Thursday, March 06, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

CDVS

There are two possible reactions to We're a Happy Family, the new Ramones tribute album. The first is, "Oh no! Aaaaaahhh!" The second is, "Hmmmm, could be interesting."

I chose the latter. After all, the lineup of performers is impressive, and the cover art is pretty funky (see above). Even better, once you buy the thing, you discover that the liner notes are written by none other than Stephen King. King, you might be surprised to know, is a big rock 'n' roll guy, and a Ramones freak to boot. He gets what they were about and all that.

King says his initial reaction to We're a Happy Family was something akin to "Oh no! Aaaaaahhh!" He goes on a bit about how all tribute albums are shit. But then he listens to this particular tribute album and discovers that it's pretty good. "It's impossible," he says, "but it's also a fact. It's a fine record."

King is right about that, just as he was right that the ghastly monster under your bed is going to get you eventually. The 16 tracks range from okay to excellent, with some artists opting to remain faithful to the Ramones version and some changing up the songs in their own images. The faithful renditions tend to be delivered by modern-day punk bands that owe just about everything to the Ramones, such as Green Day, The Offspring and Rancid. The reinterpreters include the Red Hot Chili Peppers (slower), Rob Zombie (metalized) and Marilyn Manson (industrialized). U2 does it clean, while Metallica goes heavy. The highlight of the album, strangely enough, is "I Believe in Miracles" as performed by Eddie Vedder and Zeke. Gabba gabba good. The lowlight is Tom Waits' strep-throat rendition of "Return of Jackie & Judy." If there's one overarching critique of We're a Happy Family, it's that the performers take this tribute business a little too seriously. The Ramones were never this serious.

And so here's your dilemma. You see, there's no sense in getting We're a Happy Family unless you have worn out your copy of the Ramones' Their Toughest Hits, which JUST CAME OUT LAST YEAR. Thirty songs (plus a bonus live disc with eight bites of three-chord bliss) of The Real Deal spanning 1976-1995 doesn't get old, and it beats the hell out of sloppy seconds.--Geoff Schumacher