Johnny Ramone helped Rob Zombie to do and collect Ramones-tribute album
We're A Happy Family together. Release date was postponed many times, but
final one was February, 11, 2003. We're a Happy Family entered the US
Billboard album charts at #43. This album contains some bands, which
aren't so Ramoniac ones, but...TRACKLISTING:
1.Red Hot Chili Peppers: Havana Affair
2.Rob Zombie: Blitzkrieg Bop
3.Eddie Vedder w/Zeke: I Believe In Miracles
4.Metallica: 53rd & 3rd
5.U2: Beat On The Brat
6.Kiss: Do You Remember Rock And Roll Radio?
7.Marilyn Manson: KKK Took My Baby Away
8.Garbage: I Just Want To Have Something To Do
9.Green Day: Outsider
10.Pretenders: Something To Believe In
11.Rancid: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
12.Pete Yorn: I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
13.The Offspring: I Wanna Be Sedated
14.Rooney: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
15.Tom Waits: The Return Of Jackie & Judy
+ Hidden track:
16.John Frusciante: Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World
+ The first 100,000 copies of the album had a bonus track, "Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love)", performed by Vedder.
Here's is Rob Zombie's comments of the Ramones:
- The Ramones are the greatest American band. I just think that what they did was so simple and so stripped down and so to-the-point that you can't mess with it. We were trying to get the tribute album out on the one-year anniversary of Joey's death, April 15, but at the same time, we didn't wanted to put it out until it's perfect, says Zombie.
The booklet is by Zombie and features many never seen photos of the Ramones. Stephen King wrote sleeve notes.
Metallica was trained 8 Ramones song before they choosed 53rd And 3rd. The first 100,000 copies of the album will have a bonus track, "Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love)", performed by Vedder.
SOME REVIEWS:
Hot Topic by Andrew Stevens
After four bat wielding brat beaters toured Europe in 1976 and introduced punk rock to bands like The Clash and The Sex Pistols, one would think a legendary, Beatles-esque status would soon follow. Unfortunately, The Ramones never received the accolades befitting them. But in the time since Joey's death from cancer in 2001 and Dee Dee's fatal overdose last year, the Ramones and their two minute blasts of cretin bliss appear to be far from sedated.
Writing a review for "We're A Happy Family - A Tribute To The Ramones" is difficult for me. Since The Ramones are my all-time favorite band, every artist on this disc is under the most picky of pinhead microscopes. After a few spins, I stopped analyzing, got over myself, and found comfort in the fact that every performer was there to genuinely pay homage to the Kings of Queens.
I found myself getting attached to the way Rancid, Green Day, and The Offspring served up their tracks Ramones style, straying very little from the original recipe. This was after I fell in love with the way the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rob Zombie, Garbage, and Marilyn Manson took the original masterpieces and crafted their own brand of glue sniffin' fun. Here's the one irrefutable reason to add "We're A Happy Family" to your music collection: song number six. Kiss' version of "Do You Remember Rock 'N Roll Radio" gets my vote as the CD's best track. Turn it on, turn it up, and blitzkrieg bop until you drop.
Marky Ramone has suggested that U2, Marilyn Manson, and Rob Zombie have no business being involved with this tribute because they "have nothing to do with punk." C'mon Marky, the whole point of this disc is to expose just how far The Ramones' shock treatment spread! This is no time for animosity. We're all a happy family, right?
No matter how you slice it, these four leather-clad pinheads from Queens, New York gave birth to a stripped down, machine gun wall of sound called "Punk," and Rob Zombie has put together an honorable collection that will hopefully give The Ramones their Gabba Gabba Heyday.
HoustonChronicle.com by Michael D. Clark
PUNK bands, from the Dead Boys to Green Day, took inspiration from the Ramones. The original Queens quartet combined semituned guitars and locker-room harmonies to create an original soundtrack to back-alley New York in the late '70s.
The songs were as basic as grade school and sounded easy to duplicate. More often than not, however, bands dubbed "the next Ramones" have been flashes in the pan -- less like Joey Ramone and more like Jesse Camp.
Now comes a star-powered cover-album homage, We're a Happy Family, and the potential for disaster makes it an irresistible listen. Contributors to the album, which honors vocalist Joey Ramone, who died in 2001, and Dee Dee Ramone, who died last year, include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Green Day and Tom Waits.
Which of these artists can find a balance between the original Ramones sound and their own?
The Red Hot Chili Peppers formulated a brilliant plan for Havana Affair. Choosing a song that's not a revered Ramones hit allowed more latitude for its own thick bass lines and snare trap beats.
Pete Yorn used the Peppers' strategy, turning the down-tempo I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend into a surf-rock ballad, new territory for him and the Ramones. Tom Waits completely redraws Return of Jackie & Judy as blues-rock. The DIY (Do-It-Yourself, for the punk-ignorant) thinking rests with a lo-fi field-recording sound.
Among the set's heaviest hitters, U2 sounds least comfortable, rendering Beat on the Brat. Guitarist the Edge scratches terse, grinding chords, unfamiliar to his fingers, and Bono's voice is simply too cultured to sound punk.
Green Day's take on 1983's Outsider outs them as a punk band gone soft. The group probably would have been better equipped for this a decade ago, when Billie Joe Armstrong didn't use reverb to mask his voice. Green Day gets extra credit, however, for choosing a song beyond the Ramones strongest early albums.
Eddie Vedder and punk band Zeke also fared better with late material, turning 1989's I Believe in Miracles into a movie-ready anthem. This might be the one song on We're a Happy Family that equals, even improves on the Ramones' original.
No surprise that the younger punks lacked the vision for reinterpretation. Rancid adds a little static and less melody to Sheena Is a Punk Rocker and the Offspring's attitudeless I Wanna Be Sedated has the listener chanting the title in hopes of relief.
These by-the-numbers approaches are proof that sometimes a little imagination is the most sincere form of flattery -- especially when it comes to Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.
Punknews.org by Billy Taint
Another tribute record. For some strange reason I feel obligated to buy these, despite constantly being disappointed. The Clash, Sex Pistols, Nirvana, and Weezer all had tribute albums that, if anything, were a disgrace to the music the respective bands had created. Operation Ivy's tribute was the only one that did the band any justice, and even that was a stretch.
Despite this, however, I bought The Ramones tribute album anyway. I'd like to declare this $15 purchase the biggest waste of money in my 20 year life. As an avid music collector with over 500 CDs, it would take a lot to be considered the "worst album I own". Yet this one easily takes the cake.
Here we go, track by track.
1. Red Hot Chili Peppers "Havana Affair" - With all due respect to RHCP, they took this song and made it their own. Within seconds of the track, you recognize the Chili Peppers signature sound. However, a standard Chili Peppers song, only it's a Ramones song? RHCP's formula doesn't work well here and this song fails to do the legacy of The Ramones any justice.
2. Rob Zombie "Blitzkreig Bop" - Zombie, as one of the album's producers (along with Johnny Ramone), naturally covered The Ramones' most well-known song. Unfortunately, all he did was butcher a classic. Nothing special going on here at all.
3. Eddie Vedder w/ Zeke "I Believe in Miracles" - Why is Eddie Vedder so hell bent on proving he's "cool" and "young"? Nothing awful going on here, but nothing significant either. Just knowing it's Eddie Vedder, however, makes me skip it.
4. Metallica "53rd & 3rd" - Now here is an awful song. Basically just slow, heavy noise. Imagine a brand new garage rock band plugged in next door to you and were playing an irritatingly simple song over and over again. That's what this song feels like.
5. U2 "Beat on the Brat" - Decent song with the exception of the vocals. I'm glad the bands are trying to make the songs their own and not just rip off The Ramones, but Bono's voice is in a total other range than Joey Ramone's was. Album is 0-for-5 so far and living up to the curse of the tribute album...
6. KISS "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio" - Wow. Of all the bands here I would never have expected KISS to actually hold my interest and keep me listening. KISS actually put time, effort, and thought into their track. The result is a fun, party-song, with a horn riff that I can't get out of my head. I didn't expect it, but KISS did The Ramones name some good.
7. Marilyn Manson "The KKK Took My Baby Away" - Words can't describe what I thought when I heard this song. Joey and Dee Dee were definitely spinning in their graves due to this. God awful. Everyone take a few minutes of their day and download this track. It's one of those songs that are so bad you HAVE to hear it. All you Ramones fanatics are going to be VERY upset with this one.
8. Garbage "I Just Wanna Have Something to Do" - This song really sounds like The Donnas. The similarites are creepy. With that in mind, this song rates the same as a Donnas song. Not something you'd choose to listen to, but if it came on the radio, you wouldn't feel the need to shut it off.
9. Green Day "Outsider" - Green Day are huge Ramones fanatics, yet they couldn't go into the studio and record something new? Take the original version of "Outsider" and imagine Billie Joe singing it. That's all this track is. Nothing special going on here. Shame on you Green Day. These guys are your idols?
10. The Pretenders "Something to Believe In" - At this point I began to finalize in my head that CD was crap. The Pretenders got skipped over within 30 seconds. Nothing captivating going on. Just irritating music.
11. Rancid "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" - Prior to this album's release Rancid said they were going to play this song faster and harder than anyone thought possible. Well...they lied. Rancid dropped the ball here. I never really like any cover Rancid does come to think of it. Lars Frederiksen sings this song, which was disappointing because I think Tim Armstrong could have done a much better job. Matt Freeman's bass work, of course, is phenomenal. Nothing too exciting on this track. If Rancid couldn't get the job done, then I'm pretty sure the few remaining tracks won't...
12. Pete Yorn "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" - Why does a one-hit wonder get to pay tribute to one of the greatest bands of all time? Just the thought of this is disgusting. Another classic song, torn to shreads.
13. The Offspring "I Wanna Be Sedated" - And I thought Green Day was disrespectful?? How old is this song?? Ridiculous. The Offspring covered this song bar-for-bar, note-for-note. NOTHING creative here. Just a boring, mindless cover. So of the 3 punk bands featured on this punk tribute, they all missed the mark. Too bad....
14. Rooney "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" - Who is Rooney?? Skip.
15. Tom Waits "Return of Jackie & Judy" - Awful. Sounds like it was recorded in the 1940's. I know he has a cult-like following, and apparently is a musical genius, but that DOES NOT show here whatsoever. Just awful.
16. Eddie Vedder w/ Zeke "Daytime Dilemma (Dangers of Love)" - ANOTHER Eddie Vedder track? We weren't punished enough the first time?
Well, another tribute album, another disappointment. A real shame too, as The Ramones are deserving of so much more.
The thing that gets me is the fact that there have been some good Ramones covers in the past...River City Rebels, MxPx, Pennywise, Alkaline Trio, Bad Religion, The Queers...Why are these not featured here? Why not have a tribute that will actually do the band justice AND show the bands that they actually have influenced and inspired???
Well, we can dream.
All in all, DO NOT buy this album. I'm sure most of you are smart enough not to. I deserve a lot of ridicule for picking this thing up.
Poor Joey. I think we all owe him an apology on behalf of anyone involved in this album.