An admirable companion to "Loud, Fast Ramones"

The 1989-1995 coda to the Ramones' career will never be accused of being their creative and commercial peak, but it certainly isn't as devoid of material as the Rhino anthologies ("Hey! Ho! Let's Go!" and "Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits") would have you believe. This collection pays proper respect to that period, collecting eighteen tunes from their four studio albums and one live album.

While latter-day tunes like "Pet Sementary", "Take It As It Comes", and "Poison Heart", (catchy and melodic as they are) do not possess the trailblazing vibe of the earlier stuff, other cuts like "Got A Lot To Say", "I Don't Want To Grow Up" (both recorded as bands like Green Day were already reaping much greater financial success from the Ramones' sound than the originators ever did), and "Don't Bust My Chops" keep the faith just fine. Plus the fattened modern-day production values give the music a faux rougher sonic edge they didn't have in the 70's. In addtion, the studio cuts here are much better songs than the handful of '89-'95 tunes that ended up on the Rhino collections, and by the way, there's no overlap between the songs on "Loud, Fast Ramones" and this one, so you can safely pick this one up to serve as a competent second volume to that one without feeling like you're paying for songs twice.

The fact that this collection includes eight live versions of pre-Chrysalis classics (and great live versions they are!) as well as cover versions of the Rolling Stones' "Out Of Time" and Jefferson Starship's "Somebody To Love" does draw attention to the fact that this wasn't a terribly prolific time for the Ramones, but who cares? It's fun, loud punk music without the dark, violent, overtly political overtones of bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash. Highly recommended, but only as a companion to "Loud Fast Ramones".

Great Collection of The Ramones' Later Material

I am one of the many Ramones fans who favor their earlier material over the work of their later years. With that bias considered, I am surprised to find myself really enjoying this compilation. True, many of the recordings are so Studio-Clean that they lose some of that unique vintage Ramones flavor, but this is still some really good music.



The highlight for me is their cover of a song from The Doors' first album, "Take it as it Comes." This is one of the songs that critic Everett True bashed in his biography on The Ramones; all I can is while I thought True did a great job on their bio, I believe he is dead wrong on this tune. Joey Ramone's vocals alone make this one of the sweetest cover songs I have ever heard.



Another really great cover is "I Don't Want to Grow Up," written by the hubby & wife team of Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan.



And if you are a die-hard fan of The Ramones' vintage works, this CD has some great live recordings of classics like "Rockaway Beach," "Blitzkrieg Bop," and "Sheena is a Punk Rocker."



This collection will never sell like other Ramones compilations, but if you are a Mega-Ramones fan, this collection is a must!

Not so hawt

Best of the EMI YEARS is a collection of the Ramones last 5 albums. Most Ramones fans tend to ignore these albums, and I had hoped this collection would give a good look at the later albums.

But I was wrong.

This album is a terrible representation of the Ramones later material. There are alot of really good songs they could have used but didnt.

This is how I would have put together the CD:
1. Pet Semetary
2. Merry Christmas (I dont wanna fight tonight)
3. I believe in Miracles

4. Cretin Family
5. Teenage Lobotomy [Live]
6. Censorsh*t
7. Poison Heart
8. Strength to Endure
9. Take It As It Comes
10. Life's a Gas
11. She Talks to Rainbows
12. I Wanna Be Sedated [Live]
13. Shape of things to come
14. Somebody to Love
15. Rock and Roll Radio [Live]
16. Blitzkrieg Bop [Live]
17. I Don't Want to Grow Up
18. The Crusher

I know almost no one will agree with me, but I think the Ramones newer material is just as good as the old stuff, if not better.

I wouldnt advise picking up this cd. Get The Chrysalis Years 3 cd pack instead. It contains all 5 of these albums in full form, giving you a better representation of the Ramones Chrysalis output.