In the wake of the sad passing of
Joey Ramone
,
Don't Worry About Me
is the first posthumous release to come from his estate. Consisting of
pop-punk
anthems along the lines of '60s
garage rock
and very early
punk
is a sad reminder of how good
Ramone
really was. With a brilliant ear for melody, a songwriting skill based in simplicity, and the most unpretentious lyrics this side of
Chubby Checker
didn't care about making groundbreaking music when he had mastered the art of
to a degree most of his disciples will never understand.
"What a Wonderful World"
and
"1969"
are excellent covers that do their source material justice, although
Louis Armstrong
probably never expected his
torch song
to be rocked out a la
Sid Vicious
'
"My Way."
But the two best tracks are
"Searching for Something,"
his
Beatlesque
tribute to a girl, and
"Mr. Punchy,"
a gorgeous
pop
song that features a guest appearance from
the Damned
's
Captain Sensible
. The anti-cancer anthem
"I Got Knocked Down (But I'll Get Up)"
is a heartbreaking stance on his condition that is pure
punk rock
all the way ("I want my life/I want my life/It really sucks/It really sucks") that only goes to show how even toward the end, he refused to give into sentimentality. Nothing new to see here, and that's a good thing, as
's trademark whine never sounded so sincere as it did in his last studio recordings. [The DVD side of this DualDisc release features the entire album in Dolby Surround, ROM content, a
tribute (by
Andy Shernoff
), artist biography, producer's notes, and a music video for
"What a Wonderful World."
] ~ Bradley Torreano