Hey! Ho! Let's Go

Weird Tales of the Ramones

(From a 2005 SDUT Night and Day review). The Ramones in the flesh were always more amusingly cartoonish than any ink or paint could improve upon, but a fistful of artists – two dozen, to be exact – give it a whirl for a comic book that's the centerpiece of the Ramones' first boxed set. The artwork and packaging of "Weird Tales" – a three-disc audio retrospective and a DVD – are ghoulishly clever, right down to the comic book cover art. And, let's face it, the packaging is what gives this set its cachet, since there is little by way of rarities. Additionally, the best of the boxed set's songs also are available on Sire/Rhino's 1999 two-disc, 58-song anthology "Hey Ho Let's Go!" Unfortunately, the "Weird Tales" song list, compiled by Johnny Ramone (who died of prostate cancer last year) gives equal weight to all phases of the Ramones' career, including the flagging mid-to late-1980s and the even weaker, post-1989 lineup that didn't include bass player Dee Dee Ramone. As a result of the unjustifiably even treatment, a good part of Disc 3, for the purist at least, is disposable, as is much of Disc 2. By contrast, Disc 1, including a demo of the Joey Ramone-penned "Slug," is a must-have. The video selection, however, is sketchy at best, with little that's truly vintage. Luckily, the videos for "Rock 'n' Roll High School" and "Psycho Therapy" capture the humor that was as much a part of the Ramones as their trademark haircuts and high energy.

Sexy Ramones Girl