[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Cover of Rocket to Russia (released on November 4, 1977)[/caption] Listening to Rocket to Russia was my first experience with the Ramones. They are distinctly different from anything I've listened to so far on my list. I hear the Ramones as a Beach Boys influenced punk-rock musicians. Aside from the surfing references,  you can hear similarities in the simple harmonies and melodies that the Ramones bust out on "Rockaway Beach" and "I Can't Give You Anything". There is definitely a sense of rebellion on this album (which in my own opinion, tends to go hand in hand with punk-rock). Tracks like "I Don't Care" capture that rebellious spirit with a little more of a hard-rock sound. Without doing too much research on this, its clear that the Ramones are known for their influence on what was becoming slightly monotonous pop music in 1977. In other words, they tried to do something a little different after so many people emulating the typical successful rock and pop styles of bands like The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Rocket to Russia is a simple but energetic American-punk rock album that is definitely worth a listen. I don't really want to write more about it, not because I don't like the album, but just because I feel like I can see and hear the uniqueness of this album and I am ready to move on to something a little different! I hope you enjoy this one, though!