''Brain Drain'' is the eleventh studio album by the American punk rock band the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United St ...

, released on May 23, 1989. It is the last Ramones release to feature bassist/songwriter/vocalist Dee Dee Ramone, the first to feature

Marky Ramone Marc Steven Bell (born July 15, 1952) is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. He replaced drummer Tom ...

since his initial firing from the band after 1983's ''

Subterranean Jungle ''Subterranean Jungle'' is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band the Ramones, released by Sire Records on February 23, 1983. Overall, the album featured a return to a somewhat more hard punk rock style compared to the band's ...

'' and the band's last studio album on

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehre ...

Background

In his 1998 autobiography, Dee Dee Ramone recalled: "It was tough recording the ''Brain Drain'' album because everyone took their shit out on me. I dreaded being around them. It drove me away—I didn't even end up playing on the album. Everybody in the band had problems; girlfriend problems, money problems, mental problems."

Johnny Ramone John William Cummings (October 8, 1948 – September 15, 2004), better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American musician who was the guitarist and a founding member of the Ramones, a band that helped pioneer the punk movement. ...

expressed similarly unfavorable sentiments in his 2012 posthumous autobiography, ''

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'', calling it one of his least favorite albums. He elaborated, "

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

's production is too dense; he had me record the guitars on five or six tracks. So the album took too much time, and there were too many Joey songs on it, which always took more time". However, he added that the album "has a couple of bright spots, like 'I Believe in Miracles' and 'Punishment Fits the Crime.'" He awarded both the ''Brain Drain'' album and its follow-up, '' Mondo Bizarro'', a "C" letter grade. For the first time on a Ramones album, drummer Marky Ramone participated in the songwriting, contributing lyrics to "All Screwed Up" and "Learn to Listen".

Songs

" Palisades Park" is a cover song, originally recorded by

Freddy Cannon Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr. (born December 4, 1936), better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer, whose biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", " Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", and " ...

in 1962. "

Pet Sematary ''Pet Sematary'' is a 1983 horror novel by American writer Stephen King. The novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and adapted into two films: one in 1989 and another in 2019. In November 2013, PS Publishing r ...

" was written for the

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movie adaptation of the same name and was issued as a single, becoming one of the Ramones' biggest radio hits and a staple of their concerts during the 1990s. Two versions exist of the song: the original recording produced by Jean Beuvoir and Daniel Ray, which ended up on the album (and on most pressings of the single), and the 'Bill Laswell version', a completely different take. The Laswell version was released as a UK single in September 1989. "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" was originally released in November 1987 as the B-side of the single "

I Wanna Live "I Wanna Live" is a song written by John D. Loudermilk and recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. It was released in March 1968 as the lead single from the album, ''Hey Little One''. The song was Campbell's sixth release on the ...

". It was later included in the 2004 film ''

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''. "Can't Get You Outta My Mind" dates back to the early 1980s, where it was first recorded during sessions for the Ramones' 1981 album ''

Pleasant Dreams ''Pleasant Dreams'' is the sixth studio album by American punk rock band the Ramones, released on July 20, 1981, through Sire Records. While the band members wanted Steve Lillywhite to produce, Sire chose Graham Gouldman in an attempt to gain ...

''. That version remained unreleased until it featured as a bonus track on the 2002 reissue of ''Pleasant Dreams''.

Reception

''Brain Drain'' was originally intended to be a "comeback" album for the Ramones, following the belated success of "

I Wanna Be Sedated "I Wanna Be Sedated" is a song by American punk rock band Ramones, originally released on the band's fourth studio album, '' Road to Ruin'' (1978), in September 1978. The B-side of the UK single "She's the One" was released on September 21, 197 ...

"; however, despite some good reviews, the album failed to live up to commercial expectations, peaking at number 122 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Nonetheless, the album's first single, "Pet Sematary", became the band's highest-charting hit in the US, peaking at number four on the ''

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chart. Dee Dee appears as the bassist in both of the music videos for "Pet Sematary", while the videos for "I Believe In Miracles" and "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" feature his replacement, C.J. Ramone.

Cover versions

"I Believe in Miracles" was covered by

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the rock band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest vocalist i ...

and

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for the 2003 album '' We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones'' and is frequently covered by

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, g ...

at their shows. "Pet Sematary" was performed live by

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band

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(in conjunction with

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) and was released as a B-side to their single "

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" in 2001. Rammstein was joined onstage by Marky Ramone, C.J. Ramone and

Jerry Only Gerald Caiafa Jr. (born April 21, 1959), better known by his stage name Jerry Only, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the Misfits and later the vocalist as well. He is the only member to appear in every Misfits lineup. Bio ...

of the Misfits when performing the song in New York as a tribute to

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, who had died three months prior. The song was later covered by

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band

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as a bonus track for their second album, '' Run For Your Life'', in 2008. It was also performed by the

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for the 2012 film '' Frankenweenie (Unleashed)''. The end credits of the 2019 version of the film ''

'' include a cover version of the title track by the American punk rock band

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. "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" was covered by Joey Ramone on his second posthumous album, '' ...Ya Know?'', and by artists such as Smash Mouth (2005),

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(2007),

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(2017), Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul (2017),

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(2019), L.A. Guns (2019), and

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(2020).

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes, except where noted. Ramones *

– lead vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–13) *

– guitar * Dee Dee Ramone – bass,backing vocals lead vocals (track 4) *

– drums Additional musicians *

Daniel Rey Daniel Rey (born Daniel Rabinowitz) is an American musician, record producer and songwriter from New York City, best known for his work with the punk rock band Ramones. As a teenager Rey played in punk band Shrapnel, which also featured Dave Wyn ...

– guitar, bass *

Andy Shernoff Andy Shernoff (born April 19, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member of The Dictators, one of the original New York punk bands, in which he wrote nearly all of the songs, played bass guitar and ke ...

– bass * Jean Beauvoir – guitar, bass, keyboards *Artie Smith – additional guitar *

Robert Musso The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...

– additional guitar Technical *

– producer (except tracks 7, 12) *Jean Beauvoir – producer (tracks 7, 12) *Daniel Rey – producer (tracks 7, 12), musical coordinator *

– engineer, mixing * Martin Bisi – engineer *Fernando Kral – engineer (track 7) *Don Peterkofsky – engineer (track 12) *Judy Kirschner – assistant engineer *Robbie Norris – assistant engineer *

Tony Maserati Tony Maserati is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in mixing. He was involved in the development of the New York R&B and hip-hop scene in the 1990s, working with Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, and Queen ...

– assistant engineer (track 12) *Jason Corsaro – mixing *Oz Fritz – assistant mixing engineer *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album '' Future Shock''. Other ...

– mastering *Gary "Mudbone" Cooper – production assistant * Nicky Skopelitis – production assistant *Rachel McBeth – production assistant *Kim White – production assistant *Mark Sidgwick – production assistant *

Matt Mahurin Matthew S. Mahurin (born January 31, 1959) is an American illustrator, photographer and film director. Mahurin's illustrations appear in ''Time'', ''Newsweek'', '' Mother Jones'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''Esquire'', ''Forbes'', and ''The New York Tim ...

– front cover painting *Bill Fishman – inside photography *Rick Springer – ''Brain Drain'' logo *George DuBose – cover design and coordination

Charts

;Audio ;Singles

Notes

References

{{Authority control Ramones albums 1989 albums Albums produced by Daniel Rey Albums produced by Jean Beauvoir Albums produced by Bill Laswell Chrysalis Records albums