If you’ve bought one Ramones record, you’ve probably bought a lot of them. Sometimes you’ve had to buy the same record more than once because people borrow and steal them. Then CD’s came out and you had to buy imports because that was the only way you could get the earlier records until the multi album collections “All the Stuff and More” came out. You bought those too, because of the couple of extra demo tracks and singles. Well now they’ve come out with remastered and “Expanded” versions of their catalog for cryin’ out loud. Where is it going to end? And what does this anthology have that the other collection Ramones Mania doesn’t?
Plenty, my friend. It’s got two discs instead of one. Perfect for the car. Less space, more variety. It’s got “Carbona Not Glue.” and the Ramones covering Motorhead’s tribute to the Ramones – “R.A.M.O.N.E.S.” It’s also got a really cool CD sized hardcover book that fits in the cardboard outer sleeve that also houses the traditional CD case, albeit a single width case that holds two CD’s. The book covers the Ramones from the original line up to CJ at the end, with all the Clems in between. It’s got tons of pictures – some you’ve seen and some you haven’t. The usual NYC cast of characters is sprinkled in with the interviews and memorabilia. The only thing that sucks is that the book is so small. It’s kind of hard to read, and it should be Oxford dictionary sized to really do them justice.
Should you buy this? Joey doesn’t need your money anymore, but Dee Dee probably does. Hey Ho Let’s Go! is good for those that are always craving extra liner notes. Are you the kind of jackass that doesn’t actually own a Ramones record? If so, get this one immediately. If you’re the record club type, Hey Ho Let’s Go! can often be purchased for the price of a generic single cd release or less. I don’t know how that works, but I’m not complaining. I named my dog Ramona after the Ramones. Gabba Gabba Hey. We miss you Joey.