I’m identifying the best three albums by my fifty favorite rock bands of all time. This blog is for #10- The Ramones, the godfathers of punk rock.
Criteria for selecting the best three albums
Here are the criteria for the list. First, Greatest Hits albums are not allowed. Second – no live albums. I will note I saw the Ramones twice live in concert and they were unlike any other band I’ve ever seen. Third, I will include an honorable mention or two for the top 25 bands. We’re in the top ten so expect to see multiple honorable mentions.
Ramones albums ranked by ChatGPT
Let’s take a look at what artificial intelligence has to say about this list. According to ChatGPT, here are their top five albums based on sales and critical acclaim.
- Ramones (1976): Though not a commercial success at the time, it’s now considered one of the most influential rock albums ever.
- Rocket to Russia (1977): Widely praised and contains several of their famous songs, like “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” and “Rockaway Beach”.
- Leave Home (1977): Though less iconic than the debut, “Rocket to Russia,” it is still well regarded.
- Road to Ruin (1978): Introduced a more pop-oriented sound; included the classic “I Wanna Be Sedated”.
- End of the Century (1980): Their highest-charting album, produced by Phil Spector.
ChatGPT produced a good list. The picks come from their early years. AI included all the right albums, just in the wrong order.
Spotify popular releases for this band
Let’s take a peek at some Spotify data. According to that streaming platform, below are the top five most popular albums by The Ramones. Once again a pretty good list. I will note one problem though. The same album shows up twice. That problem reveals how the Spotify algorithm works. It is based on a single song’s popularity more than the actual album.
The third-best album by this band is Leave Home
The third-best album by The Ramones is called Leave Home. It is their second album. You get a lot of bang for the buck. They recorded 14 songs in about 32 minutes including “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” as well as the fan favorite, “Pinhead”.
The second-best album by The Ramones
The second-best album by The Ramones is their debut record. This album shook the world when it dropped. The boys lived in New York. They were sick of the music scene. They decided to start a band and kept it simple – leather jackets, ragged jeans, and short songs. This is the album that inspired a punk rock Revolution. It opens up with “Blitzkrieg Pop” that most people have heard and it goes from there. Clocking in at under 30 minutes, I would consider this the classic punk rock record that started it all.
Honorable mention albums for this band
I selected two honorable mention albums particularly because in both these records the band evolved their sound. The first is Road to Ruin where they introduced a little bit more pop to their music. It includes their well-known song “I Want to be Sedated”. The other is Too Tough to Die. In the mid-80s the band tried to change it up. They brought in a new producer for this record. Some people hated the new sound. I actually thought this was a good record. I saw them in concert for this tour and they put on a high-energy show. This album definitely sounds different than earlier ones.
The best album by The Ramones
The best album by the Ramones is called Rocket to Russia. I picked it over their debut record because the songs are better on this one. I own this record on vinyl. It includes some killer songs “Cretin Hop”, “Rockaway Beach”, “Sheena is a Punk Rocker”, “We’re a Happy Family”, and “Teenage Lobotomy”. The band peaked when they released this record.
There you have it – the three best Ramones albums. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
I am Doug Keating and this is my letter to my sons.