CJ Ramone
American Beauty
(Fat Wreck Chords)
CJ Ramone was the last person to ever join The Ramones when they were still an active band, and therefore he might not always receive the credit he deserves (personally I never had a problem with him simply because he was a later member of the band; anyone that’s ever donned the Ramones surname is okay in my book), and I’m glad to see that he’s still flying the flag for them.
Unfortunately that flag doesn’t fly very high in this case. What he’s put together here on his latest solo effort comes off as not much more than a poor man’s Ramones. A few moments of interest aside, such as “You’ll Never Make Me Believe” and the heartfelt “Tommy’s Gone” (dedicated to the last fallen original member of the Ramones family), none of it really matches up to the work he did while actually in the band (“Strength to Endure” still stands out as one of the better tracks from his era with the band). Even the addition of punk veterans from the likes of The Adolescents and the Street Dogs in his backing band doesn’t help things much. Thanks for keeping it going, CJ, but maybe put a little more time and effort into your next offering.
