There have been several books about THE RAMONES but this is the first coffee table size hardcover devoted to the band. Produced with great care to give a visual presentation of what the band was all about, it collects fantastic photos, interesting essays on all things RAMONES, flyer, cover and poster art and quirky quotes from many of the band's colleagues and contemporaries. Surviving member C.J. Ramone provides the introduction and points out the important fact that the band was Tommy's brainchild. Johnny, Dee Dee and Joey wanted to be a band and Tommy made them THE RAMONES. It's funny how Sire decided it would be best to assign "proven hit makers" and relieve Tommy of his job as producer when every producer after him may have updated and elaborated on Tommy's original sound but never managed to recapture the magic from Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee that he could conjure.

Known for his coverage of Metal music in various publications and well received books, Popoff balances the history of the band with fun side turns like a look at some of the band's hard to get single releases and promo items. Respect is also shown to the music that influenced and paved the way for the RAMONES like STOOGES, NEW YORK DOLLS and MC5 with histories and photos. True to his connection with Metal, towards the end of the book Popoff includes several paragraphs of praise from some of the Metal genre's most crushing bands. All of them understand that the leather, the live shows and Johnny's trademark downstroke place RAMONES at the center of "Brutal".

One of the things that the book perfectly captures and pays tribute to is the fact that RAMONES were art. Tommy put together a combo that evolved into not the BEATLES, but a play on the bands that spoofed BEATLES like BINGO, BANGO, BONGO & IRVING from GILLIGAN'S ISLAND. The unified look with the leather jackets, torn jeans and sneakers was as iconic as the BEATLES collarless suits. The powerful and important illustrations and logos by John Holmstrom and especially Arturo Vega made a perfect and complete package that set a bar that is a blueprint for bands to this day.

For hardcore RAMONES fans this is a book you cannot live without. The pictures and art alone are well worth it to the diehard collector. But fans of the 70's when Iggy and company handed the torch the RAMONES and SEX PISTOLS would also enjoy the book for the history lesson. The book is a great anniversary tribute to the pioneer Punk band.