Ramones

End of the Century (1980)

C.M. Crockford

If we're gonna talk about End of the

Century, the Ramones' final

desperate crawl for success armed (literally sometimes) with Phil

Spector, we should talk first about “Baby I Love You.” It's a

Ronettes cover that both makes sense for a band that worshipped girl

groups and classic pop, but the syrupy strings and orchestral sound

matched with Joey's sneering, geeky voice is still a deeply surreal

moment for the Ramones and for punk rock. How must it have felt to

hear this on the radio with no clue what the fuck was going on? End

of the Century is fascinating

because you can see why the Ramones thought hooking up to Spector

would finally give them hits, but the meeting of a professional,

pristine Wall of Sound and the leather jacket, buzzsaw sound of the

four is so deranged that it's a bizarre, gleeful concoction instead

of a surefire success.

At

best what this does is result in some classic Ramones rockers being

augmented, like Marky's steel drums and the triumphant sax on “Do

You Remember Rock And Roll Radio” - it's one of their most

commanding openers as a result, even if as a statement of intent it's

too much of a call to nostalgia (gee I wonder why this flopped as a

single). Closer “High Risk Insurance” has some glorious ringing,

triumphant guitar as a result of Spector's augmentations. “Danny

Says” and “Rock And Roll High School” are probably the best

songs on the album because they're the perfect melding of Spector and

the Ramones' sensibilities – the layering of instruments and vocals

work perfectly for “Danny” as the buzzsaw guitar builds up,

creating an absolute classic Ramones ballad with a gorgeous melody.

But

where End of the Century

does fail is first the songwriting, with some pretty boring filler

like “I Can't Make It On Time” and also that Spector's

perfectionist (the word “lunatic” also comes to mind) tendencies

just don't seem to gel on a lot of the tracks with a band who were

ugly, cheap, and could play twelve songs in twenty minutes live.

Tommy's production savvy was probably really missed here. I don't

think it's nearly as bad as the band claimed, with some major stand

outs in the singles, but it's a weird mix of ideas and tastes that is

more curious and intriguing than brilliant. Still, it's essential for

any Ramones fan and for any rock geek into insane team ups (“Hey,

what if Phil Spector and the Ramones did an album together?!”) The

version of “Baby I Love You” here says it all – kind of

disastrous, very listenable.