Back catalogue: All genres

Review: A coast-to-coast double live helping of leather-jacket clad Ramones punk mayhem unlike any other, this double CD collection features the band's performances at San Francisco's The Old Waldorf on 31st January 1978 as part of a KSAN-FM broadcast, whilst the second disc offers an East Coast counterpart performance at Stage One, Buffalo, New York on 8th February 1978 where this WBUF-FM broadcast features Marky Ramone taking over the drums from Tommy. Chock to the brim full of essential bangers such as 'Blitzkreig Bop', 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker', 'Rock N' Roll High School' and 'I Wanna Be Sedated', to name but a smattering few, this is the Ramones at the height of their initial punk rock glory before their tumultuous 80s era would bring about both their best and worst material and eccentricities.

Review: Originally released in 1978, Road To Ruin would serve as the fourth full-length from leather jacket-clad punk pioneers The Ramones. While a rejected, mitigated flop upon release due to the band's swing for the radio fences (or airwaves) complete with sonic elements at the time alien to the punkosphere such as acoustic guitars, lead guitar solos and 60s pop ballads, in the near five decades since release, the project has been reevaluated as a bold successor to 1977's iconic Rocket To Russia (although that album did place 50 places ahead on the Billboard 200 at the time of release). Marking (no pun intended) their first effort to feature drummer Marky Ramone, who replaced Tommy Ramone after his departure due to the inability to keep up with the rigors of touring and lack of residuals from their previous record; the album's glossy, clean production has slowly morphed from malaise to praise over the ensuing decades, while offering up some of their most timeless and essential bangers including 'Needles & Pins' and 'I Wanna Be Sedated' (which if Spotify metrics are anything to go by, is the band's most popular song after, of course, 'Blitzkrieg Bop').

Review: The Ramones had long reshaped the world of music in their beautifully twisted image by the time they recorded this, their second live album, in Spain in 1991. But the New York punks were seemingly addicted to playing live, touring relentlessly throughout the 80s and 90s, and their tightly drilled act is at fever pitch here, careering through an incredible 32 'blink and you'll miss them' tracks across four sides of vinyl. A handful of covers - there's a blistering version of The Trashmen's early rock 'n' roll stormer 'Surfin' Bird', for instance - nestle alongside timeless originals such as 'I Wanna Be Sedated', 'Beat On The Brat' and 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker', with a healthy selection of deeper cuts from the late 80s here too. Top mayhem.

Review: Originally released in 1983, Subterranean Jungle would serve as the seventh full-length LP from the brothers Ramone, whilst marking their return to the well of punk rock bangers following the new wave and pop experiments of their two preceding albums End Of The Century (1980) and Pleasant Dreams (1981). Written and recorded during a severely tumultuous time in the band's tenure with both Joey and Marky battling alcohol addiction while Dee Dee was undergoing treatment for his cocaine habit, the resulting tension and resentment to the previously overbearing control of Joey on their previous output, led to a paired down vision with focus solely placed on prioritising grade A punk rock like only the Ramones know how. Their first album to not singularly feature Joey on lead vocals with Dee Dee taking centre stage on 'Timebomb' whilst also handling the bridge on 'Outsider', the more collaborative ethos of the project would, yet again, nearly implode the band with Marky being ousted before recording had even ceased (not playing drums on a Ramones record again until 1989's Brain Drain).

Review: Are The Ramones now best known for being on t-shirts worn by people who have never heard the band? Maybe. But either way, Too Tough To Die, which was released 40 years ago, is often seen as a return to form. Really, it deserves a more radical categorisation. Released in the mid-1980s, the album felt out of step with the era, not in a negative way, but in how it captured the contradictions of its time. Made without a clear direction, its incongruity became its defining feature. As Joey Ramone noted in a 1988 interview, "Around '84, the world was changing drastically... Things were getting scary. So, our songs started changing." This shift in tone marked a new chapter in their musical evolution.

Review: Coming off of the back of 1983's Subterranean Jungle, which saw a return to their punk rock roots, the brothers Ramone opted to stay the course for their 1984 follow up Too Tough To Die. Enlisting drummer Richie Ramone for his first project, the collective creative intention was to further stray from the lukewarm reception bestowed upon their more pop-centric End of the Century (1980) and Pleasant Dreams (1981), and rediscover the harder edges that built their initial success. With this unifying vision in mind, the band opted to record as live and raw as possible in order to capture that punk rock ethos, with this compilation providing a bevvy of demos, B-sides and alternate takes from these sessions, many of which feature Richie on lead vocals. A true gem for devout followers of the real Fab 4 as well as a curious bridging point between the aforementioned Subterranean Jungle and the fully realised product of Too Tough To Die.

Review: Originally released in 1981, the recording of the sixth full-length Ramones' album was anything but Pleasant Dreams (get it?) as their label Sire opted to push producer Graham Gouldman into their sessions in order to garner hype from a big name. With the brothers Ramone unhappy with this decision as well as their own internal strife due to alcohol and drug dependency, as well as Johnny starting a relationship with Joey's girlfriend, conflict poured over into the material with a creative stalemate as to whether to pursue a more pop-punk direction with an increased prioritisation on melody, or to 180 into feral hard rock, and with this being the Ramones, of course no agreement or compromise was reached, with the tracklist veering wildly between these two frenetic approaches constantly. Boasting some of the highest production values of any album in the Ramones canon as well as one of their best singles in 'The KKK Took My Baby Away', while offering up very un-punk yet undeniable anthems such as the aptly titled, 'We Want the Airwaves', and, 'She's A Sensation', Pleasant Dreams may have somewhat flopped upon initial release, but has grown to become an unlikely fan favourite in the decades since.

Review: This Ramones album - one of their very, very many - is packed with relentless guitar energy and a proud punk ethos. Originally released in 1987, it captures their raw spirit and is packed with gritty rock licks and infectious melodies. Featuring standout tracks like the opener 'I Wanna Live' and the guttural vocal bite of 'Garden of Serenity' it showcases the band's evolution while staying true to their signature sound, during what was a pivotal moment in the US punks' lengthy career, a decade or so on from their explosive arrival.

Review: The first volume of a two-part collection, this impressive compilation chronicles the lesser-known recordings from the black leather jacket-clad kings of punk and (more importantly) New York. The two volumes of Rare Ramones present a selection of B-sides, demos and previously undiscovered rarities, with entry numero uno covering the beginnings of the band, starting with the mythical Slug demo recorded in 1977 and finishing in 1984 with early sessions of material that would eventually appear on the latter-day catalogue staple Too Tough To Die. An absolute treat and essential grab for any Pinhead worth their salt.