Road to Ruin (Ramones album)
Occupation
- Joey Ramone - vocals
- Johnny Ramone - guitar
- Dee Dee Ramone - bass guitar
- Tommy Ramone - drums, producer, guitar
- Ed Stasium - Producer, Guitar
- John Gillespie - Art Director
- John Holmstrom - Cover Illustration
- Danny Fields - Photography
- Chip Rock - Photography
Road To Ruin is the fourth album by the American punk band the Ramones. It was recorded from May to June in 1978 and produced and released in September of the same year with Sire Records. With this album the band tried by more sophisticated songwriting, catchy arrangements and elaborate production to force a breakthrough in the U.S. radio. The intention was to reach a wider audience and thus increase sales compared to the previous albums, which failed.
Genesis
Road to Ruin is the first album the Ramones, is mentioned and pictured on the cover of Since March 1978 a founding member Tommy Ramone substitute drummer Marc Bell, who was by this time the pseudonym Marky Ramone. Nevertheless, Tommy Ramone continued to be involved on this album as a drummer. On all the songs on the album play producer Ed Stasium or ex- drummer and co-producer Tommy Ramone, the second guitar to let act the overall sound of the band full. In addition, band - atypical musical instruments such as acoustic guitar and percussion were used to a greater extent than in previous recordings. Road to Ruin is the first work of the Ramones, which contains elements of lead guitar.
The album was recorded in ambiguous appearance of the music press: highlighted praise while some reviews the technical progress of the band criticized others for the loss of spontaneity and boisterous joke of the preceding three albums. In the British press this outcropping on Road to Ruin loss was interpreted as an indication of the death of the genre Punk. In the U.S., the album missed the Top 40 singles chart; the number of units sold worldwide amounted to about 250,000 albums.
In 2001, Road to Ruin by Rhino Records re-released in an expanded version. The original tracks were remastered, and the CD contains alternate versions of some songs.
Graphic design
The front of the album cover shows a colored caricature of the band from the pen of the New York comic artist John Holmstrom, who was friends with the group. Holmstrom had already illustrated the back of the record sleeve and the inner sleeve of the previous album the Ramones, Rocket to Russia. As a template for the cover illustration he used a drawing by Ramones fan Gus MacDonald, but still Tommy Ramone was on drums and had to be remade.
The band photo on the envelope back from Road to Ruin comes from Ramones manager Danny Fields, the photos of the band members on the inner sleeve of the LP and the CD booklet (Booklet ) CD editions of the rock photographer Chip " Rock" Dayton and Bob Gruen. A partial edition of the first edition of the LP was available ( in the U.S.) in yellow vinyl.
The music tracks on the album (selection)
- The cover of Needles and Pins, with which the British band The Searchers in the 1960s had a chart hit can achieve, had to appear already on the last album of the band, Rocket to Russia.
- I Wanna Be Sedated was written by Joey Ramone during a hospital stay, where he had to be treated for burns in the face and throat. This had been caused by an exploding kettle with boiling water, which served as his inhaler for sinus treatment. The U.S. music magazine Rolling Stone performs I Wanna Be Sedated number 144 in its list of the " 500 Greatest Songs of All Time ".
- Do not Come Close and questioningly are the only songs in the Ramones repertoire with influences of country music.
- The U.S. hardcore punk band Bad Brains took its name from a song on the album, Bad Brain.
- It's a Long Way Back by Dee Dee Ramone discussed his childhood in Germany.
Title list
( All songs by the Ramones, unless otherwise indicated. )
Total running time 31:02 minutes ( LP)