Maps of Music

Road to Ruin (1978)

Where the lyrics of Road to Ruin take you, and where it was really made.

The studio where this album was recorded was once a church: Mediasound in Midtown Manhattan occupied the premises of a former Episcopalian Church.

Key places

Recording at Mediasound Studios (1978)

Recording site Mediasound Studios — The Ramones began recording Road to Ruin at Mediasound Studios in Midtown Manhattan, three weeks after Marky Ramone joined the band. The building was the premises of a former Episcopalian Church. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Road to Ruin: fourth studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones
• Released 22 September 1978 by Sire Records, on LP, 8-track cartridge and audio cassette
• First Ramones album with new drummer Marky Ramone, who replaced Tommy Ramone
• Album did not sell as well as the band hoped, peaking at 103 on the Billboard 200
• Some regard the songs as an attempt to get the band more airplay
• Artwork concept by fan Gus MacDonald, later modified by John Holmstrom to show Marky instead of Tommy

Background

• Predecessor Rocket to Russia had poor album sales
• Tommy Ramone left the drum seat to focus on producing for the band, after low sales and touring stress
• Tommy stayed with the band to produce the album, credited as T. Erdelyi, together with Ed Stasium
• Album brought in elements less prominent in punk rock: heavy metal-influenced guitar solos and 1960s-style ballads
• Dee Dee Ramone approached Marc Bell, former drummer of Richard Hell and the Voidoids, at CBGBs
• Manager Danny Fields formally asked Marky to audition about a month later
• Marky stayed close to Tommy's straightforward technique, with a bit more technical sophistication

Recording

• Recording began three weeks after Marky joined, in Midtown Manhattan
• Sessions were held at Mediasound Studios, the premises of a former Episcopalian Church
• Band rehearsed with Marky before going into the studio
• Ed Stasium said the band spent a lot of money and the entire summer on the album

Cover

• Original concept sketch by Gus MacDonald showed the members with a lobster claw coming out of an amplifier and a snake around their feet
• The sketch included Tommy, so the drawing was modified to depict Marky
• The change was made by John Holmstrom, a Punk magazine associate and designer

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• An American punk rock band formed in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, in 1974.
• Founding members Jeff Hyman, John Cummings, Douglas Colvin and Thomas Erdelyi took the stage names Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone.
• The name was inspired by Paul McCartney's pseudonym Paul Ramon from his Silver Beetles days.
• The band made its CBGB debut on August 16, 1974, and became regulars at the club.
• Sire Records signed them in late 1975.

Members

• Joey Ramone (lead vocals, 1974–1996; died 2001).
• Johnny Ramone (guitar, 1974–1996; died 2004).
• Dee Dee Ramone (bass, 1974–1989; died 2002).
• Tommy Ramone (drums, 1974–1978; died 2014).
• Marky Ramone, Richie Ramone, Elvis Ramone and C. J. Ramone joined as later drummers and bassists.

Career

• The debut album Ramones was released in April 1976 and helped spearhead punk; its influence on British and American punk is widely cited.
• The band performed 2,263 concerts and released fourteen studio albums.
• Rocket to Russia (1977) was its highest-charting album, reaching number 49 on the Billboard 200.
• The band broke up after a farewell show at the Palace in Hollywood on August 6, 1996, following the Lollapalooza tour.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and given a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

Reception

At release

• Initially received mixed reviews from critics
• Roy Trakin of New York Rocker called the album uneven and sometimes lazy, and preferred Tommy's drumming over Marky's
• Jon Savage of Sounds felt the music had become formulaic and accused the band of calculated negativity
• Charles M. Young of Rolling Stone found it neither as humorous nor as innovative as the debut, but said the band was not losing its grip
• Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave a highly positive review and found nearly every track listenable apart from Bad Brain
• Cash Box and Record World praised Don't Come Close for its production and pop edge
• Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said it did not reach the quality of the earlier albums

Reappraisal

• Critical acclaim did not fully arrive until decades after release
• Tim Sendra, in a later AllMusic retrospective, was more enthusiastic about the fuller arrangements
• Today it is often considered a fan favorite
• In 2014 a Rolling Stone top 10 article voted it the band's third best album
• I Wanna Be Sedated became one of the band's best-known tracks

Records

• US Billboard 200: peak 103, more than 50 places behind predecessor Rocket to Russia (peak 49)
• UK Albums Chart: peak 32
• Swedish Sverigetopplistan chart: debut at 25

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Bad Brains took their name from the song Bad Brain
• Supergrass's 2005 album Road to Rouen takes its title as a reference to this album
• Joey wrote I Wanna Be Sedated while hospitalized for burns to his face and throat, caused by an exploding kettle used to treat sinuses
• About twenty people auditioned for the drum seat; Johnny, Joey and Dee Dee wanted Marky after his performances of I Don't Care and Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
• Tommy said the album was a flop in the US, despite a deliberate attempt to win American radio play
• The video for I Wanna Be Sedated was produced almost a decade after the album's release

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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