Ramones (album)

Ramones (album)

Ramones is the eponymously titled debut studio album by the American punk rock band the Ramones. It was released on April 23, 1976 through Sire Records. Prior to the band signing to Sire, they were seen by Lisa Robinson, an editor of Hit Parader, during an early 1975 performance. Robinson began popularizing the band by writing about them in the magazines she edited. Robinson contacted Danny Fields and asked him to manage the band, which he agreed to in November 1975. A Marty Thau-produced demo album was recorded at 914 Sound Studios and included "Judy Is a Punk" and "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend". Soon after the demos were presented to Sire A&R co-ordinator Craig Leon the band was signed to Sire Records.

The band started recording the album in February 1976 and spent an estimated US $6,400. Many recording techniques used for the album were similar to techniques used by The Beatles and orchestral recordings. The album was produced by Craig Leon. The front cover depicts the band members standing in a line leaning against a brick wall. The photograph was taken by Roberta Bayley. The cover art was ranked number 58 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Album Covers.

The album features a number of themes including Nazism, violence, male prostitution and drug use, as well as lighter fare such as horror movies and teenage romance. There is a version of the Chris Montez song "Let's Dance". A number of the tracks have backing vocals which were sung by Mickey Leigh (Joey Ramone's younger brother), Tommy Ramone, and engineer Rob Freeman. The album received high praise from critics, with Allmusic rewarding it with a maximum rating of five out of five stars. Robert Christgau gave the album an A, writing "For me, it blows everything else off the radio."

The album reached number 111 in the United States on the Billboard 200 chart and was ranked number 33 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Ramones was said by Nicholas Rombes, author of the 33⅓ book Ramones, and the Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine to be the first album labeled as punk rock. When the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame one of the website's writers wrote a summary of the band's biography, specifically paying attention to its influence on punk rock. The album started the Ramones' career and would eventually go on to influence artists in the hardcore punk, post-punk, heavy metal, thrash metal, indie pop, and grunge genres.