10 Amazing Albums (That Are Under 30 Minutes)
2. The Ramones - The Ramones
Music fans can and do debate who kickstarted punk rock until the cows come home, but no one delivered short blasts of distorted bubblegum goodness better than The Ramones. Their eponymous release is one of rock’s great debuts, four New York nogoodniks showing off every trick in their admittedly limited book and getting outta there in less than half an hour.
Indeed the self titled record is so stacked with hits that it could be mistaken for a best of. The first side kicks off with "Blitzkrieg Bop"; from there they blast through the likes of "Judy Is a Punk", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", and "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", each song squeezing hooks, choruses, and melodies into no time at all.
On the second, primarily Dee Dee Ramone-penned side, they exhibit their darker urges with the autobiographical “53rd & 3rd” and the politically tinged "Havana Affair" before closing in anthemic fashion with “Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World”.
There are Ramones records with better individual tracks and a more varied sound, but as far as a statement of intent goes, this is pretty much unbeatable. It’s brash, snotty, and ultimately triumphant; it tells you everything you could ever need to know about this band.