The Ramones: Joey Ramone (vocals); Johnny Ramone (guitar); Dee Dee Ramone (bass); Marky Ramone (drums). Additional personnel: Sean Donohue (spoken vocals); Steve Douglas (saxophone); Barry Goldberg (piano, organ). Recorded at Gold Star Studios, Excalibur Studios, Devonshire Sound Studios, Sound Dog Studios & Original Sound Studios, Los Angeles, California. Includes liner notes by Harvey Kubernik. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel: Joey Ramone (vocals); David Kessel, Dan Kessel, Johnny Ramone (guitar); Steve Douglas (saxophone); Barry Goldberg (piano, organ); Jim Keltner, Marky Ramone (drums); Mar?a Montoya, Phast Phreddie, Harvey Robert Kubernik, Rodney Bingenheimer (hand claps). DJ: Sean Donahue . Audio Remasterers: Daniel Hersch; Bill Inglot. Audio Remixers: Joel Soiffer; Phil Spector. Liner Note Author: Harvey Robert Kubernik. Recording information: Cherokee REcording Studios, Hollywood, CA (04/19/1979); Devonshire Sound Studios (04/19/1979); Excalibur Studios (04/19/1979); Gold Star Studios (04/19/1979); Original Sound Studios (04/19/1979); Salty Dog Studios (04/19/1979); Sire Studios, New York, NY (04/19/1979). Author: Johnny Ramone. Photographers: Mick Rock ; Gary Merrin. This has always been the Ramones most controversial album, thanks to the characteristically over the top production by '60s legend Phil Spector. Some longtime fans hold that the band is overwhelmed by Spector's trademark Wall of Sound, and the Ramones themselves have expressed some reservations with the album over the years, although that may have been a result of Spector's personal eccentricities during the recording sessions--at one point he reputedly held a gun on them. In retrospect, however, Spector's sound and the Ramones' buzzsaw guitar attack make an excellent match, and with the exception of a pleasant but pointless cover of Spector's "Baby, I Love You" there isn't a weak track on the album. Highlights include a Spector-ized version of the theme to ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL (markedly different from the cut on the movie soundtrack), "Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll," (their ode to '60s Top 40 radio), "Danny Says" (their ode to manager Danny Fields), and "Chinese Rocks" (Dee Dee Ramone's often-covered ode to copping heroin).

• Genre: Pop
• Released: 8/20/2002
• Format: CD