End of the Century

by

Ramones

Edit

It's quite interesting to read about cases in which a band is matched with a producer whose ideas clash with those of the group he or she is assigned to. Rock is filled with examples. Cheap Trick was dealt former Beatles producer George Martin for their 1980 "All Shook Up" album, much to the confusion of the critics. The Byrds suffered a blow when Terry Melcher covered their 1971 record "Byrdmaniax" with an array of keyboards, strings, and backup singers after the group had recorded the basic tracks (the ironic thing being that Melcher had been the Byrds' longtime friend and producer). And just recently, Paul McCartney re-issued the Beatles' legendary "Let it Be" album, but minus the input and infamous "Wall of Sound" of producer Phil Spector, who was paired with the Ramones in 1980 for "End of the Century," perhaps the punk rock pioneers' most controversial album, and one that raises a lot of points. The Ramones had started to expand their three-chord buzzsaw approach with "Road to Ruin" and a gradual progression was inevitable. But this album was a shock to many, as it contained such surprising bits as string arrangements and other things that don't come to mind when one mentions the Ramones. But "End of the Century" is a fascinating piece of history, not only of the Ramones, but of punk in general (even though the group was being overshadowed by the countless bands who had ripped them off, i.e. "the acts they had inspired").

In all fairness, it must be said that a big part of the progression in the album comes not from Spector's producing, but in the Ramones' songwriting. There are the typical Ramones-style punk rockers like `Let's Go,' `The Return of Jackie & Judy,' `All the Way,' and `High Risk Insurance' but there are other elements that have begun to sprout. There's storytelling in the dark cocaine tale `Chinese Rock,' a song as dark as the obsession in `I'm Affected,' in which it seems the Ramones are actually in control of producing and not Spector, whose input is most obvious in the catchy ode to the 50s and 60s pop scene `Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?', opening the album with a collage of radio sound effects, and in a dripping pop cover of `Baby I Love You' (a hit which Spector had co-written many years earlier), which became the Ramones' biggest single in the UK, while `I Can't Make it on Time' remains one of the many numbers on the album that should-have-been-a-hit. The hard rocking but catchy `This Ain't Havana' has a bit of cynicism in it, and there's even a punkier version of `Rock N' Roll High School,' the title song to the cult film the group had starred in (the more poppier single version showed up on the 1988 compilation "Ramones Mania"). Another notable point is guitarist Johnny's ability to pick and strum in the well-arranged `Danny Says,' an innocent, weary look at the rush of the music business.

For years, some of the Ramones pronounced "End of the Century" as their worst album, but it has become accepted by most bandmembers, and many fans, over time. The recently departed Johnny Ramone is quoted in this remaster's liner notes as saying he's glad the band worked with Phil Spector. It's actually hard to imagine the Ramones' catalog without the album. "End of the Century" was a necessary step, even if the public wasn't ready for it, in showing that the Ramones were growing as musicians and as individuals, even if the band was quite uncomfortable with it. Naturally, and fortunately, their next step was to stray from the wild ideas of Phil Spector and write history with their own definition of expanding, as shown on their next two albums (and two of their best), "Pleasant Dreams" and "Subterranean Jungle."

Really if you want to hear punk tunes like "Blitzkrieg Bop", don't come here. Hit the first 4 -- those would be Ramones, Leave Home, Rocket To Russia, and Road To Ruin -- then skip to Too Tough To Die (not my fave, but many people consider it in league with the early stuff) and Subterranean Jungle (for "Psychotherapy", their best update of the early formula).

End Of The Century is Joey ascendant, with all the sentiment and oldies pop he favored. Producer Phil Spector wanted to make a Joey Ramone solo album, but the band (including Joey) thought the time was wrong for such (it wasn't), and wanted to continue promoting The Ramones as a band. So Spector buried said band in session musicians and used arrangements that punk rock fans found dull and infuriating.

And about half these tunes wouldn't be worth salvaging anyway.

For what it's worth, Johnny & Dee Dee (the "punk" writing team on early albums) weren't talking to each other at the time, so a good Ramones album just wasn't going to happen. From this point on, Joey carried about half the songwriting load (communal writing credit to "The Ramones" would end with the next album), diluting their impact considerably.

I'd sooner hear End Of The Century than Don't Worry About Me, which is another good album if you really appreciate Joey as a full-fledged aesthetic concept. Me I enjoy Joey as the goofy singer of punk anthems in front of a loud, fast band, and that's something this album doesn't feature.