''Brain Drain'' is the eleventh studio album by the American

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...

, released on May 23, 1989. It is the last Ramones release to feature bassist/songwriter/vocalist

Dee Dee Ramone Douglas Glenn Colvin (September 18, 1951 – June 5, 2002), better known by his stage name Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician. He was the bassist, occasional lead vocalist and a founding member of the punk rock band the Ramones. Throughou ...

, the first to feature

Marky Ramone Marc Steven Bell (born July 15, 1952), better known as Marky Ramone, is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust (band), Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell ...

since his initial firing from the band after 1983's ''

Subterranean Jungle ''Subterranean Jungle'' is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released by Sire Records on February 28, 1983. Overall, the album featured a return to a somewhat more hard punk rock style compared to the band's previo ...

'' and the band's last studio album on

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

. This was also the last Ramones album to be produced by

Daniel Rey Daniel Rey (born Daniel Rabinowitz) is an American musician, record producer and songwriter from New York City, best known for his work with the punk rock band Ramones. As a teenager Rey played in punk band Shrapnel, which also featured Dave Wy ...

, until 1995's ''

¡Adios Amigos! ''¡Adios Amigos!'' (in Spanish, "Goodbye Friends") is the fourteenth and final studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones. It was released on July 18, 1995, through Radioactive Records. The Ramones disbanded a year after its release a ...

''. The album ends with their unlikely (and poorly received) 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."

Johnny Ramone John William Cummings (October 8, 1948 – September 15, 2004), better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American musician who was the guitarist and a founding member of the Ramones, a band that helped pioneer the punk movement. ...

expressed similarly unfavorable sentiments in his 2012 posthumous autobiography, ''

Commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

'', calling it one of his least favorite albums. He elaborated, "

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

'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 ''Mondo Bizarro'' (a misspelled version of "Mondo Bizzarro", meaning "Weird World" in Italian) is the twelfth studio album by American punk rock band Ramones, released on September 1, 1992, by Radioactive Records. It is the first studio album to ...

'', a "C" letter grade. 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".

Songs

" Palisades Park" is a cover song, originally recorded by

Freddy Cannon Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr. (born December 4, 1936), better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singing, singer. His biggest international hits included "Tallahassee Lassie", "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", ...

in 1962. "

Pet Sematary ''Pet Sematary'' is a 1983 horror novel by American writer Stephen King. The novel was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and adapted into two films: one in 1989 and another in 2019. Background In 1979, King was wr ...

" was written for the

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

movie 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. Two versions exist of the song: the original recording produced by Jean Beauvoir 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. 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". It was later included in the 2004 film '' Christmas with the Kranks''. "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''.

Reception

''Brain Drain'' was originally intended to be a "comeback" album for the Ramones, following the belated success of " I Wanna Be Sedated"; however, despite some good reviews, the album failed to live up to commercial expectations, peaking at number 122 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Nonetheless, the album's first single, "Pet Sematary", became the band's highest-charting hit in the US, peaking at number four on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

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."

Cover versions

"I Believe in Miracles" was covered by

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and one of three guitarists for the rock band Pearl Jam. He was previously a gues ...

and Zeke for the 2003 album '' We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones'' and is frequently covered by

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

at their shows. "Pet Sematary" was performed live by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

band

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph ...

(in conjunction with

Clawfinger Clawfinger is a Swedish rap metal band formed in Stockholm in 1989. Considered pioneers of the rap metal genre, the band had their international and commercial breakthrough in 1993 with the release of their debut album, '' Deaf Dumb Blind''. Th ...

) and was released as a B-side to their single "

Ich will "Ich will" (German for "I Want") is a song by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein from their third studio album '' Mutter''. It was originally released in Germany in 2001. The German single contains a live cover of the Ramones song "Pet Se ...

" in 2001. Rammstein was joined onstage by Marky Ramone, C.J. Ramone and

Jerry Only Gerald Caiafa Jr. (born April 21, 1959), better known by his stage name Jerry Only, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the Misfits and later the vocalist as well. He is the only member to appear in every Misfits lineup exce ...

of the Misfits when performing the song in New York as a tribute to

Joey Ramone Jeffrey Ross Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American singer, songwriter, and the lead vocalist and founding member of the punk rock band Ramones, with Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone. His ...

, who had died three months prior. The song was later covered by

psychobilly Psychobilly (or punkabilly) is a rock music fusion genre that fuses elements of rockabilly and punk rock. It has been defined as "loud frantic rockabilly music", it has also been said that it "takes the traditional country rock, countrified rock ...

band

the Creepshow The Creepshow is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario. The band formed in 2005 when the four original members got together with the purpose of starting a psychobilly band. The Creepshow writes the majority of their songs about horror fi ...

as a bonus track for their second album, '' Run For Your Life'', in 2008. It was also performed by the

Plain White T's The Plain White T's are an American pop rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast. The group had a mostly underground followin ...

for the 2012 film '' Frankenweenie (Unleashed)''. The end credits of the 2019 version of the film ''

'' include a cover version of the title track by the American punk rock band

Starcrawler Starcrawler is an American rock music, rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 2015. The band consists of lead singer Arrow de Wilde, guitarist Henri Cash, bassist Tim Franco, drummer Seth Carolina, and pedal steel/guitar player Bill Cash. They ha ...

. English rock band Creeper made an acoustic version of the song for their 2021 EP " Sounds from the Void". "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" was covered by Joey Ramone on his second posthumous album, '' ...Ya Know?'', and by artists such as

Smash Mouth Smash Mouth is an American Rock music, rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994 and was originally composed of Steve Harwell (lead vocals), Kevin Coleman (drums), Greg Camp (guitar), and Paul De Lisle (bass). Harwell's ...

(2005),

the Smithereens The Smithereens are an American rock music, rock band from Carteret, New Jersey. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio lead vocals, (vocals and guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar and backing vocals, vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar and bac ...

(2007),

Asobi Seksu Asobi Seksu was an American shoegaze/dream pop band based in New York City. Their music used a textured and effects-heavy vocal and guitar sound. The band primarily consisted of Yuki Chikudate (singing, vocals, Keyboard instrument, keyboards) an ...

(2007),

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...

(2017), Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul (2017), Mattiel (2019),

L.A. Guns L.A. Guns are an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (musician), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Mar ...

(2019), and

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

(2020).

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes, except where noted. Ramones *

– lead vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–13) *

– guitar *

– bass, backing vocals, lead vocals (track 4) *

– drums Additional musicians *

– guitar, bass, backing vocals * Andy Shernoff – bass *

Jean Beauvoir Jean Beauvoir is an American singer, bassist, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and entertainment executive. He came to prominence in the early 1980s with the punk group the Plasmatics and went on to work with Little Stev ...

– guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals *Artie Smith – additional guitar *

Robert Musso Robert Musso is a New York City-based guitarist, composer, engineer, and producer. He is the founder of the independent record label MuWorks as well as the record label - MussoMusic.com. Over the course of a 40 - year career, Musso has produced, mix ...

– additional guitar Technical *

– producer (except tracks 7, 12) *Jean Beauvoir – producer (tracks 7, 12) *Daniel Rey – producer (tracks 7, 12), musical coordinator *

– engineer, mixing *

Martin Bisi Martin Bisi (born 1961) is an American producer and songwriter. He is known for recording records by Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, The Dresden Dolls, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, Angels of L ...

– engineer *Fernando Kral – engineer (track 7) *Don Peterkofsky – engineer (track 12) *Judy Kirschner – assistant engineer *Robbie Norris – assistant engineer * Tony Maserati – assistant engineer (track 12) *Jason Corsaro – mixing *Oz Fritz – assistant mixing engineer *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer. Over the course of his career, he has received over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Ha ...

– mastering *Gary "Mudbone" Cooper – production assistant * Nicky Skopelitis – production assistant *Rachel McBeth – production assistant *Kim White – production assistant *Mark Sidgwick – production assistant * Matt Mahurin – front cover painting *Bill Fishman – inside photography *Rick Springer – ''Brain Drain'' logo *George DuBose – cover design and coordination

Charts

;Audio ;Singles

Notes

References

{{Authority control Ramones albums 1989 albums Albums produced by Daniel Rey Albums produced by Jean Beauvoir Albums produced by Bill Laswell Chrysalis Records albums