End of the Century is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released on February 4, 1980, through Sire Records. The album was the band's first to be produced by Phil Spector, though he had offered the band his assistance earlier in their career. With Spector fully producing the album, it was the first release that excluded original member Tommy Ramone, who had left the band in 1978 but had produced their previous album Road to Ruin. Spector used more advanced standards of engineering, such as high-quality overdubbing and echo chambers. These painstaking methods caused conflict between the band and Spector since the Ramones were accustomed to a quicker recording process. Spector emphasized the production value as well, working with a budget of around $200,000, far exceeding their earlier album sessions.
The songs on End of the Century were written primarily to expand the band's fan base, straying from the band's original punk genre and steering toward a more pop oriented sound. The lyrics on the album deal with various topics, ranging from drug addictions to the band's lifestyle while touring. The album also features a cover of the Ronettes' song "Baby, I Love You", as well as successors to the previous Ramones songs "Judy Is a Punk" and "Havana Affair".
It received generally positive reviews from critics, though many reviewers were less favorable than they had been to the band's previous releases, due to Spector's production quality and the band's desire for mainstream success starting to show in their music. Despite this, the album is the highest-charting Ramones album of all time, reaching number 44 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and number 14 on the UK Albums Chart. End of the Century spawned the singles "Baby, I Love You" and "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?", both of which charted in Europe.
Recording and production
In February 1977 after attending a Ramones concert in Los Angeles, music producer Phil Spector offered to assist in making Rocket to Russia. The band declined his offer, feeling as though the album would not be the same without Tommy Ramone and Tony Bongiovi producing the album. While the band refused his initial offer, their management later asked Spector to help with the album because of their lack of popularity and sales. End of the Century would be the first album released without former drummer and producer Tommy. The producer was convinced that the Ramones had talent with lyrics and musical structure, so he intended to promote the band through more advanced methods of sound output.
Recording sessions for the album began on May 1, 1979 at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Gold Star Studios had become famous through its history with artists like Eddie Cochran and the Beach Boys. The band stayed at the Tropicana Motel. The Ramones had stayed there during shooting of Rock 'n' Roll High School. In between filming, songs were written that would later appear on End of the Century.
At the Ramones' request, Ed Stasium joined the band in Los Angeles, serving as 'musical director', playing additional guitar parts and singing backing vocals, but not engineering. the band experienced Spector's infamous perfectionism, and a budget of $200,000 ($869,000 in 2024) to fully record and produce the album. This is significant because the band's debut album cost $6,400 ($35,486 in 2024) total, and their second album cost $10,000 ($55,447 in 2024). End of the Century is the most expensive album in the Ramones' career.
Conflict
This method of recording caused conflicts to arise. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone wrote of Spector's obsessive techniques: "Phil would sit in the control room and would listen through the headphones to Marky hit one note on the drum, hour after hour, after hour, after hour." During the recording of "Rock 'n' Roll High School", Johnny was forced by Spector to repeat his part hundreds of times for several hours. Sire Records owner Seymour Stein relates: "To Johnny, this must have been like the Chinese water torture." "I understood [Spector's] attitude," said Marky. "He was from The Bronx, I was from Brooklyn. We got along very well and had a nice rapport... But he had his way of working that was very slow, and the Ramones had their way of working which was very fast. So that would sometimes irk everybody, and led to animosity with Johnny and Dee Dee."
Early in the sessions, Spector reportedly held the Ramones hostage at gunpoint. According to Dee Dee, when Spector took Joey away for a three-hour private meeting in his mansion where the album was to be recorded, Dee Dee went looking for them. "The next thing I knew Phil appeared at the top of the staircase, shouting and waving a pistol."
Johnny gave a similar account in a 1986 interview:
However, in 2008, Marky Ramone gave a different account of the story:
Dee Dee claimed to have left the sessions without recording anything. "We had been working for at least fourteen or fifteen hours a day for thirteen days straight and we still hadn't recorded one note of music," Dee Dee's account contradicts much of the band's collective account from the 1982 Trouser Press interview, where the band stated that the only track that Johnny, Dee Dee and Marky did not play on was the cover of "Baby, I Love You"; as the band, save for Joey, had gone home after cutting basic tracks for the rest of the album. Ed Stasium, who was present the entire time except for the mixing, confirmed this in 2014, saying, "it's untrue that Dee Dee didn't play on the album. There's one song that the Ramones did not appear on ... It's no secret—Dee Dee had substance abuse problems. He may have forgotten, but Dee Dee played bass on the record." Joey admitted that he did not favor the song, recalling: "I couldn't believe how awful it sounded. It was horrible."
"Danny Says", the third track, was a lyrical depiction of what the band constantly went through while touring—soundchecks, autograph sessions, interviews, etc. The title "Danny Says" refers to the band's tour manager Danny Fields giving the members instructions, schedules, and demands. According to Joey, the ballad was inspired by Lou Reed, who had released the songs "Candy Says" and "Caroline Says". Joey's brother Mickey Leigh called the song a "masterpiece" and said it "remains one of the most captivatingly beautiful songs I've ever heard".
Dee Dee wrote the next song, "Chinese Rock", in 1975 (with lyrical help from Richard Hell), and Johnny Thunders later revised it. Dee Dee wrote the piece in response to Lou Reed's "Heroin", and attempted to concoct better lyrics on the same subject of drug use and heroin addiction. After Johnny vetoed the song, it was recorded by Thunders's band the Heartbreakers before the Ramones, though the bands use slightly different words.
Side B begins with "Baby, I Love You". Johnny constantly claims in his book Commando that he hated the song and the band didn't even play on it, only Joey and some studio musicians. Joey exclaimed that he "hated" the song, despite it obtaining a level of popularity in Europe.
The album concludes with "High Risk Insurance", which is a reaction to politics of that era.
| rev2 = Pitchfork
| rev2score = 6.4/10
| rev3 = Q
| rev3score =
| rev4 = Record Mirror
| rev4score =
| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev5score =
| rev6 = Smash Hits
| rev6score = 7/10
| rev7 = Spin Alternative Record Guide
| rev7score = 3/10
| rev8 = Uncut
| rev8score =
| rev9 = The Village Voice
| rev9score = B+
The album received generally positive reviews from critics, but not as favorable for many of the band's previous records. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor for AllMusic, noted that the Ramones desired mainstream success much more and were recording music in such a fashion as to expand their fan base. Although he gave the album a "B+" rating, music critic Robert Christgau nevertheless called the album "[s]ad", and described the band as "tired". He also felt that Spector's production failed to make much of a difference in the band's overall sound, saying "his guitar overdubs are worse than his orchestrations, and they're not uncute." Author Richard Williams exclaimed that to "old fans the Ramones' version of 'Baby, I Love You' went too far, desecrating the memory of the original despite Joey's evident devotion to the task of emulating Ronnie's lead vocal."
Commercial performance
End of the Century is the Ramones' highest-peaking album on the US Billboard 200 (having reached No. 44 during a fourteen-week chart stay), as well as their most successful on the UK Albums Chart and the Swedish chart Sverigetopplistan. The album became the first—and only—Ramones' album to chart on Norway's VG-lista chart and New Zealand's Recorded Music NZ. It was also the band's first album to chart on the Netherlands' MegaCharts, with their 1987 album Halfway to Sanity being their only other release to chart there as well.
Two singles were spawned from End of the Century: "Baby, I Love You" and "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?", released respectively. The first single charted on Belgium's Ultratop chart as well as reaching number 8 in the UK. "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" also charted in Europe, peaking and debuting at 54 on the UK Singles Chart.
| length1 = 3:50
| title2 = I'm Affected
| writer2 = Joey Ramone
| length2 = 2:51
| title3 = Danny Says
| writer3 = Joey Ramone
| length4 = 2:28
| title5 = The Return of Jackie and Judy
| writer5 =
| length5 = 3:12
| title6 = Let's Go
| writer6 = Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone
| length6 = 2:31