Īnother in the utterly essential Ramones reissue series that Rhino has doled out in the last few years, this one does the fine remaster job on the original, and adds three previously unreleased shows from that same UK tour, recorded in the same vein. So, bootleg after bootleg, past-prime mid-1990s live CDs, whatever it might be, Ramones live albums usually pale in comparison to It’s Alive. We know what the Ramones are good at: 1-2-3-4, BAM BAM BAM! Yes!! And if you can’t be there watching Johnny glare at Joey, or Dee Dee get pissed at his bass, Tommy laughing and shaking his head, or Joey gangly-ing all over the place, well, the Ramones ain’t exactly known for witty between-song banter–the only other potential bonus from a distinctive live album (Lou Reed’s Take No Prisoners Devil Dogs – Live at the Revolver Club ). That said, once It’s Alive was born (the last album featuring all four original members), most other Ramones live records seemed sort of still-born. And that’s what It’s Alive does like crazy. That ain’t totally crucial to a live recording, but if half the reason you grab a live album is because you might never see that band live, then you kind of want to feel like you’re there and the joint is buzzin’. I have numerous Ramones live bootlegs from the same era, but the crowd sometimes sounds lackadaisical or just buried. A double-album that–incredibly–had never been officially released in the States until now, it’s loud, blazing, and nabs the Ramones at their initial, first three albums height, in front of a wildly appreciative audience.
The best ones are either those that are released as new albums, with a majority of unreleased songs (Cheap Trick – At Budokan MC5 – Kick Out the Jams ) or, in that rarity equal to finding a Picasso at a thrift store, are actually well-recorded and ripping (Cramps – RockinNReelinInAucklandNewZealandXXX, Jerry Lee Lewis – Live at Star Club Sam Cooke – Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 The Who – Live at Leeds, James Brown – Live at the Apollo, Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison ).įor my moola, the Ramones’ It’s Alive – taken from the New Year’s Eve, 1977 show at The Rainbow in London, England, London, and released in 1979 – is the best of those rare exceptions.
Mainly because we all know it’s even harder to capture a band’s sound in the live setting. Tracklist-wise, they’re usually basic “Best Ofs ” and if you already have the albums and like the band to the point that you ponied up for the live record, chances are you have long come to love those “couldn’t capture it in the studio” versions, and the live ones can sound off. Let’s face it, live albums are pretty useless.Īfter the initial excitement of the idea – especially from explosive live bands that can’t always seem to capture it in the studio – you buy it, play it once, and it goes back in the shelves only to be looked at once in a blue moon for the pictures, while sifting through to get to a studio album.