Eternally ours

Ramones
Ramones *****
Warner Archives/Rhino

Ramones
Leave Home ****
Warner Archives/Rhino

Ramones
Rocket to Russia *****
Warner Archives/Rhino

Ramones
Road to Ruin *****
Warner Archives/Rhino

“Hey ho, let’s go” … so begins, in 1976, a rock saga of such unmitigated gall and impact that 96 percent of the rest of R ’n’ R’s output since then is like mosquitoes pissing on a bonfire. But hey (ho), we don’t need to retell that tale here. Enuf to announce the repackaging and rerelease, by Rhino (dog bless ’em), of the first four records (masterpieces) by the Queens quartet, from “Blitzkrieg Bop” (on the self-titled Ramones) to “It’s a Long Way Back,” (on Road to Ruin two years later). In those fork-in-socket days of punk, the Ramones were often passed over by rock radio jocks and the rest of the snoozing media in favor of flash and trash. But now we fuck all those creeps in the brain, n’est-ce pas?

The new releases all have mucho bonus tracks (demos, single versions, live cuts), great extra photos, cool essays, detailed session data, etc. And the sound is as you like it, baby. So if you’ve ever waxed nostalgic for “Beat on the Brat,” “Pinhead,” “Teenage Lobotomy,” “Ramona,” “Needles & Pins” or “Rock ’n’ Roll High School,” and if you miss Joey as much as we at Metro Times do, this is your glue … come on, sniff it.