End of the Century is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, recorded on May 7, 1979 and released on February 4, 1980, through Sire Records. The album was the band's first produced by Phil Spector, though he had offered the band his assistance earlier in their career. With Spector fully producing the album, it was the first release that excluded original member Tommy Ramone, who in 1978 left the band but produced their previous album Road to Ruin. Spector used more advan...
End of the Century is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, recorded on May 7, 1979 and released on February 4, 1980, through Sire Records. The album was the band's first produced by Phil Spector, though he had offered the band his assistance earlier in their career. With Spector fully producing the album, it was the first release that excluded original member Tommy Ramone, who in 1978 left the band but produced their previous album Road to Ruin. Spector used more advanced standards of engineering, such as high-quality overdubbing and echo chambers. These methods caused conflict between the band and Spector, since much of the recording used techniques that opposed those the Ramones had previously used. Spector emphasized the production value as well, working with a budget of around $200,000.
The songs on End of the Century were written primarily to expand the band's fan-base, straying from the band's original punk genre and steering toward a more pop oriented sound. The lyrics on the album deal with various different things, ranging from drug addictions to the band's lifestyle while touring. The album also features a cover of The Ronettes' piece "Baby, I Love You," as well as successors to previous Ramones songs "Judy Is a Punk" and "Havana Affair."
It received generally positive reviews from critics, though many reviewers deemed it to be less enjoyable compared to the band's previous releases. Despite this, the album is the highest charting Ramones album of all time, reaching number 44 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and number 14 on the UK Albums Chart. End of the Century spawned the singles "Baby, I Love You" and "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?."
The album's title is taken from a couplet repeated in the first track "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?": "It's the end, the end of the seventies / It's the end, the end of the century.
Track listing
01. Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
02. I'm Affected
03. Danny Says
04. Chinese Rock
05. The Return of Jackie and Judy
06. Let's Go
07. Baby, I Love You
08. I Can't Make It on Time
09. This Ain't Havana
10. Rock 'n' Roll High School
11. All the Way
12. High Risk Insurance
Personnel
Joey Ramone – lead vocals
Johnny Ramone – guitar
Dee Dee Ramone – bass, backing vocals
Marky Ramone – drums
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