The Ramones: Joey Ramone (vocals); Johnny Ramone (guitar); Dee Dee Ramone (bass); Marky Ramone (drums). Recorded at Media Sound, New York, New York. All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Fresh off a bizarre but pleasant experiment in roots pop with legendary producer Phil Spector, the Ramones were somewhat confused. After punk's failure to gain mainstream airplay anyway and the ascendance of keyboard oriented new wave, the Ramones' breakneck tempos and buzzsaw guitar attack seemed somewhat anachronistic to mainstream radio audiences. It is therefore no wonder that PLEASANT DREAMS sounds angry and somewhat bitter at an industry that couldn't accept the band's particular brand of brilliance. When Joey sings "Mr. Programmer/I've got my hammer/and I'm gonna/smash my/smash my/radio" in "We Want the Airwaves," the gauntlet is firmly laid down. If the radio and recording industry couldn't understand what the Ramones were doing then the Ramones weren't going to waste any more time trying to "break" material. PLEASANT DREAMS contains several gems: In addition to the obvious pleasures of "The KKK Took My Baby Away" and "All Quiet on the Western Front," there are also the overlooked could-be-classics of "Sitting in My Room" and "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)".

1. We Want the Airwaves
2. All's Quiet on the Eastern Front
3. The KKK Took My Baby Away
4. Don't Go
5. You Should Like You're Sick
6. It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)
7. She's a Sensation
8. 7-11
9. You Didn't Mean Anything to Me
10. Come and Now
11. This Business Is Killing Me
12. Sitting in My Room
13. Touring (1981 Version)
14. I Can't Get You Out of My MInd
15. Chop Suey (Alternate Version)
16. Sleeping Troubles (Demo)
17. Kicks to Try (Demo)
18. I'm Not an Answer (Demo)
19. Stares in This Town (Demo)

End of the Century didn't make the Ramones into the stars they so wanted to be, so they hooked up with another '60s icon, Graham Gouldman, for its follow-up, Pleasant Dreams. Oddly, Gouldman directs the band away from their bubblegum, British Invasion, and surf fetishes toward acid rock and heavy metal. They still manage to squeak out a couple of irresistibly catchy songs, but the production is too clean to qualify as punk, and the music itself has lost sight of the infectious qualities that made their earlier records such fun. Yet those flaws seem endearing compared to the metallic meanderings of their late-'80s records. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.