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On this work, the original album cover art design is at centre. Its bottom had been converted to negative. The uncoverted bottom half was then flipped and pasted on the left and on the right sides in
order to fill the remaining spaces of an 18x10 resolution frame. Finally, the whole image was processed with Angled Strokes.
Initially, the Ramones wanted an album cover similar to Meet the Beatles! (1964), and subsequently had pictures taken in that style by Danny Fields but Sire was dissatisfied with the results. The art
direction was by Toni Wadler and, according to cartoonist John Holmstrom, the Meet The Beatles! cover idea came out "horribly." Wadler later chose a photo by Roberta Bayley, a photographer for
Punk magazine for the cover.The black and white photograph on the front of the album was originally in an issue of Punk.
The cover photo features (from left to right) Johnny, Tommy, Joey and Dee Dee Ramone, staring at the camera with blank faces. They are all wearing ripped/faded blue jeans and leather jackets,
standing upright against the brick wall of a private community garden called Albert's Garden, located in the Bowery neighbourhood of New York City between Bowery Street and Second Street. The
stance of the group members in the photograph would influence their future cover designs as well, with the majority of their succeeding albums using a picture of the band on the front cover. Music
historian Legs McNeil states that "Tommy [is] standing on his tip-toes and Joey [is] hunched over a bit."
The artwork became one of the most imitated album covers in music. The image of a band in front of a brick wall dressed in ripped jeans and leather jackets was copied by Alvin and the Chipmunks
in Chipmunk Punk. Ramones's artwork was ranked number 58 on Rolling Stone's 1991 list of 100 Greatest Album Covers. wikipedia
No. 33, Rolling Stone, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; No. 52, Rate Your Music, The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time;
No. 100, Entertainment Weekly, 100 Greatest Albums Ever; No. 232, The Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000.
No. 33, Music Radar, The 50 Greatest Album Covers of All Time; No. 58, Rolling Stone, The 100 Greatest Album Covers.
Photo by Roberta Bayley, courtesy of Punk magazine. Album produced by Craig Leon & Tommy Ramone. Sire (US & UK), Philips
(Europe), 1976.
Nearly 40 years after its release, one of rock's landmark albums is reported to have achieved gold status in the US. Ramones,
first released on 23 April 1976 was certified as gold by the Recording Industry of America on 30 April 2014. That means it has
now sold more than 500,000 copies.
Ramones was greeted ecstatically by critics on its release, especially in the UK. "As a punk artefact, it separates the men from
the boys," wrote Nick Kent in NME. "If you love hard-ass retard rock, you'll bathe in every groove. If you pride yourself on
being a sensitive human-being, this record will gag on you like a gatorade and vermouth fireball."
In the Detroit magazine Creem, which always championed loud guitar rock, Gene Sculatti wrote: "Serving its radical function,
the Ramones' debut drives a sharp wedge between the stale ends of a contemporary music scene bloated with graying
superstars and overripe for takeover. Right now, the Ramones have their hands on the wheel." The Guardian
(A) Blitzkrieg Bop - Beat on the Brat - Judy is a Punk - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - Chain Saw - Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue - I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement
(B) Loudmouth - Havana Affair - Listen to My Heart - 53rd and 3rd - Let's Dance - I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You - Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World
On this work, the original album cover art design is at centre. Its bottom had been converted to negative. The uncoverted bottom half was then flipped and pasted on the left and on the right sides in
order to fill the remaining spaces of an 18x10 resolution frame. Finally, the whole image was processed with Angled Strokes.
Initially, the Ramones wanted an album cover similar to Meet the Beatles! (1964), and subsequently had pictures taken in that style by Danny Fields but Sire was dissatisfied with the results. The art
direction was by Toni Wadler and, according to cartoonist John Holmstrom, the Meet The Beatles! cover idea came out "horribly." Wadler later chose a photo by Roberta Bayley, a photographer for
Punk magazine for the cover.The black and white photograph on the front of the album was originally in an issue of Punk.
The cover photo features (from left to right) Johnny, Tommy, Joey and Dee Dee Ramone, staring at the camera with blank faces. They are all wearing ripped/faded blue jeans and leather jackets,
standing upright against the brick wall of a private community garden called Albert's Garden, located in the Bowery neighbourhood of New York City between Bowery Street and Second Street. The
stance of the group members in the photograph would influence their future cover designs as well, with the majority of their succeeding albums using a picture of the band on the front cover. Music
historian Legs McNeil states that "Tommy [is] standing on his tip-toes and Joey [is] hunched over a bit."
The artwork became one of the most imitated album covers in music. The image of a band in front of a brick wall dressed in ripped jeans and leather jackets was copied by Alvin and the Chipmunks
in Chipmunk Punk. Ramones's artwork was ranked number 58 on Rolling Stone's 1991 list of 100 Greatest Album Covers. wikipedia
No. 33, Rolling Stone, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; No. 52, Rate Your Music, The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time;
No. 100, Entertainment Weekly, 100 Greatest Albums Ever; No. 232, The Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000.
No. 33, Music Radar, The 50 Greatest Album Covers of All Time; No. 58, Rolling Stone, The 100 Greatest Album Covers.
Photo by Roberta Bayley, courtesy of Punk magazine. Album produced by Craig Leon & Tommy Ramone. Sire (US & UK), Philips
(Europe), 1976.
Nearly 40 years after its release, one of rock's landmark albums is reported to have achieved gold status in the US. Ramones,
first released on 23 April 1976 was certified as gold by the Recording Industry of America on 30 April 2014. That means it has
now sold more than 500,000 copies.
Ramones was greeted ecstatically by critics on its release, especially in the UK. "As a punk artefact, it separates the men from
the boys," wrote Nick Kent in NME. "If you love hard-ass retard rock, you'll bathe in every groove. If you pride yourself on
being a sensitive human-being, this record will gag on you like a gatorade and vermouth fireball."
In the Detroit magazine Creem, which always championed loud guitar rock, Gene Sculatti wrote: "Serving its radical function,
the Ramones' debut drives a sharp wedge between the stale ends of a contemporary music scene bloated with graying
superstars and overripe for takeover. Right now, the Ramones have their hands on the wheel." The Guardian
(A) Blitzkrieg Bop - Beat on the Brat - Judy is a Punk - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - Chain Saw - Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue - I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement
(B) Loudmouth - Havana Affair - Listen to My Heart - 53rd and 3rd - Let's Dance - I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You - Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World
"Beat on the Brat" live from Elias Merida on YouTube.
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