Ranking Rocket to Russia

#14 I Don't Care #5 on track listing

Ramones - "I Don't Care" - Rocket to Russia

I Don't Care is just not a good song, the vocals aren't on par with anything else on the album and it's actually the only song on the album I don't like.

#13 I Can't Give you Anything #11 on track listing

Ramones - "I Can't Give You Anything" - Rocket to Russia

I listen to Ramones songs in a weird way, that being in whatever order I find the song in, and I Can't Give You Anything was the last one, and that may be the reason I rank it low. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine song just not what I was looking for. The lyrics are also lack luster specifically "You think I'm kinda cute. But who's gonna bring home the loot?" Like, what does that even mean?

#12 Here Today, Gone Tomorrow #3 on track listing

Ramones - "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" - Rocket to Russia

Kind of like Kamal Khan in my Bond villain ranking, it's not that I don't like the song, it's I like other more. I think this is a really good song, just almost everything else on the list completely overshadows it.

#11 I Wanna Be Well #10 on track listing

Ramones - "I Wanna Be Well" - Rocket to Russia

Similar to I Can't Give you Anything, what brings I Wanna Be Well down is its lyrics mainly how it repeats I wanna over and over again. Otherwise, this is a good song.

#10 Ramona #12 on track listing

Ramones - "Ramona" - Rocket to Russia

This song is good, I want to get that out of the way, what brings it down is that the first three Ramones albums where all loud and fast and when a slower song comes on it's kind of surprising similar to Here Today, Gone Tomorrow. Other than that, I really like the song.

#9 Why Is It Always This Way? #14 on track listing

Ramones - "Why Is It Always This Way" - Rocket to Russia

Man, this song is good. Something I think the Ramones excel in is slightly disturbing lyrics but not in a way that takes you out of the song examples are from You Should Have Never Opened That Door with the lyrics "You don't know what I can do with this axe, chop off your head so you better relax" and in this song "Last time I saw her alive she was contemplating suicide, now she's lying in a bottle of formaldehyde" In later songs (7-11) they get worse at it.

#8 We're a Happy Family #7 on track listing

Ramones - "We're A Happy Family" - Rocket to Russia

We're a Happy Family is a really good song the lyrics are fun and snappy, the music is good, and it does something with the ending that I like, in some songs they will end the song by having weird audio start playing over the songs for example in Chain Saw Joey's lyrics start distorting, in Pinhead a bunch of people start talking and in the song in question, it has what sounds like a very stressed out family shouting about random stuff Joey literally says "Hey, what's minimalism?" and "Where are my safety pins what is this?" It's just a hoot to listen to.

#7 Surfin' Bird #13 on track listing

Ramones - "Surfin' Bird" - Rocket to Russia

Surfin' Bird was originally sung by the Trashmen, and the Ramones did a cover of it. It sounds like what I imagine tripping balls sounds like, which I can see it not for everyone, but for me it works.

#6 Cretin Hop #1 on track listing

Ramones - "Cretin Hop" - Rocket to Russia - YouTube

Cretin Hop is an amazing song. It makes perfect sense to have this as the opening song, it gets you excited and ready for what's to come, it's very easily memorable and one of the Ramones best.

#5 Locket Love #4 on track listing

Ramones - "Locket Love" - Rocket to Russia

I discovered Locket Love at the same time as a song higher on the list and I had a real hard time placing in the list, like I knew it was going to be high I just didn't know where. It has everything you'd want in a Ramones song, like I said previously and again, the kind of disturbing lyrics "Lovely little tricks you do know I'm hanging you" And everything else about just sounds great.

#4 Sheena Is a Punk Rocker #6 on track listing

Ramones - "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" - Rocket to Russia

This song is iconic, which most songs on Rocket to Russia are and this, Cretin Hop, and two others just stand above the rest. Every single thing about the song is just perfect.

#3 Teenage Lobotomy #8 on track listing

Ramones - "Teenage Lobotomy" - Rocket to Russia

Something I noticed about Teenage Lobotomy and a song higher up, is that the Ramones really liked doing the songs when performing live on It's Alive (one of their live albums) the first two songs are Rockaway Beach and Teenage Lobotomy, and if the Ramones are playing them first, you know they're good. I'm slightly biased here in that this is the second Rocket to Russia song I heard, but even then, it's still just amazing.

#2 Do You Wanna Dance? #9 on track listing

Ramones - "Do You Wanna Dance" - Rocket to Russia

What's interesting about the song is less what is in it but more it's history. Originally sung in 1958 by Bobby Freeman, it went through many covers before coming into the hands of the Ramones, going from Cliff Richard & the Shadows in 1962 to Del Shannon in 1963, Bobby Fuller & the Fanatics in 1964, the Beach Boys in '65, the Mamas and the Papas in '66, Bette Midler in 1972 to John Lennon in '75 and eventually to the Ramones in 77. That's why I like it so much.

#1 Rockaway Beach #2 on track listing

Ramones - "Rockaway Beach" - Rocket to Russia

I'm very biased here as this is the first Rocket to Russia song I heard and the first Ramones song I heard. But I still think this is an amazing song worthy of number 1.