Music DVD Review: Ramones - It's Alive 1974 - 1996

The only real question about this DVD is what took them so long. The Ramones new live concert document It's Alive 1974 - 1996 is in a word, awesome. What you get here is four solid hours of live, loud, fast Ramones. It honestly just doesn't get much better than this.

We're not talking just songs here. We're talking entire concerts. A whole bunch of them. Of course a typical Ramones show usually lasted somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 or so minutes, so it's easy to be able to include a whole bunch of them on two discs. The thing about those 40 minute blasts of pure, adrenaline charged energy though is that everyone involved was usually left completely spent and exhausted by the end. I'm not just talking about the band here, but the audience as well.

I oughtta know. I saw the Ramones live something like 10 times, mostly during the '70s and early '80s.

The very first time I saw these wonders of nature was in a tiny ballroom at the Olympic Hotel in Seattle. What I remember most about the show was how absolutely, painfully loud it was. In a tiny room usually reserved for things like business meetings and wedding receptions, the Ramones made a louder racket than Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and The Who combined.

The bathrooms were also located outside the ballroom, so you had to leave through a set of double doors to either enter or exit the place. Upon returning from the facilities, when you tried to go back through those double doors, the sheer volume literally drove you backward.

It was one of the most awesome things I had ever seen.

So this DVD would be worth the price of admission for the inclusion of the complete 1977 New Years Eve concert at London's Rainbow alone. That concert was originally recorded for the import only double live It's Alive album (hence the title of this double DVD).

The Ramones are absolutely at the top of their game at this concert, ripping through 14 songs at breakneck speed at a time which clocks out at about half an hour before a rabid audience of London punkers (how much you wanna bet that Johnny and Sid were there that night?). The pace is non-stop with the only thing separating the songs being Dee Dee's trademark "1-2-3-4."

Continued on the next page Page 1 — Page 2Page 3
Spread the word
Bookmark and Share
Profile image for glen-boyd

Article Author: Glen Boyd

You'll find Blogcritics assistant music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blogs The World Wide Glen, and The Rockologist. In a previous life, Glen was a music professional and journalist whose work has appeared in The Rocket, SPIN, Pulse!, and The Source. …

Visit Glen Boyd's author pageGlen Boyd's Blog

Read comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own
  • Ramones: It's Alive 1974-1996 Ramones: It's Alive 1974-1996

    Punk forefathers Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy, Marky, Richie, and C-Jay Ramone outlasted almost every one of their legions of followers. For over twenty years, they delivered their signature garage-flavored, ...

  • Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits

    Subtitled - Their Toughest Hits. 2002 collection, compiled by Joey Ramone, stuffed with the band's 30 loudest punk hits spanning from 1976 to 1995. Sire/Rhino.

  • It's Alive It's Alive

    Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

  • Rocket to Russia Rocket to Russia

    "Our records have the bitterness of life in them," quoth Dee Dee Ramone, and Rocket to Russia brought the pain. Despite carrying on the celebratory tone of the Ramones' debut and Leave Home in the likes ...

  • Leave Home Leave Home

    Slightly less primitive than the Ramones' debut, Leave Home is somehow more melodic, poppier, and heavier than its predecessor. "Glad to See You Go" name-drops "the passion" of Charles Manson, while ...

  • Ramones Ramones

    The Ramones' April 1976 debut, recorded for little more than $6,000, long ago passed into legend. Its exalted status as the inspiration for thousands of punk bands worldwide, though, hasn't overshadowed ...

  • Road to Ruin Road to Ruin

    "They'll get better," said Keith Richards of punk musicians in 1977. "You can't help but get better." And Road to Ruin is the album that demonstrated the Ramones had gotten "better" at being musicians, ...

  • End of the Century End of the Century

    Expanded & remastered edition of their 1980 release features the original Phil Spector-produced 12-song album plus 6 bonus tracks and a hidden track (a Joey Ramone radio spot). Bonus tracks, 'I Want ...

  • Ramones: It's Alive 1974-1996 Ramones: It's Alive 1974-1996

Article comments

  • 1 - JC Mosquito

    Oct 14, 2007 at 12:39 pm

    Glen - sure, End of the Century is underrated, but of those later records don't forget Too Tough to Die - maybe their last real kick at the cat. After that - autopilot - as Johnny hmself once said, maybe there should be a mandatory retirement age for rock and rollers. Man, I haven't pulled out my Ramones vinyl for a good long while - maybe tonight when I have time.

  • 2 - Glen Boyd

    Oct 14, 2007 at 3:32 pm

    What happened to that other comment?

    -Glen

  • 3 - JC Mosquito

    Oct 15, 2007 at 12:42 am

    Maybe it was a case of "Here Today, Gone Tamarraaaawwwww!"

  • 4 - Glen Boyd

    Oct 15, 2007 at 1:05 am

    Maybe, Skeet. Followed by a spirited "1-2-3-4!!" no doubt...
    -Glen

    P.S. By the way I liked Too Tough To Die too...I especially loved Dee Dee's song "Endless Vacation."

  • 5 - Mat Brewster

    Oct 15, 2007 at 1:11 am

    I never caught the ramones live, but my brother did back in the mid-90s. He saw them at some bit outdoor venue in Texas opening for Pearl Jam. He said he sat way in the back but even at that space it was WAAAAAY too loud!

    I still kick myself for not going.

  • 6 - Glen Boyd

    Oct 15, 2007 at 1:30 am

    So you can understand then Mat, that if the Ramones were that loud in the back of an outdoor stadium (or even an ampitheatre) -- it was downright painful witnessing that in a room no larger than your standard corner tavern. Painful, but also exhilarating for a twenty year old rocker dude all jacked up on beer and testosterone.

    Back then, it was loose women, cold beer, and punk rock for me. Ahh memories...

    -Glen

  • 7 - Connie Phillips

    Oct 17, 2007 at 1:11 pm

    Congrats! This article has been forwarded to the Advance.net websites and Boston.com.

  • 8 - Erich

    Nov 01, 2007 at 11:49 am

    Loved the enthusiasm and the review (just finished the set myself), but I have to point out there are no complete concert performances on this set. Even the Rainbow Theater show (the set's longest grouping of songs) has only half of the original live album's 28 tracks.

Add your comment, speak your mind

Personal attacks are NOT allowed.
Please read our comment policy.
Please preview your comment.

blogcritics lists for Nov 12, 2009

fresh articles Most recent articles site-wide

fresh comments Most recent comments site-wide

most comments Most comments in 24hrs

top writers Most prolific Blogcritics for October

top commenters Most prolific Commenters in 24 hrs