Acid Eaters

Infobox Album | Name = Acid Eaters
Type = Cover Album
Artist = The Ramones


Released = December 1993
Recorded = August 1993
Genre = Punk rock
Length = 30:53
Label = Radioactive
Producer = Scott Hackwith
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|2|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fu2gtq8zbu42 link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theramones/albums/album/323070/review/5944608/acid_eaters link]
Last album = "Mondo Bizarro"
(1992)
This album = "Acid Eaters"
(1993)
Next album = "¡Adios Amigos!"
(1995) |

"Acid Eaters" is an album by punk rock group The Ramones.

Recorded in 1993 (see 1993 in music), towards the end of the Ramones' career, the album "Acid Eaters" is often set apart from other Ramones releases in that it is entirely composed of covers. Unlike other punk bands of their time, such as the equally popular Sex Pistols or Blondie, the Ramones embraced some of the music from their childhood and welcomed it into their own sound. "Acid Eaters" forms a musical tribute to the Ramones' 60s favourites, and highlights the influence that garage rock bands like The Seeds or the Amboy Dukes, and better known bands such as the Beach Boys, The Who and The Rolling Stones, (all of whom are covered in this album) had on their music.

The recording

"Acid Eaters" was not the first time that the Ramones had played or recorded cover songs. In the past, the Ramones had placed one cover song per album to translate their favorite songs to the punk rock sound. Covers had always formed a minor part of the Ramones' act, and a version of Chris Montez's hit "Let's Dance" (written by and credited to Jim Lee) even appeared on their debut album. Other notable covers previously performed by the group include The Searchers' "Needles and Pins" (written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche), "Baby, I Love You" by The Ronettes, "Take It As It Comes" by The Doors, "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen, "California Sun" by The Rivieras and Bobby Freeman's "Do You Wanna Dance?". "Acid Eaters", however, was the first complete set of covers, and the songs it contains are much more significant than the seemingly randomly distributed covers on the Ramones' other works.

Covers such as "Surf City" by Jan and Dean can easily be related to the Ramones' previous surf-rock influenced songs such as "Rocket to Russia" 's "Rockaway Beach". Pete Townshend supplies backing vocals on The Who cover "Substitute."

Track listing

# "Journey to the Center of the Mind" (Ted Nugent/Steve Farmer) – 2:52 (Original by Amboy Dukes)
# "Substitute" (Pete Townshend) – 3:15 (Original by The Who)
# "Out of Time" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards) – 2:41 (Original by The Rolling Stones)
# "The Shape of Things to Come" (Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil) – 1:46 (Original by Max Frost and the Troopers)
# "Somebody to Love" (Darby Slick) – 2:31 (Original by The Great Society)
# "When I Was Young" (Eric Burdon/John Weider/Vic Briggs/Danny McCulloch/Barry Jenkins) – 3:16 (Original by The Animals)
# "7 and 7 Is" (Arthur Lee) – 1:50 (Original by Love)
# "My Back Pages" (Bob Dylan) – 2:27 (Original by Bob Dylan)
# "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" (Sky Saxon) – 2:42 (Original by The Seeds)
# "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" (John Fogerty) – 2:22 (Original by Creedence Clearwater Revival)
# "I Can't Control Myself" (Reg Presley) – 2:55 (Original by The Troggs)
# "Surf City" (Brian Wilson/Jan Berry) – 2:26 (Original by Jan and Dean)

Note: The 1997 vinyl version has the same songs, but a different track order.

Bonus tracks

#

"Surfin' Safari" (Mike Love / Brian Wilson) (bonus track in Japan) – 1:47 (Original by The Beach Boys)

Record information

UK Label (1993): Chrysalis
Catalogue Number: CHR 6052 (vinyl), CDCHR 6052 (CD)