Pound for pound, this is one of the best live albums ever released. I bought it on import vinyl back in 1979 and it was one of the first CDs I bought upon upgrading my stereo system. The Ramones smoke through their set list like there's no tomorrow. Recorded on New Year's Eve in 1977 at the Rainbow Theatre in London, this set sounds much better (probably because of Tommy's co-producing) then the recently released "Ramones - NYC 1978" CD which was recorded at The Palladium in New York City just a week later. It also includes "Judy Is A Punk" which is absent from the NYC show. All in all, a must have CD for any Ramones fan. 2 notes to Tod Nelson : it was Dee Dee (not Joey) who shouted out "1,2,3,4!!!" before each song and this CD clocks in at just under 54 minutes not 48 (you may have been cheated). R.I.P. Joey, Dee Dee, and Johnny.

This CD provides an unlikely source to help me bond with my two young children when I drive them places. With the CD player blaring away, my two year old daughter will sing "Go go go" and "Whoa-oh-oh" and other snippets of the lyrics, and my four year old son with autism will crack a smile, which is pretty expressive for him. Simple chord progressions, repetitive lyrics, and energetic singing is pretty typical in childrens music, and this works for my kids. Yes, some people might claim this is about the maturity level of this band. Daddy bouncing up and down in the drivers seat probably helps the kids get into to it.

Why does Daddy like this CD? It's just pure rock and roll energy. There's barely a pause between songs and the band is in top form. They express a real joy with mindless songs like "Surfin' Bird". There's probably nothing that's been said about the Ramones that I could add here, and most people's opinion of the band is firmly made up, but this CD is a great value for anyone in the "like/love/worship the Ramones" camp.

ONE TWO THREE FOUR!!!!

I was one of those die-hards who bought "It's Alive" as a double lp import, and remember having the Deadheads in my college dorm constantly complaining that I should turn it down. Over 20 years later, I am proud to still love this one LOUD. If you're looking for a clue as to why The Ramones led a revolution, this is the live album to start with.

This is, by far, the best of The Ramones' several live albums. It catches them in London 1977, between the brilliant "Rocket To Russia" and "Road To Ruin" records and launching a sea of imitators in their wake. It also sees them still loud fast and rough, barely pausing for breath between the end of each song and the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! rapid-fire count of the next. It's twenty-eight songs in barely an hour, and you still wish there were more. How many records can you say that about?

The band was still inexperienced enough to be ragged but right, and it shows if you do a couple comparisons between this and other Ramones' live discs. Compare the supersonic version of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" here to the one on "Loco Live" and you'll realize that there was still a little time left before their early vitality would be sapped by too many years of middling success, grinding tours and rock life excesses. That's not to say that The Ramones were ever less than killers live; they were probably rock's best night out for the entire duration of their career.

There was a period of about three years in the 1970s when the humble Ramones were THE most influential band in the world, as well as being the most ignored and villified.

Say what? Any Ramones fan knows what I mean. Four punks from Queens emerged from the NYC underground to head a musical revolution that continues to send ripples through the music world even today.

Any kid that picks up a cheap, battered guitar and starts thrashing out chords in a basement, garage or bedroom oblivious to how good it actually sounds is a direct descendant of the Ramones - who themselves did the same thing as inspired by countless "punk" bands that littered the suburban American landscape in the mid- to late-60s.

The difference was the Ramones found themselves in the forefront of the music revolution in the 1970s, smashing to bits the overblown, pretentious music that was dominating commercial radio at the time.

The first three Ramones albums - Ramones, Rocket to Russia and Leave Home - provided the road map, the inspiration for countless bands to follow.

Not surprisingly, England embraced the Ramones far faster than the USA did. "It's Alive", then, is the perfect document to verify the Ramones' primal greatness.

Recorded in London as 1977 turned into 1978, the Brit punks were ready to be blown away and the boys delivered. In a great, tight and sensational warp-speed performance, this was the Ramones proudest hour on vinyl.

Interesting that when "It's Alive" was issued in 1979, it was an import-only double LP. Talk about dense - did the band's American label not realize that this was the vehicle to break the band in their homeland?

Not long after this show was in the can, the first signs of trouble surfaced. Tommy exited the drum seat, setting into motion a parade of replacements who were never able to grasp Tommy's simple yet very effective style.

The next album - "Road to Ruin" - was the first sign that the glory days were over. RtoR is not a bad album, by any means. In fact, it's very good ... but the course had been inexorably altered for the worse. Geez, there was even a song with a guitar "solo".

By the time of the Escape from New York tour more than 10 years later, the Ramones were virtually a speed metal band for goodness sake.

"It's Alive" will always be there to remind old and new fans just how wonderful it was to behold the Ramones in all their youthful glory.

Hey Ho ... Let's Go.

If you're only going to buy one live Ramones album this year, this is the one. Experience da bruddas Ramone in all their glory, warts and all, while at the peak of their powers, when Johnny still had the fastest right hand in rock and Joey still had enough wind to sing all of the words. I remember seeing them at The Second Chance in Ann Arbor, MI at about this time and when Johnny struck the first chords in "Blitzkrieg Bop," we all realized that we really had no clue as to how loud it was going to be. It was like being caught in the middle of an energy sandwich, with the beautiful noise coming from on stage pushing us one way and the sway of the crowd pushing us the other. A real Hallmark moment for the socially retarded in all of us.