Acid Eaters

Acid Eaters is the thirteenth studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones.

Acid Eaters
Studio album of cover songs by
the Ramones
ReleasedDecember 1, 1993
Recorded1993
Studio
  • Baby Monster (New York City)
  • Chung King (New York City)
GenrePunk rock
Length30:53
LabelRadioactive
ProducerScott Hackwith
Ramones chronology
Mondo Bizarro
(1992)		 Acid Eaters
(1993)		 ¡Adios Amigos!
(1995)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[3]
Rock Hard8.0/10[4]
Rolling Stone[5]
Uncut[6]

Released in 1993, towards the end of the Ramones' career, the album is the band's only album entirely composed of covers. Acid Eaters forms a musical tribute to the Ramones' favorite artists of the 1960s and highlights the influences the Ramones took from garage rock bands like the Seeds and the Amboy Dukes, as well as from popular bands such as the Beach Boys, the Who and the Rolling Stones (all of whom are covered on this album).

Background

Although Acid Eaters is specifically made of covers from the sixties, it was not the first time that the Ramones had played or recorded cover songs, with the band having released cover versions on most of their albums, almost all or them from the sixties, starting with a cover of Chris Montez's hit "Let's Dance" (written by and credited to Jim Lee) on their debut album. Other notable covers previously performed by the group include: the Rivieras' "California Sun" (originally recorded by Joe Jones); the Beach Boys' "Do You Wanna Dance?" (originally recorded by Bobby Freeman); the Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird"; the Searchers' "Needles and Pins" (written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche, originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon); the Ronettes' "Baby, I Love You"; the Music Explosion's "Little Bit O' Soul"; the Chambers Brothers' "Time Has Come Today"; Freddy Cannon's "Palisades Park"; and the Doors' "Take It as It Comes." Jan and Dean's "Surf City" had been performed live by the Ramones on one occasion on August 20, 1982, in New York City, but makes its studio debut here.

Production

In his 2012 autobiography Commando, Johnny Ramone called the album "hit-and-miss," stating that many of the songs "were done with studio work, arrangements, and tricks, which was really different for us", and that the band "experimented to mixed success." He added that "we were getting all kinds of suggestions from everybody, and it was getting to be a pain in the ass. I mean, 'She's Not There' by the Zombies?" Johnny awarded the album a "B−" grade.[7] Bassist C.J. Ramone gave the album a "D" grade, saying that it was done strictly for the money.[8]

The album features several guest singers on backing vocals, namely Pete Townshend on "Substitute," Sebastian Bach on "Out of Time" and Traci Lords on "Somebody to Love." According to Johnny Ramone, while he considered Townshend "one of the greats and one of my guitar heroes", Townshend was a half an hour late for his session, resulting in Johnny giving up and leaving the studio to watch a Yankee game.[9]

According to C.J. Ramone, Acid Eaters was only going to be an EP before manager Gary Kurfirst promised a bigger advance as well as a bigger cut if they made it a full release.[8]

Promotion

The band promoted the album on the animated Cartoon Network talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast, in the first-season episode entitled "Bobcat".

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Journey to the Center of the Mind" (Original by the Amboy Dukes)Ted Nugent, Steve Farmer2:52
2."Substitute" (Original by the Who)Pete Townshend3:15
3."Out of Time" (Original by the Rolling Stones)Mick Jagger, Keith Richards2:41
4."The Shape of Things to Come" (Original by Max Frost and the Troopers)Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil1:46
5."Somebody to Love" (Original by the Great Society, popularized by Jefferson Airplane)Darby Slick2:31
6."When I Was Young" (Original by the Animals)Eric Burdon, John Weider, Vic Briggs, Danny McCulloch, Barry Jenkins3:16
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."7 and 7 Is" (Original by Love)Arthur Lee1:50
8."My Back Pages" (Original by Bob Dylan, popularized by the Byrds)Bob Dylan2:27
9."Can't Seem to Make You Mine" (Original by the Seeds)Sky Saxon2:42
10."Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" (Original by Creedence Clearwater Revival)John Fogerty2:22
11."I Can't Control Myself" (Original by the Troggs)Reg Presley2:55
12."Surf City" (Original by Jan and Dean)Brian Wilson, Jan Berry2:26
CD Bonus track in Japan and Brazil
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Surfin' Safari" (Original by the Beach Boys)Brian Wilson, Mike Love1:47

Personnel

Ramones

Additional musicians

Technical

  • Scott Hackwith – producer, mixing
  • Gary Kurfirst – executive producer
  • Trent Slatton – engineer, mixing
  • Bryce Goggin – assistant engineer (Baby Monster)
  • Rojo – assistant engineer (Baby Monster)
  • Johnny Wydrycs – assistant engineer (Chung King)
  • Jack Hersca – assistant engineer (Chung King)
  • Diego Garrido – assistant engineer (Chung King)
  • Peter Beckerman – assistant engineer (Sound on Sound)
  • Scott Hull – mastering

Charts
Chart (1993-1994) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[10] 48
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)[11] 25
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[12] 85
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 26
US Billboard 200[14] 179

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[15] Gold 30,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Acid Eaters - Ramones". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  2. Christgau, Robert. "CG: Ramones". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  3. Flaherty, Mike (14 January 1994). "Acid Eaters Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  4. "Review Album: The Ramones - Acid Eaters". Rock Hard (in German). No. 79. 1993. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  5. "Acid Eaters album review". Rolling Stone.
  6. "Acid Eaters Album reviews". CD Universe.
  7. Ramone, Johnny (2012). Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone. Abrams Image. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-8109-9660-1.
  8. Mrmonte (2014-10-16). "Monte's One Stop Blog!: A Conversation with CJ Ramone!". Monte's One Stop Blog!. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
  9. Ramone, Johnny (2012). Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone. Abrams Image. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-8109-9660-1.
  10. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2388". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22April 2018.
  11. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  12. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  13. "Swedishcharts.com – Ramones – Acid Eaters". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  14. "Ramones Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  15. "Joey Ramone's 'Acid Eaters' Argentinean Sales Award". Retrieved 20 December 2020.
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