It's Alive 1974-1996 Features More Than Four Hours of Rare and Previously Unreleased Concert Performances From Around the World
Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, Tommy, Marky, Richie, and C-Jay -- the Ramones will always be the first "family" of punk. Together more than 20 years, the Ramones inspired legions of followers as they refined their signature garage-flavored, ear-shattering, pop-skewed sound with a string of now-classic, loud-and-fast punk rock records and 2,263 concerts. Rhino sends you back to rock rock, rock 'n' roll high school with a double-DVD that captures the essence of the Ramones' legendary racket with more than four hours of rare and unreleased performances. IT'S ALIVE 1974-1996 will be available October 2 at regular retailers and online at www.rhino.com for a suggested list price of $19.99.
More than four years in the making, Tommy Ramone served as music supervisor for this collection. Arranged chronologically over two DVDs, IT'S ALIVE
1974-1996 relives some of the band's best performances with live footage of more than 100 songs, including "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," "Blitzkrieg Bop,"
"Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," "Beat On The Brat" and "I Wanna Be Sedated."
With more than four hours of impossible-to-find and unreleased live footage, this collection will make you feel like you're standing in stale beer at CBGB shouting along with Dee Dee as he counts off, "One, two, three, four!"
The DVD also includes previously unreleased footage filmed on New Year's Eve in 1977 during the band's incendiary performance at The Rainbow Theatre in London. The entire concert was released in 1979 as the It's Alive album, considered one of the best live records ever. The DVD features 14 songs in
5.1 Surround Sound taken from the show including "Pinhead," "We're A Happy Family," and "Havana Affair."
Nine performances recorded in 1982 at the US Festival in San Bernardino, CA are also featured here in 5.1 Surround Sound. The band fires off hit after hit, blazing through "The KKK Took My Baby Away," "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment," and "Rock 'n' Roll High School." During the show, the band also covers "Chinese Rocks," a song Dee Dee wrote, which was recorded by Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers.
Spanning the Ramones' entire career, the DVD follows the band from its earliest performances at CBGB, to their last international performance in Argentina. IT'S ALIVE 1974-1996 travels around the world with the Ramones, capturing priceless performances in the U.K., Germany, Sweden, Spain, Argentina, Finland, Italy and the U.S. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, the band may be gone, but their sound and influence are indestructible.

REVIEW: The Ramones: It's Alive 1974-1996
When one generally envisions the Punk Rock movement of the mid-late 70s, the anarchic antics of the Sex Pistols immediately come to mind, along with the imagery of safety pin-pierced noses and variously cropped and colored hair decorating an unsettled UK landscape. However, arguably, the vanguard of the movement emerged from the Lower East Side of New York's CBGB club in the early/mid 70s. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy (as well as Marky, Richie, and CJ) - The Ramones - blasted out an aggressive stripped down form of rock, while their leather jacked swagger appeared to pay homage to the genre's embryonic days. Unfortunately, these days The Ramones, for the most part, cease to exist (literally and figuratively). What we have for this review is a fascinating audio-visual record of what they were on stage.

The Ramones: Its Alive 1974-1996 is a two DVD set that covers everything from live performances at CBGB to a stadium show in Argentina. Some of the more interesting material consists of their early, sometimes shoddily filmed sets from random clubs and theaters throughout the U.S. The visuals can be grainy and the audio quality can leave much to be desired, but that is part of the charm of those performances - witnessing the band in such an intimate setting. Highlights from the set consist of an energetic CBGB show, where the band performs some of their early hits ("Blitzkrieg Bop", "Sheena is a Punk Rocker", "Rockaway Beach", etc.). They are a feature on the 70s staple "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert"(Yes, mainstream TV did once promote new and exciting music.), and film what appear to be some promo videos at The Camera Mart Stages in New York. As mentioned briefly above, this is a round the world record as well.

One witnesses the band playing on German, Finnish, and Spanish music programs. They also provide some excellent performances on "The Old Grey Whistle Test" (a feature for televised UK Punk/New Wave bands at the time) and "Top of the Pops". Special mention should be made of some concert footage as well. Two shows that grab one's attention are a rousing London show from The Rainbow in 1977 in front of a massive number of fans, and an enthusiastic set from the US Festival in San Bernadino.

What else can be said? Here is a remarkable record of live performances from a remarkable band. Any casual or die-hard Ramones or punk/rock/alternative music fan should definitely give this set a viewing. And, by the way, the kids who tell me who they think are "punk" bands today need to see and hear this!
By: The Couch