| Leave Home | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Ramones | ||||
| Released | January 10, 1977 | |||
| Recorded | October 1976 at Sundragon Studios, New York | |||
| Genre | Punk rock | |||
| Length | 30:49 | |||
| Label | Sire (US, UK) Philips (Europe) |
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| Producer | Tony Bongiovi, Tommy Ramone | |||
| Ramones chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Robert Christgau | (A)[2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
| Allmusic (Rhino Records expanded release) | [4] |
| This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information. | |
Leave Home is the second studio album by American punk rock band The Ramones. It was released on January 10, 1977 through Sire Records. The album features the classic Ramones songs "Pinhead" and "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment". It is the only Ramones album to go through different incarnations on its original release, due to label controversy over the song "Carbona Not Glue".
Contents |
The band had written most of the songs appearing on their first two albums by the time they were signed to Sire (as evidenced by the song listing of the 1976 live tracks appearing on the CD rerelease). They were placed roughly in chronological order on the first two albums; as explained by Johnny Ramone: "We recorded them in the order they were written; we wanted to show a slight progression in song structure."
Many fans and critics point to the more polished pop sensibilities of the second album as evidence of the band's evolving musical skill and style. The second album was recorded at the relatively upscale Sundragon Studios in Manhattan, New York.
Craig Leon, the producer of the first album, Ramones, had left Sire Records by fall 1976 and was replaced by Tony Bongiovi. Bongiovi had mentored drummer Tommy Ramone while the two were working together at the Record Plant producing Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys album. Tommy also assisted with production on the album, a role he would repeat for many later albums.
The original release included "Carbona Not Glue" as the fifth track on the album. However, the song was deleted from the album to avoid a potential lawsuit, as Carbona was a corporate trademark.[5] The album was re-released with the single B-side "Babysitter" in its place.[6] The British version with "Babysitter" does not list the name of this song on the back cover and on the inner sleeve. It's just referred on the vinyl itself. Most collectors believe that the "Babysitter" version is rarer than the "Carbona" version.
When Sire Records suddenly switched distributors from ABC Records to Warner Bros. Records (who had bought the label), yet another version of the album was released, with "Babysitter" being replaced by "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker", then a non-LP single already planned to be on the next Ramones album in a different mix.
Rhino Records re-released the album in a remastered format on June 19, 2001. The bonus tracks on this release are live tracks that encompass a full concert. They were recorded live at their first show at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, California on August 12, 1976.
This release included both "Carbona Not Glue" and one of its replacements, "Babysitter." The former was put back in its original place in the track sequence, and the latter was included at the end of the album, preceding the live bonus tracks. While the single mix of "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" was not included here, it can be found on Rhino's expanded reissue of Rocket to Russia, as well as on multiple Ramones compilations, including the anthologies Ramones Mania and Hey Ho! Let's Go.
"Carbona Not Glue" is a follow-up to the song "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" appearing on their first album. The band sarcastically suggested that the high obtained from sniffing Carbona cleaning solvent was more pleasurable than that of airplane glue. In the hardcover book included in some versions of Hey! Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology, Tommy Ramone says, "Something like Carbona Not Glue has to be tongue-in-cheek. It's absurd, like saying that you should try something more poisonous." It was featured prominently in the graphic novel Ghost World by Dan Clowes.
New York Radio station WNEW refused to play the song "Glad to See You Go" due to its off-the-cuff reference to Charles Manson. The song was actually written by Dee Dee about his volatile ex-girlfriend, Connie.
"Pinhead" was inspired after the band attended a screening of the 1932 film Freaks when a show in Ohio was canceled. The song became, along with "Blitzkrieg Bop", something of an anthem for the band, as the chorus of "Gabba gabba hey," based on the line from the film "gooble gobble, gooble gobble, one of us, one of us" (uttered in the song as "gabba gabba/we accept you/we accept you/one of us") became a rallying cry for the band. At many shows a roadie named Bubbles in a pinhead mask would take to the stage at the end of the show, carrying a large sign with the phrase written on it.
"California Sun" is a cover song originally recorded by The Rivieras in 1964 and also covered by The Dictators.
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