Ramones (album) - Reception

Reception

Ramones was released on April 23, 1976 through Sire Records. The album was well received by critics. Reviewing for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine awarded the album five out of five stars saying the album "begins at a blinding speed and never once over the course of its 14 songs does it let up." Erlewine also noted that the album "is all about speed, hooks, stupidity, and simplicity." Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone noted that the album "is constructed almost entirely of rhythm tracks of an exhilarating intensity rock & roll has not experienced since its earliest days." Robert Christgau rated the album an A and continued with a positive review, specifically writing about the album's themes and quality.

Charles M. Young, an employee for the Rolling Stone, praised the album saying that the album is "one of the funniest rock records ever made and, if punk continues to gain momentum, a historic turning point." Jeff Tamarkin of Allmusic said that the album began the punk rock era and also proclaimed "rock's mainstream didn't know what hit it." In 1999, Collins Gem Classic Albums wrote that "They stared from the cover of this magnificent debut album with dumb defiance written all over them. The songs within were a short, sharp exercise in vicious speed-thrash, driven by ferocious guitars and yet halting in an instant. It was the simple pop dream taken to its minimalist extreme. There just couldn't be anything faster or harder than this. The Ramones was the starting gun for English punk." Joe S. Harrington declared that the album "split the history of rock 'n' roll in half". Theunis Bates, a music writer for Time magazine and an editor at worldpop.com, composed that "Ramones stripped rock back to its basic elements," and noted that its "lyrics are very simple, boiled-down declarations of teen lust and need." Bates later went on to say that it "is the ultimate punk statement".

Ramones reached number 111 on the Billboard 200. The album was included in Spin's List of Top Ten College Cult Classics, noting that "everything good that's happened to music in the last fourteen years can be directly traced to the Ramones." The band's debut album was ranked 33 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2003 Ramones was considered by Spin magazine's Chuck Klosterman, Greg Milner, and Alex Pappademas to be the sixth most influential album of all time. They noted that the album "saved rock from itself and punk rock from art-gallery pretension, bless their pointy little heads," and also said that the their songs had, "one lightning-bolt riff." In Spin's 1995 Alternative Record Guide the album is listed in the top spot of their Top 100 Alternative Albums.