Continuing our look at some of the finest live albums ever, may I proudly present:
Ramones – “It’s Alive” (Sire Records UK – Original Release: 1979)
Here’s the math: Storming, hyper-speed live versions of 28 Ramones tunes from their first 3 albums spread over 2 LPs (all in under 54 minutes) equals an amazing punk rock document.
Released in the UK in 1979 (it didn’t see release in the U.S. until 1995) and peaking in their charts at number 27, It’s Alive remains the definitive live punk album, thanks in large part to the inclusion of some of the Ramones’ best and best-known tunes (“Teenage Lobotomy,” “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment,” “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “
Rockaway Beach,” for starters).
Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone blast their way through the amazing set – recorded on New Year’s Eve 1977 in London – with an almost religious fervor, as if they’re trying to convert the masses to their frantically melodic brand of punk. There is very little in the way of stage patter (unless you count Dee Dee’s “1-2-3-4” count offs) and it’s clear that the British audience is eating it up. Everything is played about 1.5 times quicker than the studio versions, and unlike many of the band’s later period shows, lead vocalist Joey Ramone had not yet begun his annoying habit of spitting out/growling the lyrics; here, he sounds fully committed and leads the band through a feel-good, slam-bang joyride (even when he’s singing about Nazis, cretins and pinheads).
In addition to the Ramones classics mentioned above, oldies such as the Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird,” “Do You Wanna Dance,” “California Sun” and “Let’s Dance” all get the buzzsaw guitar treatment and slot in perfectly next to cuts such as “Oh Oh I Love Her So,” which sounds as if it could have been a long lost Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon track (remember him?). Even though the Ramones would go on to release other live albums throughout the course of their career, “It’s Alive” stands head and shoulders above the rest.
