Too Tough To Die
is one of the purest Ramones albums, a pummeling record that captures
the Ramones responding to the harder edges of the new punk and taking
advantage of the trends to get back to basics. This is still a band
that can record “Endless Vacation†and then do the massive
“Howling At The Moonâ€, a song whose songwriting is so in sync
with Dion and the early 60's rock ballads (even if the synths
obviously date it) that for years I thought this was a cover of
something much older than 1984. It's a great mix of the Ramones at
their meanest and prettiest, and it's probably the last great thing
they did.
It
should be said then that the album isn't exactly Minor Threat Redux –
one thing that dates Too Tough To Die
is the fairly pristine Eighties production, from the reverb on some
of Joey's vocals to the muffled, heavily mic'ed drums (the worst part
of it by far). There are synths, keyboards, even a piano roll on
“Daytime Dillemaâ€. As much as the production is screwed over
slightly by that large mid-Eighties sound Tommy Ramone does a fine
job making Joey's voice harder and rougher than it's been in years,
and when the song needs to sound nasty he goes for it. “Wart Hogâ€
is exhilarating, fun hardcore punk with Dee Dee singing as if he's
descended completely into animal form, the vocals less language than
a continual braying of rage.
These
are also much angrier songs than anything on End of the
Century, like the raging “Human
Kind†or the swaggering, brooding “I'm Not Afraid Of Lifeâ€. The
two hardcore style songs with Dee Dee are pounding freakouts that
proved that the Ramones could do hardcore and Misfit-style chants
brilliantly, they just didn't need to (Dee Dee by the end of “Endless
Vacation†sounds like the drugged, bile spewing uncle of Darby
Crash). Yet these are balanced by the Ramones' ability to do perfect
pop, like the aforementioned “Howling At The Moon†and the
rockabilly, cocksure “No Goâ€.
The
Ramones probably never did anything as great as this again but Too
Tough To Die is still a classic
of eighties punk, with at least two of their best songs popping up
here. On re-listen even amid eighties reverb it holds up incredibly
well on the strength of the writing and range. It was the Ramones not
just saying that they could rock out with the younger kids, but
saying “We can do anything.â€