Ramones Road to Ruin was released on September 22, 1978. And there’s much more to it than “I Wanna Be Sedated.”
As I’m writing this, I’m reflecting on the album on it’s 45th anniversary. Road to Ruin is exactly 18 months older than I am. And, for a time, the Ramones were my favorite band in the whole wide world. So there’s layers of connective tissue here. I’ve written a ton about them in my time here at ROCK 92.9, too. Specifically, how I was able to get into their final Boston show on Valentine’s Day, 1996. Even though I was underage.
Like many Ramones fans–and many punk fans–I love the early stuff. Their self-titled debut is arguably punk rock’s Nevermind. And even though it’s a controversial take, I love 1981’s Phil Spector-produced End of the Century. Yeah, the band hated working with him. He pulled a gun on them, after all. But Spector’s wall-of-sound on a Ramones album is such a wildly satisfying listen.
Ramones ‘Road to Ruin’ Deserves a Revisit
As I referenced above, Road to Ruin is best known for one of the band’s best-known songs: “I Wanna Be Sedated.” A great song. A punk rock standard. I’m still playing it on ROCK 92.9 45+ years on. But peel back that layer of the onion and you’ll find an album full of great songs. That’s due in part to new-at-the-time drummer Mary Ramone who, as I see it, was an upgrade from founding drummer Tommy.
Marky had the same straightforward punk style as Tommy, but he added some jazz-inspired technical flourishes that really elevated the band’s game four albums in. See if you can pick out some of that in the short list of songs I’ve shared below. Maybe it will inspire you to throw on the full album and give it another spin through. It’s only a half-hour long, after all. Damn, I love punk rock.