Brain Drain is the eleventh studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released on May 23, 1989.[3][6][7] It is the last Ramones release to feature bassist/songwriter/vocalist Dee Dee Ramone, the first to feature Marky Ramone since his initial firing from the band after 1983's Subterranean Jungle and the band's last studio album on Sire Records. This was also the last Ramones album to be produced by Daniel Rey, until 1995's ¡Adios Amigos!. The album ends with their unlikely seasonal song "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)".
Background
In his 1998 autobiography, Dee Dee Ramone recalled: "It was tough recording the Brain Drain album because everyone took their shit out on me. I dreaded being around them. It drove me away—I didn't even end up playing on the album. Everybody in the band had problems; girlfriend problems, money problems, mental problems."[8]
Johnny Ramone expressed similarly unfavorable sentiments in his 2012 posthumous autobiography, Commando, calling it one of his least favorite albums. He elaborated, "Bill Laswell's production is too dense; he had me record the guitars on five or six tracks. So the album took too much time, and there were too many Joey songs on it, which always took more time". However, he added that the album "has a couple of bright spots, like 'I Believe in Miracles' and 'Punishment Fits the Crime.'" He awarded both the Brain Drain album and its follow-up, Mondo Bizarro, a "C" letter grade.[9]
For the first time on a Ramones album, drummer Marky Ramone participated in the songwriting, contributing lyrics to "All Screwed Up" and "Learn to Listen".[10]
"Pet Sematary" was written for the Stephen Kingmovie adaptation of the same name and was issued as a single, becoming one of the Ramones' biggest radio hits and a staple of their concerts during the 1990s.[11] Two versions exist of the song: the original recording produced by Jean Beuvoir and Daniel Ray, which ended up on the album (and on most pressings of the single), and the 'Bill Laswell version', a not very different take, with the most evident difference in the refrain not including any keyboard and in the end of the song with the drum being quite different. The Laswell version was released as a UK single in September 1989.[12] Dee Dee appears as the bassist in both of the music videos for "Pet Sematary", while the videos for "I Believe In Miracles" and "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" feature his replacement, C. J. Ramone.
"Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" was originally released in November 1987 as the B-side of the single "I Wanna Live".[13][14] It was later included in the 2004 film Christmas with the Kranks.[15]
"Can't Get You Outta My Mind" dates back to the early 1980s, where it was first recorded during sessions for the Ramones' 1981 album Pleasant Dreams. That version remained unreleased until it featured as a bonus track on the 2002 reissue of Pleasant Dreams.[16]
Reception
Brain Drain was originally intended to be a "comeback" album for the Ramones, following the belated success of "I Wanna Be Sedated";[17][18] however, despite some good reviews, the album failed to live up to commercial expectations, peaking at number 122 on the Billboard 200 chart.[19] Nonetheless, the album's first single, "Pet Sematary", became the band's highest-charting hit in the US, peaking at number four on the BillboardModern Rock Tracks chart.[20]
Robert Christgau stated: "Laswellization neither saves their souls for rock and roll nor turns them into a metal band. First side's basically Dee Dee, period-hopping from the pleasantly dreamy 'I Believe in Miracles' to the East Coast surf cover 'Palisades Park.' Second side's basically Joey, pushing the envelope on 'Ignorance Is Bliss,' going flat on 'Come Back, Baby.' For professionalism, not bad."[4]
^Credited, but did likely not record bass. Daniel Rey has stated that "Dee Dee was kinda zonked during the record because I think it took a lot out of him to write it and do the rehearsals. Maybe he played on one or two (songs)."[17]
^Andy Shernoff performed bass on at least "All Screwed Up" and "Ignorance Is Bliss". In Monte Melnick's book On the Road with the Ramones, Shernoff was quoted saying, "I played bass on the songs I wrote with Joey."[24]
^Jean Beauvoir performed additional guitar on at least "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)".[25]
^Jean Beauvoir performed bass on at least "Pet Sematary".[1]
^Jean Beauvoir performed keyboards on at least "Pet Sematary".[26]
^ abI Wanna Live (Liner notes). Ramones. Beggars Banquet. 1987. BEG 201.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
