Ramones It's Alive CD

The Ramones: Joey Ramone (vocals); Johnny Ramone (guitar); Dee Dee Ramone (bass); Tommy Ramone (drums).
Recorded live at the Rainbow Theatre, London, England on December 31, 1977.
Personnel: Joey Ramone (vocals); Johnny Ramone (guitar); Tommy Ramone (drums).
Recording information: Rainbow Theatre, London, England [live] (12/31/1977).
One of the greatest live albums of all time, It's Alive captures the Ramones at their absolute peak. Recorded at London's Rainbow Theater on New Year's Eve 1977, the album contains 28 songs (every one a classic) from the band's landmark first three albums: Ramones, Ramones Leave Home, and Rocket to Russia performed at breakneck speed in under an hour. In fact, the band only pauses long enough for bassist Dee Dee to count off the next tune -- "one-two-three-four!" -- and for singer Joey to complain about some bad chicken vindaloo. It has often been said that the Ramones helped save rock & roll by making it fun again -- It's Alive is the perfect case in point. Long live the Ramones! ~ Eduardo Rivadavia
This is the Holy Grail of live concert recordings. Long unavailable in the U.S., IT'S ALIVE captures the Ramones in peak form, having the time of their lives before an appreciative British audience. From Joey's slow drawl "Weeeeeeellllll, it's great to be back here in...") to Dee Dee's "1-2-3-4," this disc pummels the listener into submission with the complete live Ramones experience to the point where you can practically feel the sweat. All the classics from the first three albums are executed with an enthusiasm the Ramones rarely mustered years down the line.
The live version of "Blitzkrieg Bop" will send shivers down even the hardiest Coney Island strongman's spine, and "We're a Happy Family," "Teenage Lobotomy," and "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World" express what it is to be young and dumb better than a thousand John Hughes films ever could. IT'S ALIVE is the next best thing to actually seeing the Ramones live and, as that's not likely to happen, this set will go a long way towards satisfying your Ramones fix.Q (5/02 SE, p.140) - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums".
Q (8/00, pp.120-1) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...It remains a spirited 28-song guide to their punk years and testament to the fact that Britain had provided a second home for their concise bubblegum thrash..."
Record Collector (magazine) (p.99) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] superb live document....This high energy, one-hour blitz squeezes in three albums' worth of material..."