It's Alive

This is the Holy Grail of live concert recordings. Long unavailable in the U.S., IT'S ALIVE captures the Ramones in peak form, having the time of their lives before an appreciative British audience. From Joey's slow drawl "Weeeeeeellllll, it's great to be back here in."..) to Dee Dee's "1-2-3-4", this disc pummels the listener into submission with the complete live Ramones experience to the point where you can practically feel the sweat. All the classics from the first three albums are executed with an enthusiasm the Ramones rarely mustered years down the line. (kompletten Text anzeigen)

The live version of "Blitzkrieg Bop" will send shivers down even the hardiest Coney Island strongman's spine, and "We're a Happy Family", "Teenage Lobotomy", and "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World" express what it is to be young and dumb better than a thousand John Hughes films ever could. IT'S ALIVE is the next best thing to actually seeing the Ramones live and, as that's not likely to happen, this set will go a long way towards satisfying your Ramones fix.

Q Magazine - (5/02 SE, p.140)
- Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums".

Q (8/00, pp.120-1)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "...It remains a spirited 28-song guide to their punk years and testament to the fact that Britain had provided a second home for their concise bubblegum thrash..."