The Ramones Road To Ruin 180g LP Rhino

The Ramones' fourth studio album, originally released September 22, 1978, was their first album with drummer Tommy Ramone's replacement, Marky Ramone.

Road To Ruin features a more 'classic' pop sound than in previous material incorporating elements such as guitar solos and ballads.

"Road To Ruin is a real good album. It isn't as funny or as powerful as their debut, but this does not mean the band is losing its grip. It means they figured out that the nigh-pure power chords and satire of their first three records - though enormously satisfying to smart people like myself - was too threatening to dumb people like you. So the Ramones compromised. They decided to meet you halfway and cut some slow songs, some guitar solos, some stuff that sounds like it uses twelve-string and pedal steel. Hard-core punk fans are liable to scream "sellout", but they should count themselves lucky that the group didn't pull this on the second LP when the first one didn't do that well. Over half the songs on Road To Ruin are straight-ahead rockers anyway, so I will tolerate no complaints."

"The Ramones' first four albums stand together as the most toweringly aggressive, misleadingly primitive, perfectly phrased musical statement ever made."

Within these songs is the very essence of rock 'n' roll.