The tradition of covering a Ramones album in full started with the idea from Selfless Records. They got all the major players in the pop punk underground who were heavily influenced by the Ramones in the ’90s to cover a Ramones album. Screeching Weasel was the first one to do this, covering the first album. They covered it exactly how the Ramones did it, right down to the separation of the guitar and bass in the speakers. Then Selfless continued with the Queers, The Vindictives, Mr T Experience and more on their label, which later became Clearview Records. This then sparked other bands on other labels to do the same. Almost all the Ramones albums have gotten this treatment, with the exception of “Acid Eaters” (which was a covers album in itself) and “Adios Amigos”. But I’m certain these will be covered in due time (if they haven’t already).
Anyway, I’ve been collecting most of these since they came out and there’s a bunch of newer bands who have continued the tradition. Here’s Takin’ A Ride’s Top Ten list of the Ramones cover albums.
Oh, but first, an honorable mention.
Honorable Mention: Geoff Palmer – “Standing In The Spotlight”: You know what? If I was doing a Top 10 “Ramones Related” cover list, this would probably be #1. It’s no secret that Dee Dee Ramone was the king of writing Ramones songs. But when he left the Ramones, he re-christened himself as “Dee Dee King” and put out an album called “Standing In The Spotlight” which was basically crappy rap with some softer doo wop songs, and a couple punkish numbers thrown in to satisfy the Ramones fans. As bad as this was, the songs were still pretty good. And Geoff Palmer knew that. So he decided to cover the whole album as if they were all Ramones songs! As a result, EVERYTHING is louder, faster, and of course, BETTER.
Ok, now to the list. Top 10 Ramones cover albums.
#10 New Rochelles – “Animal Boy”: New Rochelles do a straight-ahead cover of this one. It’s basically the New Rochelles playing the album. Which is good. So here it is at #10.
#9 Kobanes – “Halfway To Sanity”: Kobanes from Chicago came up with this one about 15 years ago. A little rougher than the Ramone’s version, so this is a great alternative if you want to hear these songs in a louder, rougher style. “Bye Bye Baby” is done about 50 times faster and this is worth it for that alone.
#8 K7s – “Mondo Bizarro”: The latter Ramones albums kind of get lost in the shuffle when people think of Ramones albums due to just how great the classic albums where. But that doesn’t mean the latter albums weren’t good. They were. Especially “Mondo Bizarro” and K7s is out to prove that, basically by doing a straight-ahead version of this underrated album.
#7 The Vindictives – “Leave Home”: The Vindictives do a pretty solid take of this classic album in their own manner, which is straight ahead bratty punk. Definitely a different take on the album with some slightly different arrangements, but the wacky sound effects in the middle of some of the songs have me putting this lower in the rankings.
#6 Beatnik Termites – “Pleasant Dreams”: I remember in one of the last Ramones interviews, they were lamenting how bands like Green Day were getting huge, but somehow The Ramones were getting ignored. Well here’s the Beatnik Termites giving the Ramones some good attention. They do more a more modern pop punk take of this album, and it works perfectly.
#5 Jon Cougar Concentration Camp – “Too Tough To Die”: The McRackins also covered this full album, but JCCC just did it better for my tastes. They don’t do too much different here than the Ramones other than to put it through the Jon Cougar Concentration Camp way of doing things. It’s a little bit rougher, snottier, and louder, but does not take away the harmonies and still lets the beauty of the songs shine through. And I like it that way. When this came out, it made me go back to the Ramones version, as I forgot just how great this album is.
#4 The Queers – “Rocket To Russia”: This was the 2nd album in the series of Ramones albums that Selfless put out and the first to be released on CD. This was recorded in a single day with no rehearsals. The two biggest influences on the Queers are the Beach Boys with the Ramones. So with them covering what is arguably the best Ramones record, it’s hard to mess this up. And the Queers certainly don’t.
#3 Deecracks – “Brain Drain”: This comes all the way from Austria and was done with Andrea from the Manges (who are a great pop punk band from Italy). Of course it would be sacrilege to say that any of these cover albums are better than the original. But I think I’m going to go there. Yeah, there are different takes on all these Ramones songs, which is what makes many of these cover albums so great, but this may be the one album, overall, where it actually is better than the original. Certainly at least in the production, with the louder guitars and fuller sound, and none of that ’80s echo.
#2 Tip Toppers – “Subterranean Jungle”: This was from a spinoff project from the Yum Yums and Kwyet Kings and very hard to find. This isn’t just a cover of an album, this is more like a reinterpretation. A tight reinterpretation, as they’re not reinventing anything or doing anything too differently, but they do add their own touch to many of the songs on this underrated classic. And the Tip Toppers top it up with some different arrangements and some beautiful harmonies. Granted, the best arrangements and harmonies are on the two cover songs on the album, “Little Bit Of Soul” and “Time Has Come Today”, but the originals are given some great treatment too! Perfectly done without losing the punk rock spirit of the Ramones and the beauty of the songs.
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