The Ramones - Subterranean Jungle (1983) [1st Japan Press]

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The Ramones - Subterranean Jungle (1983) [1st Japan Press]

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Ramones - Subterranean Jungle (1983) [1st Japan Press]
FLAC+CUE+LOG or MP3 CBR 320 | 33:33 min | 233 or 78 MB

The early '80s found the Ramones in a quandary. Critics charged them with not expanding their horizons beyond their usual axis of songs about girls, punk rock, and mutants. A new breed of more aggressive hardcore bands raised on the Ramones' sound were challenging them for the fastest-loudest crown. Personal problems (drummer Marky was to exit rancorously shortly after the album's release) were further wrenches in the machinery. Thus, when Subterranean Jungle was released in 1983, it was judged harshly by critics who couldn't understand what the Ramones were trying to do. While Subterranean Jungle is no great leap forward, it does contain the seeds of an approach that would sustain the Ramones for the next 15 years of touring. Highlights include a Ramones-ized version of the Chambers Brothers' classic "Time Has Come Today", and, perhaps the Ramones' most romantic song to date, "Every Time I Eat Vegetables It Makes Me Think of You". The real revelation, though, is the light-speed "Psycho Therapy" which finds the band outracing their hardcore progeny to the punk rock finish line. Every band should put out a transitional record this good.

Tentatively returning toward punk, or at least new wave, the Ramones turned in their most enjoyable record since Rocket to Russia with Subterranean Jungle. Producers Ritchie Cordell and Glen Kolotkin were the heads of the edgy power pop and punk label Bomp!, so they steered the Ramones back toward the '60s pop infatuation that provided the foundation for their early records. It's a strategy that pays off well – for the most part, the group's originals are so punchy and catchy that they make the pair of covers superfluous. Comprised of a set of unabashedly hook-laden songs and driven by more subtle rhythms, Subterranean Jungle may not be a punk record in the strictest sense of the word, yet the Ramones haven't sounded quite as alive in a long, long while.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, all media guide