Ramones (album)

This article is about the Ramones' debut album. For the cover album by Screeching Weasel, see Ramones (Screeching Weasel album).

Ramones
Four men standing against a graffiti-covered wall. Each man has a black leather coat, blue jeans, and brown hair. At the top of the black-and-white image, "RAMONES" is spelled out in all caps.
Studio album by
the Ramones
ReleasedApril 23, 1976 (1976-04-23)
RecordedJanuary 1976
StudioPlaza Sound, Radio City Music Hall in New York
GenrePunk rock
Length29:04
LabelSire
Producer
Ramones chronology
Ramones
(1976) 		Leave Home
(1977)
Singles from Ramones
  1. "Blitzkrieg Bop"
    Released: February 1976
  2. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"
    Released: September 1976

Ramones is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released on April 23, 1976, by Sire Records. After Hit Parader editor Lisa Robinson saw the band at a gig in New York City, she wrote several articles about the group and asked Danny Fields to be their manager.[1] Fields agreed and convinced Craig Leon to produce Ramones, and the band recorded a demo for prospective record labels. Leon persuaded Sire president Seymour Stein to listen to the band perform, and he later offered the band a recording contract. The Ramones began recording in January 1976, needing only seven days and $6,400 to record the album.

The album cover, photographed by Punk magazine's Roberta Bayley, features the four members leaning against a brick wall in New York City. The record company paid only $125 for the front photo, which has since become one of the most imitated album covers of all time. The back cover depicts an eagle belt buckle along with the album's liner notes. After its release, Ramones was promoted with two singles, which failed to chart. The Ramones also began touring to help sell records; these tour dates were mostly based in the United States, although two were booked in Britain.

Violence, drug use, relationship issues, humor, and Nazism were prominent in the album's lyrics. The album opens with "Blitzkrieg Bop", which is among the band's most recognized songs. Most of the album's tracks are uptempo, with many songs measuring at well over 160 beats per minute. The songs are also rather short; at two-and-a-half minutes, "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement" is the album's longest track. Ramones contains a cover of the Chris Montez song "Let's Dance".

Ramones was unsuccessful commercially, peaking at number 111 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. Despite its poor chart performance, it received glowing reviews from critics. Many later deemed it a highly influential record, and it has since received many accolades, such as the top spot on Spin magazine's list of the "50 Most Essential Punk Records". Ramones is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential punk albums of all time, and it had a significant impact on other genres of rock music, such as grunge and heavy metal. The album was ranked at number 33 in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", maintaining the ranking in a 2012 revision and dropping to number 47 in the 2020 reboot of the list.[2][3][4] It was placed first in the same publication's list of the "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time" in 2022.[5] It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 2014 for 500,000 copies sold in the US.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rombes 65 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Rolling Stone – the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003)". Archived from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  3. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 16, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  4. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Ramones, 'Ramones'". Rolling Stone. May 31, 2009. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  5. ^ Shachtman, David Browne,Jon Dolan,Jon Freeman,Will Hermes,Christian Hoard,Julyssa Lopez,Mosi Reeves,Jody Rosen,Rob Sheffield,Noah; Browne, David; Dolan, Jon; Freeman, Jon; Hermes, Will; Hoard, Christian; Lopez, Julyssa; Reeves, Mosi; Rosen, Jody (July 1, 2022). "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 21, 2022.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum". RIAA.com. Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on June 7, 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2014.