Leave Home [180 Gram], Ramones, Vinyl

Of course The Ramones' second album, Leave Home, is simply more of the same - 14 songs, including one oldie ("California Sun"), delivered at breakneck speed and concluding in under a half-hour. The Ramones have gotten slightly poppier, occasionally delivering songs like "I Remember You" that are cloaked neither in irony nor seedy rock & roll chic. Still, the biggest impressions are made by the cuts that strongly recall the debut, whether it's the ersatz Beach Boys of "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," the sing along of "Pinhead," or the warped anthems "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment" and "Commando."