Released in 1976 on Sire, this album fit fourteen songs in under thirty minutes, perfectly capturing the band at that point. The recording is raw but clear, managing to sound great without feeling overly polished. The guitar and bass tracks were recorded on separate channels, so one speaker plays just guitar while the other plays just bass. The drums and vocals are centered to bring it all together.
The album cover is a simple shot of the four Ramones dressed in their trademark leather jackets and blue jeans up against a city brick wall, with the logo at the top in white lettering. Simple but effective.
The album is not among my favorite Ramones albums, perhaps because it is so overplayed. Don't get me wrong, there are some great tracks on here, it's a solid album, but their best was definitely yet to come. Like their next four albums, The Ramones shared writing credits, although nine of the songs are written or co-written by Dee Dee. Joey Ramone wrote three songs on the album, Beat on the Brat, Judy is a Punk, and Chain Saw.
While songs like Blitzkrieg Bop or Beat on the Brat are arguably among the bands bets known tunes, for me the album really shines on tracks like Havana Affair, 53rd and 3rd or Today Your Love Tomorrow the World.
The current CD release of this album, besides being a cheap budget priced album, has seven additional demos and the single version of Blitzkrieg Bop. The additional demos are a nice addition to this well worn album. The single mix of Blitzkrieg Bop does away with the split guitar/bass to present the song in a more traditional way.
You probably already have this, and have probably already heard it to death, but if you haven't, it's cheap and easy to come by and a must have for any rock and roll collection.
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