He was the symbol for everything that is punk rock. He was the impossibly skinny front man for one of the most influential groups of all time. He went from playing the tiny New York club CBGB's to an American legend at the time of his death last year. He was Joey Ramone, and he will be remembered forever.
The Ramones burst onto the scene in 1974 with a sound that had never been heard before. They played louder, faster and harder than any band of their time, and they loved it. They didn't care how much money they made or how many records they sold - all that mattered was the music and having fun. Critics discounted their talent, saying that they were just noise, but in 1975 they signed a record contract and introduced the rest of the world to punk.
Throughout their 22-year history, The Ramones single-handedly changed the face of music, inspiring bands like The Clash and the Sex Pistols to Nirvana and Blink 182. Even Bono of U2 claims them as one of his greatest influences. For all those years, Joey pumped up the crowd, speeding through classic anthems like "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "I Wanna be Sedated." He will always be remembered for his long black hair, leather jacket and dark sunglasses. But suddenly, in 1996, it was all over.
Joey disappeared almost completely from the public eye, and rumors started to surface that he was sick. Finally, a few years later, he went public with the fact that he had lymphatic cancer, but was doing okay. He began recording a solo album sporadically, in between stays at the hospital. The album had nearly reached completion when he passed away last April at the age of 49.
"Don't Worry About Me" is the album that Joey never finished. It proves once and for all that even when Joey was on his death-bed, punk still ran through his veins. From the opening track, a cover of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" to the closing title track, "Don't Worry About Me" is a straight-up punk record. Joey never strays from the formula that made the Ramones loved by droves of fans.
Full of Ramones-style punk anthems, the album runs through eleven songs in just under thirty-five minutes - only one song cracks the four-minute mark. Songs like "Stop Thinking About It" and "Mr. Punchy" will have you chanting the words in no time. But at times the album ventures into more serious territory, rarely covered before by Joey and his mates.
"Venting" talks about a "sick f---ing world with a violent affliction," and his incomprehension that things like Columbine can ever happen. "I Get Knocked Down" was written as Joey sits in his hospital bed staring death in the face. All he wants is his life back, and he's optimistic that one day he'll have it.
In the end though, it's songs like the soon to be classic "Maria Bartiromo," about the TV Market Analyst of the same name, that make this album great. Joey went out making the music he loved - a classic punk album. It's just too bad we'll never be able to hear any more from this revolutionary artist. We love you, Joey, and we miss you.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
