Faster than speeding bullets ...The tale of Dragonforce

www.dragonforce.com

The same day I saw my first Hammerfall clip was the same day that I saw DragonForce (with ZP on vocals) for the first time, the Golden Gods Awards show actually...since then they have become one of my personal favourite power/speed metal bands, Lots of people reckon their dull cause of their long winded guitar solos ...these people are usually RUSH fans..so, explain that to me...They think they too widdly widdly and the shows are too guitar based..um, THATS THE ATTRACTION..for me anyway, I could listen to Li and Trotman belt shit outta their geetars for hours on end...BUT, I will admit, their probably an acquired taste...ANYWAY to the boys themselves...

Formed in 1999, the group has a reputation for long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are the only two remaining founding members in the group since ZP Theart's departure. Marc Hudson was announced as Theart's replacement in March 2011  A new studio album, The Power Within, was released on 15 April 2012.

DragonForce was founded in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman under the name of DragonHeart. The two later found singer ZP Theart through an advert, and soon after acquired drummer Matej Setinc, bassist Steve Scott and keyboardist Steve Williams. Totman and Li had a former musical ensemble experience in the band Demoniac. DragonHeart then released a demo, toured with Halford and Stratovarius, and headlined their own shows under that name. The band later found that another power metal band with this same name already existed and renamed it  to DragonForce in 2002.

Drummer Matej Setinc left the band in December 1999 to continue his studies in Slovenia, he was replaced by Didier Almouzni. The band parted ways with Steve Williams in early 2000, and Steve Scott in November 2000. Williams later rejoined and left once again in December 2000, days ahead of the band's tour with Halford and Stratovarius. Steve Scott went on to join Shadowkeep, then Power Quest.

Bassist Diccon Harper joined the band in November 2000 with keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov joining in February 2001 to complete the lineup for recording their first album.
Harper performed on DragonForce's debut album, Valley of the Damned in its completion, but left the band in 2002 because of a tendon problem that required surgery.

Valley of the Damned (2000–2003)
DragonForce recorded their first demo in 2000. It was an independent release, however it was enough to make them one of the most popular independent power metal bands in the UK at that time. Their song "Valley of the Damned" was released as their first single shortly after they changed their name permanently to DragonForce. A promotional video featuring live footage from their tour around Europe was released along with the song. The song was also a huge success on MP3.com where it charted at No. 1 for 2 weeks as the most downloaded song. Shortly after the demo was released keyboardist Steve Williams and bassist Steve Scott both left the band and were replaced with Ukrainian born Vadim Pruzhanov on keyboard and British born Diccon Harper on bass. Steve Williams later went on to form power metal band Power Quest.

In 2003, the band signed to Noise Records and began recording their debut full-length album, Valley of the Damned. The title track, re-released in promotion of the album, it is one of the most known DragonForce songs to date and is a staple of their live performance to this day. The band's tour for Valley of the Damned lasted until 2004, with the tour ending in Tokyo, Japan.

Sonic Firestorm (2004–2005)
The band's follow-up album, Sonic Firestorm, proved to be even more successful with the lead single "Fury of the Storm". Sonic Firestorm was the first DragonForce album featuring Adrian Lambert on bass and Dave Mackintosh on drums. When Mackintosh entered the band in 2004, they began referring to their style of music as "extreme power metal" due to his fast blastbeats and double bass rhythms. It was around this time that the band began becoming popular internationally and adopted nicknames such as "Bon Jovi on speed" and "Journey meets Slayer

The tour was much longer than the band's recent tour for "Valley of the Damned" and featured many more headline shows than the previous. The band toured with many well-known metal bands such as W.A.S.P. and Iron Maiden. On the album they also added a video commentary to talk about Sonic Firestorm.

Inhuman Rampage (2006–2007)

DragonForce underwent various lineup changes before settling with the six-man lineup they would retain until the departure of Theart. The band was introduced to the mainstream with their third album Inhuman Rampage, released in 2006 after signing with Roadrunner Records in UK, USA, Canada, France and Australia. The song "Through the Fire and Flames" is one of their most famous songs and is featured on the games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, Brutal Legend and as downloadable content for the Rock Band franchise. Lindsay Dawson of Herman Li and Sam Totman's former band, Demoniac, appeared as backup vocalist for this album. Before the release of the album, bassist, Adrian Lambert, left the group to raise his newborn son in November 2005. He was replaced with Frédéric Leclercq for the remaining of the Sonic Firestorm Tour. Frederic later became an official member of the band in January 2006. He was also featured in the band's music video for their second single off Inhuman Rampage, Operation Ground and Pound. The 'Through the Fire and Flames' single reached gold disc status in USA and Canada.

Ultra Beatdown (2007–2008)
The band toured with Disturbed and Slipknot throughout the summer of 2008 on the Rockstar Energy Metal Mayhem Festival. The band returned in the Fall with the release of their 4th studio album, Ultra Beatdown. The first track and first single, "Heroes of Our Time", was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance on 3 December 2008, losing out to Metallica with their song "My Apocalypse". A short version of "Heroes Of Our Time" is also featured in the video games Skate 2 and the full version in NHL 10.

On 22 January 2009, the music video for their song "The Last Journey Home" was released to the Xbox Live Community a week before it was released online

DragonForce carried out the Ultra Beatdown tour in Latin America, North America and Europe. They were supposed to play in Latin America in May 2009,[10] but the tour was postponed to late 2009 due to the swine flu outbreak. They performed at the Two Days a Week Festival in Weisen, Austria on 4 September. Then, they performed in several cities of Canada and United States from 15 September to 11 October, with special guests Sonata Arctica and Taking Dawn.  The next tour was in Germany, from 16 to 30 October, followed by a single live performance in Luxembourg on 31 October.  Then, they went to Latin America to perform in Curitiba, Porto Alegre, São Paulo, Mexico City, Santiago, Buenos Aires and Bogotá from 6 to 14 November. The final part of the tour was carried entirely in the United Kingdom, from 19 November to 12 December

Departure of ZP Theart (2010)
Herman Li stated that DragonForce would stop touring in December, spend time at home for Christmas, and then would begin writing and recording a new studio album scheduled to be released in 2011.

On 22 February 2010, the band re-released their first two albums, Valley of the Damned and Sonic Firestorm. Valley of the Damned included newly remixed and remastered tracks while both albums included bonus tracks, updated packaging and DVDs featuring live footage, commentary, and more. Both albums were also released in a box set which featured a T-shirt, a card of guitar picks, and an inflatable guitar.

On 8 March 2010, it was announced via Roadrunner that DragonForce had parted ways with vocalist ZP Theart and would now be seeking a new frontman. Herman Li stated:
“It is with great regret that DragonForce announce a parting of the ways with singer ZP Theart. This is due to insurmountable differences of musical opinion but the rest of the band sincerely wishes ZP great success with his future projects.
While the creative core members have begun writing the fifth album, they have also started a worldwide search for a new vocalist. We are looking for a powerful, melodic singer to write a new chapter of DragonForce with us.
”
This story was removed the same day, but officially confirmed by the band a day later in a press statement that also contained a link to request an audition.

Twilight Dementia
The band released their first live album on 13 September 2010 in Europe and 14 September 2010 for US and Canada. It is a double-disc set entitled Twilight Dementia. The album art, title, and release date were revealed on the band's official website on 22 June 2010. The performances were recorded on the final leg of the Ultra Beatdown World Tour. Regarding the album, guitarist Herman Li stated:
“For years, fans have been asking us to record a live album, but honestly, we never really had the time due to our worldwide touring commitments and studio album recording. However, due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback from fans on the 'Ultra Beatdown World Tour', we decided to finally put some real thought into it...These recordings really capture the raw sonic energy of a Dragonforce show in fine detail. It is so real that you can hear the noise of the crowd and experience the show as it was that night – you can even hear the guitar pedals being stepped on!
”

The band has been working on a new album since early 2010, recording in various studios in California, London, England and the South of France.
The band confirmed that they would be the opening act for Iron Maiden in two UK shows in August. The first at Odyssey Arena in Belfast on 3 August 2011 and the second at The O2 Arena in London on 5 August 2011.

New vocalist Marc Hudson (2010–2011)
On 2 March 2011, DragonForce announced their new singer, Marc Hudson. He had previous experience performing in a band, but was not a professional musician before joining Dragonforce. His first show with DragonForce was an opening for Iron Maiden. On the shows opening for Iron Maiden they started performing a new song called "Cry Thunder".

The Power Within (2011–2013)

Pythia's vocalist Emily Ovenden provided backing vocals for DragonForce's new album, released on 15 April 2012. During the North American warm up shows, DragonForce performed a new song called "Fallen World", along with "Cry Thunder". According to the band, "Fallen World" is the fastest, most intense DragonForce song to date. The completion of this new album was announced on 14 January 2012. On 2 February, DragonForce announced via their official web-page that their new ten-track album would be entitled The Power Within. The album was released worldwide on 15 April 2012 via the band’s own Electric Generation Recordings, distributed by Essential Music (UK), Roadrunner Records (North America), 3Wise (Australia) and JVC Victor (Japan). In March 2012 DragonForce announced North American headlining tour for April and May. Starting from late September, DragonForce embarked on a UK and Ireland tour; they were supported by Cavorts, The Defiled and Alestorm. 

the boys  played the Soundwave Festival in Australia in February 2013. Also in 2013, DragonForce recorded a new short song called "Galactic Astro Domination", which was recorded for a Capital One commercial featured on YouTube. In the video, guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are performing the song on an asteroid in space while using Capital One's Mobile Banking App.

On April 12, 2013, DragonForce announced that writing for a follow up to The Power Within has been completed, and that the band would be entering the studio in May. On May 19, 2013, DragonForce entered Fascination Street Studios in Sweden with Jens Bogren as the producer of DragonForce's sixth album. The band stated: "Right now, everyone in the band is itching to get into the studio to record probably the most epic DragonForce music ever written. With so many ideas flying around and songs already written, we decided to team up with producer Jens Bogren to help us take the DF sound to the next level and beyond!"


Much of DragonForce's idiosyncratic style comes from the high-speed dual guitar sound of Totman and Li, by playing at a high tempo and within the upper registers of their instruments, their sound becomes similar to the "bleepy" arpeggios and quick pitch-bends normally associated with chiptunes, usually heard in the third generation of video game music. The band often plays homage to this influence in their videos. Although the band has frequently referred to their style as power metal, Herman Li commented on descriptions of the band's style in an interview with Guitar World: "'Nintendo metal', 'extreme power metal', 'Bon Jovi on speed', 'Journey meets Slayer', ... people are always coming up with weird labels for us." The band has sometimes been labeled as a speed metal band

THE DRAGONS

Current members

Herman Li – guitar, backing vocals (1999–present)

Sam Totman – guitar, backing vocals (1999–present)

Vadim Pruzhanov – keyboards, keytar, synthesizer, theremin, backing vocals (2001–present)

Dave Mackintosh – drums, backing vocals (2004–present)

Frédéric Leclercq – bass, backing vocals (2005–present)

Marc Hudson – lead vocals (2011–present)

Former members

Matej Setinc – drums (1999)

Steve Scott – bass guitar, backing vocals (1999–2000)

Steve Williams – keyboards, keytar, backing vocals (1999–2000, 2000)

Didier Almouzni – drums (1999–2003)

ZP Theart – lead vocals (1999–2010)

Diccon Harper – bass guitar, backing vocals (2000–2003)

Adrian Lambert – bass guitar (2003–2005)

Studio albums

Valley of the Damned (2003)

Sonic Firestorm (2004)

Inhuman Rampage (2006)

Ultra Beatdown (2008)

The Power Within (2012)

LIVE ALBUMS 

Twilight Dementia (2010)

FASTER THAN SPEEDING BULLETS

So there you go Dragon Force...think i'll go plug in guitar hero and have a crack

Suzi who?...

Picture this if you can...6th grade, Punchbowl Public school 1975(if memory serves),.it was a concert day and every other "act" mimed to Suzi Quatro...yep...we got 48 crashed that day....It got me listening to Quatro and still have some vinyl of hers...anyway, to the tale of the Devil Gate Drive

Susan Kay "Suzi" Quatro (born 3 June 1950) is a British-based American singer-songwriter, bass guitar player, and actor. She is the absolute most recognisable (and probably best) female bass player that became a major rock star. Suzi kicked a BIG friggin hole in the glass ceiling and the runaways , Joan Jett and Lita ford follwed her in, yep, Quatro broke the barrier in bloody half

In the 1970s Quatro scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland. But, following a recurring role as a female bass player on the popular American sitcom Happy Days, her duet "Stumblin' In" with Chris Norman reached number 4 in the USA in 1979.

Between 1973 and 1980 Quatro was awarded six Bravo Ottos. In 2010 she was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame. Quatro has sold over 50 million albums and continues to perform live, worldwide. Her most recent album was released in 2011 and she also continues to present new radio programmes.

In 1964, after seeing a television performance by The Beatles, Quatro's older sister, Patti, had formed an all-female band called The Pleasure Seekers with two friends. Quatro joined too and assumed the stage name of Suzi Soul; Patti was known as Patti Pleasure. The band also featured another sister, Arlene. Many of their performances were in cabaret, where attention was (initially) focussed more on their looks than their music. They sometimes wore mini-skirts and wigs, which Quatro later considered to be necessary evils in the pursuit of success.

 One of the few all-girl garage bands who played their own instruments, they recorded a fine, gritty single for the local Hideout label, "Never Thought You'd Leave Me"/"What a Way to Die" (both sides were reissued in the 1980s on the What a Way to Die '60s garage compilation). Another single followed for Mercury, and the group even toured Vietnam to entertain troops. In 1968, though, Arlene quit the band to raise her kids (one of whom is actress Sherilyn Fenn), to be replaced by yet another sister, Nancy.

The Pleasure Seekers became Cradle, which placed more emphasis on hard rock and original material. In the early '70s, British producer Mickie Most (the Animals, Lulu, Donovan, Herman's Hermits) happened to see Cradle while he was in Detroit to work on an album with Jeff Beck at Motown's studios. Most let Quatro know he was interested in working with her as a solo act; six months later, Cradle split, and Suzy was on her way to London 

After her first single flopped, Most hooked her up with songwriters Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, who were also supplying material to the Sweet. The Chapman-Chinn-penned "Can the Can" went to number one in the U.K. in 1973, and over the next few years the same team would write about ten other British chart hits for her, including four Top Ten entries. These fused glitter and bubblegum in much the same way as the Sweet did, though Quatro was perhaps a tad raunchier (without ever getting downright scary). Quatro and her guitarist (and husband) Len Tuckey did write some of her material, though these efforts were usually confined to albums. In the U.S., though, she could barely get into the Top 100, though she did get on the cover of Rolling Stone.

In autumn 1972, Quatro embarked as a support act on a UK tour with Thin Lizzy and headliners Slade. RAK arranged for her to use Thin Lizzy's newly acquired PA system during this, incurring a charge of £300 per week that enabled the Irish band to effectively purchase it at no cost to themselves.[14] In May 1973, her second single "Can the Can" (1973) - which that drooling nitwit Philip Auslander described as having "seemingly nonsensical and virtually unintelligible lyrics" – was a number one hit in parts of Europe and in Australia.

"Can the Can" was followed by three further hits: "48 Crash" (1973), "Daytona Demon" (1973), and "Devil Gate Drive" (1974). "Can the Can", "48 Crash" and "Devil Gate Drive" each sold over one million copies and were awarded gold discs,  although they met with little success in her native United States, where she had toured as a support act for Alice Cooper.  RAK artists had generally not succeeded in the US and her first album, Suzi Quatro, was criticised by Alan Betrock for its lack of variety, for its Quatro-written "second-rate fillers" and for her voice, described as "often too high and shrill, lacking punch or distinctive phrasing." Writing for Rolling Stone, Greg Shaw was also downbeat, saying that the album "may be a necessary beginning".

Musicians who acted as her backing band around this period included Alastair McKenzie, Dave Neal and Len Tuckey  with Robbie Blunt also being listed by some sources. Tuckey's brother, Bill, acted as tour manager.

With the exception of Australia, her chart success faltered thereafter until a change to a more mellow style produced the 1978 single "If You Can't Give Me Love" that became a hit there and in the United Kingdom. Later that year, "Stumblin' In", a duet with Chris Norman of the band Smokie, reached number 4 in the U.S. Both tracks featured on the If You Knew Suzi... album. A year later, Quatro released Suzi...and Other Four Letter Words, which she called her favourite album.[when?] This featured the hits "She's in Love with You", which made number 11 in Britain, "Mama's Boy" (number 34), and "I've Never Been in Love" (number 56).

Her American fortunes changed in the late '70s, when she had a short-lived, semi-regular stint on the sitcom Happy Days as the guitar-playing, sassy Leather Tuscadero. In 1979, she made the American Top Five with "Stumblin' In," although this was a duet with Chris Norman. Undoubtedly an influence upon the Runaways and Joan Jett, and thus by extension a mild influence on a subsequent generation of female rockers, she's kept a low profile in the '80s and '90s, although 

In December 2005, a documentary chronicling Quatro's life, Naked Under Leather, named after a 1975 bootleg album, recorded in Japan, directed by former member of The Runaways, Victory Tischler-Blue, appeared. In February 2006, Quatro released Back to the Drive, produced by Sweet guitarist Andy Scott. The album's title track was written by her former collaborator, Chapman. In March 2007, Quatro released a version of the Eagles song "Desperado", followed by the publication of her autobiography, Unzipped. By this time, Quatro had sold 50 million records.

On 11 June 2010, she headlined the 'Girls night out' at the Isle of Wight Festival.[citation needed] Quatro was also inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame in 2010, following an on-line vote.

In August 2011, Quatro released her fifteenth studio album, In the Spotlight (and its single, "Spotlight"). This album is a mixture of new songs written by Mike Chapman and by herself, along with cover versions. A second single from the album, "Whatever Love Is", was subsequently released.

On 16 November 2011, a music video (by Tischler-Blue) for the track "Strict Machine" was released onto the Suzi Quatro Official YouTube channel. The track is a cover of Goldfrapp's "Strict Machine", but Quatro's version contains two lines from "Can the Can", referencing the similarity of the tunes for the two songs.

In April 2013, she performed in America for the first time in over 30 years, at the Detroit Music Awards, where she received the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to her by her sister, Patti.

As of September 2013 Suzi is currently working on an anthology 6-CD box set with her record company CherryRed records in the UK. This will have some new material on it, Suzi has said that Mike Chapman has written her another hit which will be nicely placed into the anthology of hits that he has already written for her with Nicky Chinn. The Anthlogy yet to be titled is scheduled for release in the first half of 2014.

A Spanish rock band called Suzy & los Quattro released two albums on No Tomorrow in 2006 and 2008; in the tradition of Ramones and the Donnas, all of the bandmembers except for Suzy Chain list their last name as Quattro.

Suzi Quatro (1973), RAK Records 

(Can the Can in Australia)

Quatro (1974)

Your Mamma Won't Like Me (1975)

Aggro-Phobia (1976)

If You Knew Suzi... (1978)

Suzi...and Other Four Letter Words (1979) 

Rock Hard (1980)

Main Attraction (1982)

Annie Get Your Gun - 1986 London Cast (1986)

Oh Suzi Q. (1990)

What Goes Around (1996)

Unreleased Emotion (1998)

Free the Butterfly (1998)

Back to the Drive (2006)

In the Spotlight (2011)

Live albums

Live and Kickin' (1977) –

 Japan & Australia only live album; 

re-released as double CD in 1990 in Australia

Compilation albums

The Suzi Quatro Story – 12 Golden Hits (1975) 

Suzi Quatro's Greatest Hits (1980)

The Best of... (1984) – limited to RSO years

Highs in the Mid-Sixties, Volume 6 (1984), AIP Records – The Pleasure Seekers

The Wild One – the Greatest Hits (1990)

The Gold Collection (1996)

Greatest Hits (1999)

The History (2010), Cradle – distributed by CD Baby

What a Way to Die (2011), The Pleasure Seekers – distributed by CD Baby

The Essential (2012)

SO...there you go, the Queen of Rock...have a bonz day

Hey Ho..They could go..The tale of the Ramones

The Ramones, arguably..I think the  MC5 are , but that's just me, are the first American punk rock band. Other bands, such as the Stooges and the New York Dolls, came before them and set the stage and aesthetic for punk, and bands that immediately followed, such as the Sex Pistols, made the latent violence of the music more explicit, but The Ramones crystallized the musical ideals of the genre. By cutting rock & roll down to its bare essentials -- four chords; a simple, catchy melody; and irresistibly inane lyrics -- and speeding up the tempo considerably, The Ramones created something that was rooted in early '60s, pre-Beatles rock & roll and pop but sounded revolutionary. Since their breakthrough was theoretical as well as musical, they comfortably became the leaders of the emerging New York punk rock scene. 

While their peers such as Patti Smith, Television, Talking Heads, and Richard Hell all were more intellectual and self-consciously artistic than The Ramones, they nevertheless appealed to the same mentality because of the way they turned rock conventions inside out and celebrated kitschy pop culture with stylized stupidity. The band's first four albums set the blueprint for punk, especially American punk and hardcore, for the next two decades. And The Ramones themselves were major figures for the next two decades, playing essentially the same music without changing their style much at all. Although some punk diehards -- including several of their peers -- would have claimed the band's long career wound up undercutting the ideals the band originally stood for, The Ramones always celebrated not just the punk aesthetic, but the music itself.

Based in the Forest Hills section of Queens, NY, The Ramones formed in 1974. Originally, the band was a trio consisting of Joey Ramone (vocals, drums; born Jeffrey Hyman, May 19, 1951), Johnny Ramone (guitar; born John Cummings, Oct. 8, 1951), and Dee Dee Ramone (bass; born Douglas Colvin, Sept. 18, 1951), with Tommy Ramone (born Tom Erdelyi, Jan. 29, 1952) acting as the group's manager. All of the group's members adopted the last name "Ramone" and dressed in torn blue jeans and leather jackets, in homage to '50s greaser rockers. The group played their first concert on March 30, 1974, at New York's Performance Studio. 

Two months after the show, Joey switched to vocals and Tommy became the band's drummer. By the end of the summer, The Ramones earned a residency at CBGB's. For the next year, they played regularly at the nightclub, earning a dedicated cult following and inspiring several other artists to form bands with similar ideals. All of The Ramones sets clocked in at about 20 minutes, featuring an unrelenting barrage of short, barely two-minute songs. By the end of 1975, The Ramones secured a recording contract with Sire; discounting Patti Smith, they were the first New York punk band to sign a contract.

Early in 1976, The Ramones recorded their debut album for just over 6,000 dollars. The resulting album, Ramones, was released in the spring, gained some critical attention, and managed to climb to 111 on the U.S. album charts. On July 4, the band made their debut appearance in Britain, where their records were becoming a big influence on a new generation of bands. Throughout 1976, The Ramones toured constantly, inaugurating nearly 20 years of relentless touring. By the end of the year, the group released their second album, Ramones Leave Home. While the album just scraped the U.S. charts, Leave Home became a genuine hit in England in the spring of 1977, peaking at number 48. By the summer of 1977, the Sex Pistols and The Ramones were seen as the two key bands in the punk rock revolution, but where the Pistols imploded, The Ramones kept on rolling. Following the U.K. Top 40 hit "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," The Ramones released their third album, Rocket to Russia, in the fall of 1977.

Tommy Ramone left the band in the spring of 1977, although he produced the group's subsequent album. He was replaced by former Voidoid Marc Bee, who immediately changed his name to Marky Ramone. With their new drummer in place, The Ramones recorded their fourth album, Road to Ruin, which was released in the fall. Road to Ruin marked the band's first significant attempt to change their sound; not only were there stronger bubblegum, girl group, surf, and '60s pop influences on the music, it was the first of their albums to run over a half hour......Although their sound was more accessible, it didn't gain the band a noticeably larger following. Neither did Rock N' Roll High School, the 1979 Roger Corman film in which The Ramones had a pivotal part. The soundtrack to Rock N' Roll High School and the U.K.-only live album It's Alive were the band's only releases of 1979. For most of the year, they were in the studio recording their fifth album with legendary '60s pop producer Phil Spector. The title song to the Corman movie was the first track released from the sessions, although the soundtrack album did feature a number of older Ramones songs remixed by Spector. 

End of the Century, the Spector-produced Ramones album, finally appeared in January of 1980 to mixed reviews. Despite the lukewarm reception to the album, the record's cover of the Ronettes' "Baby I Love You" became their only Top Ten British hit; in America, none of the singles made an impact, although the record became their biggest hit, peaking at number 44.

The Ramones continued their attempts at crossover success with their sixth album, Pleasant Dreams, which was released in 1981. Featuring a production by former Hollies and 10cc member Graham Gouldman, the record was a commercial disappointment in both America and England. The band was relatively quiet during 1982, spending most of their time touring. In the spring of 1983, the band returned with Subterranean Jungle, which was produced by Ritchie Cordell and Glen Koltkin, the heads of the American indie label Beserkley Records. Not only did Subterranean Jungle fail to gain the band the larger audience they desired, it continued the erosion of the band's die-hard fan base, as well as their decline in the eyes of many rock critics. Following the album's release, Marky Ramone left the band; he was replaced by Richard Beau, a former member of the Velveteens, who changed his name to Richie Ramone.

With 1984's Too Tough to Die, The Ramones delivered a belated response to America's burgeoning hardcore punk scene that was largely produced by Tommy Erdelyi. The album helped restore their artistic reputation, as did the 1985 single, "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg," an attack on President Ronald Reagan's 1985 visit to Germany. Instead of continuing with the sound of Too Tough to Die, The Ramones began pursuing a more streamlined, stylized, and conventional take on their songwriting formula with 1986's Animal Boy. 

This was a direction the group followed for the remaining ten years of their career. Following the release of 1987's Halfway to Sanity, Richie Ramone left the band and Marky Ramone re-joined the group. In 1988, the career retrospective Ramones Mania appeared. In 1989, The Ramones contributed the theme song to the Stephen King movie Pet Semetary, and the track was included on Brain Drain, which was released in the summer of that year. After its release, the group's bassist, Dee Dee Ramone, left the band to pursue a career as a rapper called Dee Dee King; after his debut rap recording failed miserably, he formed the band Chinese Dragons. Dee Dee was replaced by C.J. Ramone (born Christopher John Ward).

 In the early '90s, The Ramones sobered up, with both Joey and Marky undergoing treatment for alcoholism. The band returned to recording in 1992, first releasing the live Loco Live and then Mondo Bizarro, their first studio album in three years. Mondo Bizarro turned out to be a commercial failure, as did their 1994 covers album, Acid Eaters.

Following the release of Acid Eaters, the mainstream guitar rock audience in America finally embraced punk rock, in the form of young bands like Green Day and the Offspring. Sensing that the climate may have been right for the crossover success they had desired for so many years, The Ramones immediately followed Acid Eaters with Adios Amigos, claiming that unless the new album sold in substantial numbers, the band would call it quits after a final farewell tour. Adios Amigos only spent two weeks in the charts. Nevertheless, The Ramones embarked on a long farewell tour that ran throughout the rest of 1995. The band was set to split in the beginning of 1996 when they were offered a slot on the sixth Lollapalooza, and they toured with the festival that summer. Following the completion of the tour, The Ramones parted ways, 20 years after the release of their first album.

 Just a few years later, Joey Ramone passed away on April 15, 2001, at age 49, the victim of lymphoma. Little more than a year after Joey's death, Dee Dee Ramone was found dead in his home in Los Angeles on June 5, 2002. Johnny Ramone passed away two years later on September 15, 2004 after a long battle with cancer.

Ramones 1976

Leave Home 1977

Rocket to Russia 1977

Road to Ruin 1978

It's Alive 1979

End of the Century  1980

Pleasant Dreams  1981

Rock 'N' Roll High School 1981

Subterranean Jungle  1983

Too Tough to Die  1985

Animal Boy  1986  

Halfway to Sanity 1987

Brain Drain   1989

Pet Semetary  1990

Loco Live  1991

Mondo Bizarro  1992

Acid Eaters 1993

¡Adios Amigos!  1995

Greatest Hits Live 1996

We're Outta Here! 1997

NYC 1978   2003

HEY HO..THEY GO