Joey Ramone - Ya Know

New York, New York. So good they named it twice, and today the blog features two New York Legends.

First it was the New York Dolls with their live Bowery album and now it's the turn of another Bowery legend.

The uncrowned, but in my head king of CBGBs, it's Joey Ramone, with the posthumous 'Ya Know'.

I'm an unashamed Ramones nut so this floating to the surface is akin to seeing a shining and life saving oasis in the desert.

It's been so long since I've heard anything new that he has sung that I'm pretty much delirious when I'm listening to this.

It's not all unheard material, but there's plenty to get your teeth into, and not one single track could be described as filler.

It's ten whole years since 'Don't Worry About Me' came out. Ten long barren years that have now come to a close.

There's been some talk about Joey's brother Mickey cashing in on the memory of Joey.

What a disrespectful pile of crap.

So what do the fans want?

A lovingly compiled album that members of Joeys family will profit from, and that will also serve to keep the legend alive, or some label profiting from cobbling together some crap demos and demeaning the legend that was Joey.

I know whose side I'm on.

Anyway, back to the album.

For it to have been created from disparate sessions it has a perfect groove going on.

The songs all flow naturally into each other and it doesn't sound like a collection of tracks, but instead an album proper.

It could have been written in the one sitting and recorded in one exhausting session.

No one, and I mean no one, will feel short changed when they slip this on.

For me Joey was always 'The Ramones'.

That's not to downplay the work of the other band members, but Joey's voice is what dragged me in and wouldn't let go.

Now here I am with the album playing and my head is filled with memories because Joey and the songs he sang were the soundtrack to my life, and now I have some more to get me through the present.

I'm in heaven here.

From the first listen, and then repeating the experience again and again, I've reverted back to being a pathetic fan boy.

I just fuckin' love this.

Forget this being a review.

It's my outpouring of love and respect for the man.

To think that these songs have been lying about waiting to be polished and released is sort of mind blowing to me.

While the mainstream magazines will dissect it, and in my opinion miss the point by failing to see the wood for the trees, I can just on a very basic level say that for a Ramones fan hearing this it is like having all your birthdays and Christmases rolled into one.

The smile on my face is hurting me, but in a good way.

PS - Someone please buy me the deluxe release.

Buy it direct.