Joey Ramone

Album review

"Ya Know?"

added: 8 Jun 2012 // release date: 30 May 2012 // label: BMG Rights Management
reviewer: Paul Chapinal

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Cobbled together from a load of demos and unreleased recordings �Ya Know?� is an attempt by Joey Ramone�s brother Mickey Leigh to expand on his legacy and that there was more to him than the band.

By all accounts they didn�t have much to work from so it�s to their credit that they managed to get anything at all and that they tempted the likes of Joan Jett, Steven Van Zandt and others to contribute. It�s a mixed bag and one can�t help feeling that the majority of these songs should have been left well alone. But that isn�t the main problem with the album.

Rock �n� Roll is the Answer opens the album; it�s Stonesy mid paced rocker oddly complemented by Joey�s familiar vocals. It�s ok but sets the tone for the album which, considering the talent involved and context, is overall a curiously lacklustre and dull affair.

Going Nowhere Fast and I Couldn�t Sleep are more traditional fare while New York City is a terrace song to his hometown. There�s a volte face of sorts with Waiting for that Railroad which is a lumpen, mainly acoustic based song. There then follows a run of songs � apart from the aforementioned �Sleep - that frankly are a struggle to get through.

Party Line with its fifties bubble-gum vibe is some relief, only to be plunged into a godawful version of the Ramones�s Merry Christmas (I Don�t Want to Fight Tonight). 21st Century Girl gets things back on track but after that � apart from an inspiring and somewhat sinister pit stop for Cabin Fever - it�s a crawl through tiredly performed mediocrity up to and including the closer, Life�s a Gas.

Nobody doubts the sincerity of this project; it does show another side of Joey Ramone but the overall execution lets it down, badly.

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