14. The Ramones - Rocket To Russia

Honestly, I have very little to say about this record other than I love the Ramones and this is my favorite record of theirs. It’s kinda like what Tim was for the Replacements (produced by Tommy Ramone, coincidentally): a little cleaner and poppier, but not TOO poppy. The best compliment I can give this record is that it shows the band branching out without sounding like it. It just sounds like another great Ramones record. For example, the song I linked to here, “Here Today Gone Tomorrow,” is a ballad! Well OK, maybe not a “ballad” per se, but it’s slow, somber, and far and away the least aggressive track they had released up to that point. But it’s gorgeous! And better yet, nobody called them out for going “soft” or anything. (Not yet, at least.)

Anyway, yeah. Just an album’s worth of great noisy pop songs. I just watched End of The Century for the umpteenth time a few weeks ago and I believe it is my favorite rock documentary. But maybe I just need to see more.