10 Overlooked Masterpiece Songs By Legendary Hard Rock Bands
4. Ramones - Life's A Gas
Punk? Hard rock? Hard punk rock? Why quibble when the band in question is as legendary and influential as the Ramones.
Hailing from the unassuming middle-class neighbourhood of Forest Hills, Queens, NYC, it would be churlish to argue against the notion that the band's self-titled 1976 debut album kickstarted a massive change in the history of pop music. The Ramones' manic energy and high-speed, off-the-cuff delivery affected everyone who heard it.
Fast-forward nearly 20 years and we reach Adios Amigos, the band's appropriately-named final studio album. Things were falling apart for the group at this point, with long-time feuds and rifts boiling over. The situation wasn't helped by guitarist Johnny Cummings' deteriorating health (non-Hodgkin Lymphoma) yet, incredibly, the Ramones managed to rediscover their muse, offering up a fitting tribute to a remarkable career.
Taken from this album, Life's A Gas is a wonderful Ramones number - tight and concise, with an irrepressible swirling energy. If you enjoy this track and haven't yet explored the band's discography, your writer can't recommend doing so highly enough.