until I got into college radio in
1989.)
The fact that The Ramones add two cover songs into the mix on
Rocket To Russia shouldn’t be surprising; they dusted off
“California Sun” on their previous album
Leave Home. Choosing “Do You Wanna Dance?” is surprising,
however; the original from Bobby Sherman didn’t seem like it had
any punk overtones in it. However, the boys from the Bronx do a
respectable job with it. Their selection of “Surfin’ Bird” seems
more natural; even the original version seems like it had an early
punk flavor mixed in with the Sixties surf rock sound. If any bad
was born to cover this song, it was The Ramones.
However, many of the remaining songs on
Rocket To Russia are not the band’s best work, and some of
them start to grate on the listener’s nerves after a while. “Here
Today, Gone Tomorrow” is a weak effort at a ballad – something that
just didn’t seem right for The Ramones to be tackling at this stage
in their career. Likewise, “Why Is It Always This Way?” is
meandering and pointless. Other tracks like “Locket Love,” “I Can’t
Give You Anything” and “Ramona” are decent enough efforts, but not
much to write home about.
In the end, though, well over half the album is entertaining,
and even the casual fan might find some true joy in the nuggets
that have remained hidden to all but the diehard fans.
Rocket To Russia has some great moments on it, but it does
get a little tiring in the end. Then again, how can anyone really
get tired of an album that lasts only slightly longer than most
television programs?