The Sire Albums 1981-1989 (Record Store Day RSD 2022) vinyl

The Ramones are one of those bands that everyone agrees on, to some extent, before disagreeing. Such was their career trajectory. Unanimously, the first three albums - 1976's Ramones, 77's Leave Home, and Road to Ruin (1978) - were all bonafide 20th Century works of wonder. End of the Century, which landed as the decades switched over, is where views start to divide. As such this collection of their LPs from the next ten years, or so, may not immediately jump out and grab everyone.

That's a real shame, and hopefully this package, which is the first time these records have been reissued on vinyl, will go some way towards making people remember exactly how good the vast majority if their 80s output was. Pleasant Dreams, Subterranean Jungle, and Too Tough To Die are exceptional outings that are guaranteed to put you off whatever it is you're listening to from this millennium. Throw in Animal Boy, Halfway to Sanity, Brain Drain and Still More Stuff, the latter itself a retrospective of unreleased bits from this era, and we think this is a real punk winner.