Ramones: Road to Ruin (Sire)

Village Voice-October 1978

Robert Christgau

Like any great group, this one is always toping itself. Album four alternates definitive high-speed rockers-"I Wanted Everything," "I’m Against It," "She’s the One" are as good as any they’ve ever done-with more candidly lyrical slow ones that rank with the oldie, "Needles and Pins," as compositions. The lyrics of "I Just Want To Have Something To Do" and "I Wanna Be Sedated" test the barrier between their Queens-geek personas and their real lives as professional musicians with out a hint of rocky-road bullshit. Only the "Bad Brain" (a title) theme seems repetitious-personally, I’m glad it’s fading. But the guitar breaks bring tears to my personal eyes, and I can’t wait to hear Gary Stewart’s version of ‘Questioningly."