50 Years Ago, The Ramones Released Their Influential Debut Album That Divided Critics

You know their songs. You've seen their often-imitated album cover. 50 years ago today, the Ramones changed rock music forever with the release of their debut self-titled album. Half a century later, it remains one of the most influential albums ever released — and one of the most divisive.

The Ramones are credited with inventing the genre of punk rock with the release of their first album. But not everybody was a fan at first. One early review described the band's sound as "the sound of 10,000 toilets flushing," according to the book Hey Ho Let's Go: The Story of The Ramones.

The band's future producer Daniel Rey recalled his first time hearing his future collaborators. "When we first heard it we couldn't stop laughing — it was so fast and there were no guitar solos ... We were staring at the cover: who are these guys?"

Vin Sclesa, a radio DJ, had an even more visceral reaction. "Halfway through [the third song], I took the record off and hurled it across the room," he said.

Why Were The Ramones So Divisive?

What made people despise this album so much? Firstly, as Rey noted, it was fast. The songs pretty short — one and a half to two and a half minutes, with the entire 14 track album running less than half an hour. And the band sprinted through each track, with many of them exceeding 160 beats per minute. While that makes it a great record to play while doing a CrossFit workout, it's not what everyone would call casual listening.

Then, there were the songs' topics. While other popular artists at the time sang about sweet, sweet love, the Ramones sang about Nazism in "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World," male prostitutes in "53rd & 3rd," and getting high in "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue."

While Ramones wasn't a commercially successful album, the critics loved it. Creem (via Rock's Backpages) called it "the most radical album of [the decade so far]," adding, "Ramones reads like a rock 'n' roll reactionary's manifesto."