Hanoi Rocks icon Michael Monroe joined an interview with Louder Sound and discussed Ramones‘ contributions to rock and roll with their musical style, which Monroe found different from other artists.
Punk rock, which takes its roots from ’60s garage rock, emerged in the mid-1970s, and it consisted of several sub-genres such as Anarcho-punk, art punk, hardcore punk, horror punk, and many more others. The genre’s artists wanted to be independent with a DIY ethic and self-produced their albums. Their primary purpose was to avoid record companies focusing on gaining more money and fame, not art itself.
Television, Patti Smith, The Saints, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Ramones can be considered some of the prominent figures of punk rock legacy. Also, some critics defined Ramones as the first true punk rock band thanks to band members’ unique talents as instrumentalists and their styles. As a person that created significant works for glam punk, Monroe chose Ramones’ second studio album ‘Leave Home’ as a part of a £50 record store challenge.
Following this choice, the singer highlighted that Ramones saved rock and roll by creating two-minute long tracks which didn’t have any guitar solos and lyrics like poems or short stories. According to the Hanoi Rocks vocalist, the rock stars of that era spent time in their castles and worked on songs with twenty-minute solos that no one could relate to. Michael Monroe stated that Ramones proved that rock and roll were actually about creating relevant works that could get a reaction.
Monroe said in his interview the following:
“[Ramones] saved rock’n’roll. They came out of the left field and wrote under-two-minute songs: no guitar solos, dumb lyrics, brilliant. They revolutionized the situation back then. Big bands were rich rock stars living in their castles, wrote songs that you couldn’t relate to, and played twenty-minute solos, self-indulgent crap that put people to sleep.
Here comes Ramones, and suddenly you don’t have to be a virtuoso player, as long as you’re writing songs that are relevant and get a reaction and say something. It was a good kick in the ass for all these complacent rich rock stars out of touch with reality.”
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