It might just have been one of those days but I felt an overwhelming need for some loud, raw music. Something by The Ramones, perhaps. A rummage through the Bluesbunny Vinyl Vault produced a copy of heir 1978 album "Road to Ruin". Unfortunately, the vinyl proved to have suffered from the ravages of time so a new copy was duly ordered. When it arrived, it turned out to be a reissue on red vinyl, of all things.
To the music. This was the first album that drummer Marky Ramone played on (with Tommy Ramone now co-producer with Ed Stasium) and perhaps it was Marky's metronomic pile driver style that defines this album. I know that it was the first album by the Ramones to have songs running over 3 minutes and it even has a bit of country in it too ("Questioningly") but, as a band, they sounded considerably more focussed than they had previously done.
There are killer songs on show - the public would expect nothing less - like "I Wanna Be Sedated" and "She's The One" that rattle the rafters. Listening to it today, you can easily understand their influence on the bands that followed. This album also sounds a lot cleaner than I remembered, although that could well be the result of modern day mastering techniques. It also sounds remarkable commercial which I don't recall thinking at the time. Then again, within the space of two years they would have released an album produced by legendary gun toting producer Phil Spector.