Rocket to Russia by The Ramones

Rocket to Russia, the Ramones' third album, came roaring out of Sire on November 4, 1977, the tail end of the summer when punk looked like it might take over the world and labels were handing out deals to punk bands left and right. The seeds went down early: "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" was already out as a single that summer, and the sessions started in August with Tony Bongiovi producing and a fatter budget than the band had ever seen, most of it poured into making the thing sound good. It's the last Ramones record with Tommy Ramone on drums; he left in 1978 to concentrate on production.

The formula holds: Joey Ramone's goofy, heartfelt croon, Johnny Ramone's buzzsaw guitar, Dee Dee Ramone's bass pounding away, Tommy keeping it tight as a drum skin. But the songs are funnier and sunnier than ever, with a big fat streak of surf music running through the record, and "Rockaway Beach", "Cretin Hop" and "Teenage Lobotomy" as gloriously dumb and smart at the same time as anything they ever cut. Nothing overstays its welcome; plenty of the songs barely bother with a bridge.

Critics liked the cleaner production and the brighter sound, and Stephen Thomas Erlewine later called it his favorite Ramones album for its hooks and its range of tempos. The sales didn't match the band's hopes, and they blamed the Sex Pistols for giving punk a bad name. Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums list has since placed it at 106 in 2012 and 385 in 2020. Even the sleeve is a hoot: John Gillespie directed the art, with John Holmstrom and Johnny Ramone drawing, and the back cover goes full military.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.