Legendary Ramones singer Joey Ramone may have died in 2001, but he left behind a hoard of demos and incomplete songs—his brother Mickey Leigh took it upon himself to gather an all-star group of admirers and friends including Joan Jett, Little Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band, and members of Cheap Trick and The Dictators to help complete what will likely be Joey's final album, ...Ya Know? You can listen to the whole thing at Rolling Stone. Below, listen to first single "Rock 'N Roll Is The Answer."
Despite being recorded over various times and places during the last 15 years of his life, the album has a surprising cohesiveness to it. While tracks like "Rock 'N Roll Is The Answer" and "21st Century Girl" sound like typical Ramones fare, there are some sonic surprises that are the big highlights, including the Phil Spector-ish "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)," and the lovely acoustic "Life's A Gas" and "Waiting For That Railroad." The other major highlight is his ode to his hometown, "New York City:"
If the album's gotten you a bit nostalgic, check out this bizarre clip of Joey on The Geraldo Rivera Show with his mom for the Heavy Metal Moms episode. It's adorable seeing his proud mom talking about how much she loves "I Wanna Be Sedated" and singing "Beat On The Brat."
