| features in: Album Chart of 1980 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1980s |
“This is Rock n Roll radio, c’mon let’s Rock n Roll with the Ramones.” If ever an album was perfectly introduced, this was it. Nostalgic, full of pop hooks and super-cool all the way, “End Of The Century” is a sheer classic in their catalogue – although the group didn’t see it that way! The general consensus from within their ranks seemed to be that Phil Spector’s perfectionism and overbearing nature was at odds with their bash-em-out, raunchy, in-yer-face style of Pop Punk. As a Ramones-low, “Baby I Love You” didn’t even feature any of them playing (old Phil Spector girl-group tricks come back to mind), with only Joey’s vocals giving listeners a sense of the group. Despite this unfortunate fact, the finished rendition stands as an all-time classic in my book. Anyone who loved Spector’s work in 63-64 as well as the Ramones to date would surely have to agree? Not Johnny. Said he: “End of the Century was just watered-down Ramones. It's not real Ramones. ‘Baby, I Love You’—I didn't play on that at all. What am I gonna do—play along with an orchestra? There's no point. End of the Century was trying to get a hit on each song, instead of trying to get a hit on one or two of the songs on the album and trying to make the rest as raunchy as you can. They ain't gonna play the other ten songs, anyway.” Whinge whinge. More fool him for losing control of his group. Despite their post-release mardiness, this set is full of classics. On side one, “Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio?”, “Danny Says” and “Chinese Rock” are all top-drawer, with the former two positively revelling in being 20 years out-of-time, and the latter standing as one of the mightiest Punk snarlers in their catalogue, bolstered by some great drumming from Marky. Side two pretty much follows the same formula; good-time soda-bar rock-n-roll with an edge, exemplified on “I Can’t Make It On Time” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”. Spector delivered, what more the Ramones expected of him baffles me to this day. Never trust a band to review their own records.
The Jukebox Rebel
02–Sep–2006
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [03:51]  Ramones - Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio? (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin) Pop |
| A2 | [02:52]  Ramones - I’m Affected (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin) New Wave |
| A3 | [03:08]  Ramones - Danny Says (John William Cummings, Douglas Colvin) Pop |
| A4 | [02:30]  Ramones - Chinese Rock (Douglas Colvin, Richard Meyers) Punk |
| A5 | [03:14]  Ramones - The Return Of Jackie And Judy (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin) Punk |
| A6 | [02:33] Ramones - Let’s Go (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin) Punk |
| B1 | [03:49]  Ramones - Baby, I Love You (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector) Pop |
| B2 | [02:33] Ramones - I Can’t Make It On Time (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin) Punk |
| B3 | [02:18]  Ramones - This Aint Havana (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin) Punk |
| B4 | [02:40] Ramones - Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin) Punk |
| B5 | [02:30]  Ramones - All The Way (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin) Punk |
| B6 | [02:08]  Ramones - High Risk Insurance (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin) Punk |
