The album opens with "Cretin Hop", which pays homage to Ramones fans, When the piece was performed at concerts, the band would pogo dance on stage. "Rockaway Beach" was written by bassist Dee Dee Ramone, and was inspired by the Beach Boys along with other surf music bands. The title refers to a neighborhood and beach in Queens which Dee Dee was a fan of, as confirmed by Tommy and Joey. "I Don't Care" is composed of three chords and features minimal text composition. The song is among the first pieces written by the band and was originally recorded as a demo that was released on the 2001 expanded edition of the Ramones debut album. "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" was written by Joey, who explains that the lyrics are about a young female outsider named Sheena who strayed away from the popular disco and surf music and instead visited nightclubs and listened to punk rock. This is followed by guitar riffs deemed to have a "raucous" texture by author Tom Carson. The author also suggests that these chords "bump[ed]" into each other until the song's fade-out ending.
"We're a Happy Family" is a caricature of the conditions which 20th-century middle-class American families lived in. The song's lyrics depict a dysfunctional family where the father is a lying homosexual, the mother is addicted to prescription drugs, the infant has chills. The writing also tells of how the family are friends with the President of the United States and the Pope and indicate that the family sells "dope".
Side B of the album begins with "Teenage Lobotomy", which deals with the brain surgical operation lobotomy. The lyrics outline how this procedure can cause serious consequences to the brain, with the line "Gonna get my Ph.D, I'm a teenage lobotomy."
Critical reception
Rocket to Russia was well received by critics, and was often given a positive review. Many critics appreciated the band's progression of sound quality and production value, as opposed to the album's predecessors.
Critic Robert Christgau reaffirms that the album's content evolved significantly since previous releases. Writing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), he noted that the album had "something for everyone" and called it a "ready-made punk-rock classic".
John Rockwell of The New York Times deemed Rocket to Russia the band's best album "because the humor and the role-playing have become more overt than ever". The Los Angeles Times labeled it "an important breakthrough album", and praised the "inspired lunacy". UPI listed Rocket to Russia as the second best album of 1977, writing that the Ramones were "the undisputed kings of American Punk."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a music critic at AllMusic, said that the production "only gives the Ramones' music more force". He stated that although it lacks the revolutionary impact that their debut had, Rocket to Russia is the band's "most listenable and enjoyable album" because of its surplus of hooks and varying tempo. 36 on the Canadian charts, and 60 on the UK Albums Chart.
The lack of record sales was largely due to fellow punk band Sex Pistols turning people off the genre "with their antisocial behavior", as put by author Brian J. Bowe. Rock music historian Legs McNeil relates: "Safety pins, razor blades, chopped haircuts, snarling, vomiting—everything that had nothing to do with the Ramones was suddenly in vogue, and it killed any chance Rocket to Russia had of getting any airplay."
Tommy's departure
Drummer Tommy, who had also worked to co-produce the album, was troubled by the lack of sales and began debating on continuing with the Ramones. He also considered touring to be "depressing", and that the audience at unfamiliar gigs were "a bunch of very eccentric, high-strung, crazy people, from one shit-hole club to another." He said:
Track listing
Original release
All tracks originally credited to the Ramones (except "Do You Wanna Dance?" and "Surfin' Bird"). Actual writers are listed alongside the tracks.
- Track 15 previously unissued.
- Track 16 produced and arranged by Dan Kessel and David Kessel. Recorded at Gold Star Studios, Los Angeles, December 1978. First issued on All the Stuff (And More) Volume Two (1991).
2017 40th anniversary deluxe edition (Sire/Rhino)
Adapted from the album's liner notes.
Disc 1
;Remastered original mixes
- Tracks 1–14 (original mixes) as per original album
- Tracks 15–28 mixed by Ed Stasium at Eight Palms Ranchero, Poway, California, 2017.
Disc 2
- Tracks 1–12 mixed by Ed Stasium at Mediasound and the Power Station, New York, 1977.
- Tracks 13–19 and 24 mixed by Ed Stasium, 2017.
- Track 21 produced by Tony Bongiovi and T. Erdelyi, engineered by Ed Stasium. Recorded at Sundragon, New York, 1976. Mixed by Ed Stasium at Mediasound, New York, 1977.
- Track 22 produced by Tony Bongiovi and T. Erdelyi, engineered by Ed Stasium, assisted by Don Berman. Recorded at Mediasound, New York, 1977. Mixed by Ed Stasium.
- Track 23: Joey's voice recorded at Sire Records' basement studio, October 1977.
- All tracks, except 21 and 22, previously unissued.
Disc 3
- Recorded by the Basing Street Studios Mobile. Engineered by Frank Owen, assisted by Greg Cobb. Mixed by Ed Stasium at Eight Palms Ranch, Poway, California, 2017.
LP
;40th anniversary tracking mix
- Track listing as disc 1, tracks 15–28
Personnel
Adapted from AllMusic and the album's liner notes, backing vocals
- Alan LeBoeuf – backing vocals on "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker"
| align="center"| 79
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)
| align="center"| 11
|-
|-
|-
|}
Certifications
References
Citations
Bibliography