Acid Eaters is the thirteenth studio album by the American punk band Ramones.

Recorded in 1993, towards the end of the Ramones' career, the album is often set apart from other Ramones releases in that it is entirely composed of covers. Acid Eaters forms a musical tribute to the Ramones' 60s favorites, and highlights the influence that garage rock bands like The Seeds or the Amboy Dukes, and better known bands such as The Beach Boys, The Who and The Rolling Stones, (all of whom are covered in this album) had on their music.

Overview

Acid Eaters was not the first time that the Ramones had played or recorded cover songs. In the past, the Ramones had placed cover songs in almost every album to translate their favorite songs to the punk rock sound. Covers had always formed a minor part of the Ramones' act, and a version of Chris Montez's hit "Let's Dance" (written by and credited to Jim Lee) even appeared on their debut album. Other notable covers previously performed by the group include The Searchers' "Needles and Pins" (written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche, originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon), "Baby, I Love You" by The Ronettes, "Take It As It Comes" by The Doors, "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen, "California Sun" by The Rivieras (originally recorded by Joe Jones) and Bobby Freeman's "Do You Wanna Dance?". Acid Eaters, however, was the first complete set of covers, and the songs it contains are much more significant than the seemingly randomly distributed covers on the Ramones' other works.

Covers such as "Surf City" by Jan and Dean which was performed live by the Ramones in the early 80's can easily be related to the Ramones' previous surf-rock influenced songs such as Rocket to Russia 's "Rockaway Beach". Pete Townshend supplies backing vocals on The Who cover "Substitute", while Tracy Lords sings on "Somebody to Love".

Track listing

1. "Journey to the Center of the Mind" (Ted Nugent/Steve Farmer)  2:52 (Original by Amboy Dukes)
2. "Substitute" (Pete Townshend)  3:15 (Original by The Who)
3. "Out of Time" (Mick Jagger/Keith Richards)  2:41 (Original by The Rolling Stones)
4. "The Shape of Things to Come" (Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil)  1:46 (Original by Max Frost and the Troopers)
5. "Somebody to Love" (Darby Slick)  2:31 (Original by The Great Society, popularized by Jefferson Airplane)
6. "When I Was Young" (Eric Burdon/John Weider/Vic Briggs/Danny McCulloch/Barry Jenkins)  3:16 (Original by The Animals)
7. "7 and 7 Is" (Arthur Lee)  1:50 (Original by Love)
8. "My Back Pages" (Bob Dylan)  2:27 (Original by Bob Dylan)
9. "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" (Sky Saxon)  2:42 (Original by The Seeds)
10. "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" (John Fogerty)  2:22 (Original by Creedence Clearwater Revival)
11. "I Can't Control Myself" (Reg Presley)  2:55 (Original by The Troggs)
12. "Surf City" (Brian Wilson/Jan Berry)  2:26 (Original by Jan and Dean)

Note: The 1997 vinyl version has the same songs, but a different track order.

Bonus tracks

13. "Surfin' Safari" (bonus track in Japan and Brazil)  1:47 (Original by The Beach Boys)

Personnel

• Joey Ramone  lead vocals
• Johnny Ramone  guitar
• C. J. Ramone  bass, backing vocals & lead vocals on track 1, 4 and 8
• Marky Ramone  drums

Charts

Album

Record information

UK Label (1993): Chrysalis
Catalogue Number: CHR 6052 (vinyl), CDCHR 6052 (CD)

References

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