Ramones - Are Not An Answer (1987)

You get the impression that Ramones are the sort of band who go into the studio, bang out a few tunes, and release them as an album, and so demos and out-takes of their early years are very hard to find. By 1984 they'd released seven studio albums, and so they could afford to take their time in the recording studio, and even work up a song and record a demo before laying down the finished version. 1984's 'Too Tough To Die' saw the band returning to their roots, and the overall style leaned toward that of punk rock and heavy metal, rather than the pop music which had been a focus of several of the band's recent albums. Previous Ramones' records had featured celebrity producers in an attempt to gain some sort of popularity, but since this didn't yield the results which they were expecting, Sire Records contacted the producers of 1978's 'Road To Ruin', and offered the job to Ed Stasium and ex-band member Tommy Ramone. The album therefore has less production value than previous recordings by the band, resulting in a harsher sound, and not only does it include bassist Dee Dee Ramone performing lead vocals on 'Wart Hog' and 'Endless Vacation', but it also contains the band's only instrumental piece, 'Durango 95'. As well as the 13 tracks that made it onto the album, a number of unreleased demos appeared on the expanded edition of the album in 2002, and if we add in a few non-album b-sides from around the same time we end up with a pretty respectable collection of rare tracks. I've also added in three demos/out-takes from 1981, plus their contribution to the soundtrack of the 1983 film 'Get Crazy', giving a pretty comprehensive overview of the band in the early to mid-80's. There were quite a few more demos with Dee Dee Ramone on vocals, but I decided to concentrate on the classic line-up of the band for this album, sticking to Joey on vocals, alongside Dee Dee and Johnny, and new drummer Richie Ramone. As the group have often been disparagingly called a 'cartoon band', I thought the cover was perfect for this post.      

 
Track listing 

01 I Can't Get You Out Of My Mind (out-take 1981)
02 Kicks To Try (Demo 1981)
03 Stares In This Town (Demo 1981) 
04 Touring (1981 version)
05 Chop Suey (from the soundtrack to the film 'Get Crazy' 1983) 
06 I'm Not An Answer (demo 1984)     
07 Out Of Here (demo 1984)
08 Smash You (b-side of 'Howling At The Moon' 1984)
09 Street Fighting Man (b-side of 'Howling At The Moon' 1984)
10 Sleeping Troubles (demo 1984)
11 I Wasn't Looking For Love (demo 1984)
12 Working It Over (demo 1984)
13 Go Home Ann (b-side of 'Bonzo Goes To Bitburg 12" 1985)
14 (You) Can't Say Anything Nice (b-side of 'Something To Believe' 12" 1986)
15 Life Goes On (b-side of 'Real Good Time' 12" 1987)