u 2 All That You Can't Leave Behind 20 Anniversary

The first disc features two different mixes of Leave Home, opening with a remastered version of the original stereo mix. The highlight is the new 40th anniversary mix of the full album, created by Stasium from the original multi-track tapes, and designed to better reflect the Ramones raw power and beef up the sound. In the sets liner notes he writes: Generally, the consensus was [the original] maybe sounded too clean, the guitars panned completely left-right detracted from the bands foreboding presence, and the reverb effects especially were a little excessive. The new 40th anniversary mix is also featured on the LP that accompanies this deluxe edition.

The years go by and the legacy left by the Ramones still puts down more and more roots in the great history of the pop music of the twentieth century. The false brothers from Queens have actually never taken their dirty and used Converse elsewhere than down the beaten path of a certain rock’n’roll tradition going from surf music to girl groups. With stupidity as philosophy, teenage insouciance as credo, supersonic guitars as weapons of mass destruction, their albums—binary in their form, really enjoyable in their content—give birth to hymns of bubble-gum pop on amphetamines that are a lot more serious than they seem.

Jake Heggie, who has been described as US opera’s most successful composer, chose the celebrated playwright Terence McNally as his librettist for Great Scott. The two previously collaborated on the gripping Dead Man Walking, which has become something of a modern classic since its premiere in 2000. Joyce DiDonato first performed its central role, Sister Helen Prejean, at New York City Opera in 2002 and will do so again in concert stagings in London and Madrid in January/February 2018, coinciding with the album release of Great Scott.

Following on from the 40th Anniversary Deluxe version of the Ramones’ debut, comes the expanded edition of the original punks’ 2nd album – another 30 minute opus of buzzsaw rock. Released in January 1977, it featured a clutch of Ramones’ classics including ‘Swallow My Pride,’ ‘Pinhead,’ ‘Suzy is a Headbanger,’ ‘California Sun’ (a hit for the Rivieras in the 60s) and of course the controversial ‘Carbona Not Glue’. Produced by Tony Bongiovi and Tommy Ramone, ‘Leave Home’ also featured the engineering talents of Ed Stasium, who would go on to work with the band over numerous other releases, and is on hand to compile this 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of the album.