| Product Summary | | Label: Cbs/epic/wtg Records | | UPC: 00696998635227 | | Release Date: 2/11/2003 | | Buy.com Sku: 60588469 | | Item#: MY3DD2 | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25140 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Havana Affair - Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ Various Artists |  | | 2. Blitzkrieg Bop - Rob Zombie ~ Various Artists | | | 3. I Believe In Miracles - Eddie Vedder/Zeke ~ Various Artists | | | 4. 53rd & 3rd - Metallica ~ Various Artists | | | 5. Beat On The Brat - U2 ~ Various Artists | | | 6. Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio? - Kiss ~ Various Artists | | | 7. KKK Took My Baby Away, The - Marilyn Manson ~ Various Artists | | | 8. I Just Wanna Have Something To Do - Garbage ~ Various Artists | | | 9. Outsider - Green Day ~ Various Artists | | | 10. Something To Believe In - The Pretenders ~ Various Artists | | | 11. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - Rancid ~ Various Artists | | | 12. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - Pete Yorn ~ Various Artists | | | 13. I Wanna Be Sedated - The Offspring ~ Various Artists | | | 14. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow - Rooney ~ Various Artists | | | 15. Return Of Jackie And Judy, The - Tom Waits ~ Various Artists | | | 16. Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love) - Eddie Vedder/Zeke (bonus track) ~ Various Artists | | | 17. (untitled) - (hidden track) ~ Various Artists | | | 18. (untitled) - (hidden track) ~ Various Artists | | | 19. (untitled) - (hidden track) ~ Various Artists | | | 20. Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World - John Frusciante (hidden track) ~ Various Artists | |
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| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Contains 3 untitled tracks and the hidden titled track "Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World" following "Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love)." | | Compilation producers: Johnny Ramone, Rob Zombie. | | Includes a booklet with color photos and liner notes by Stephen King. | | "The Return Of Jackie And Judy" was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. | | In the wake of both Joey's and Dee Dee Ramone's untimely deaths, a Ramones tribute could have been a well-timed reminder of their lasting influence. Unfortunately, We're a Happy Family, a star-studded tribute featuring Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Garbage, and Eddie Vedder, is a surprisingly bland affair, rarely capturing the passion and energy of the Ramones' best music. Most of the bands seem afraid to change the source material in order to fit their individual sound, leading to faithful, uninspired covers devoid of any personality. U2's "Beat on the Brat" exemplifies this problem; the band performs a note-perfect rendition, but Bono's detached, breathy croon lacks the snotty enthusiasm that makes the song so gleefully absurd. Conversely, a few bands unwittingly butcher the original songs in an attempt to fit them into their sound. Most notably, Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie both take what were short and sarcastic punk songs and turn them into humorless, plodding industrial anthems. Contributions from Kiss, Garbage, and Pete Yorn fair considerably better, if only because they choose songs that fit their style, but only a few artists really try to personalize their performances. The Pretenders focus the intense yearning of "Something to Believe In" into a spacious ballad; Tom Waits transforms "The Return of Jackie and Judy" into a wild backwoods blues song; and the Red Hot Chili Peppers add waves of melancholy guitar to their Latin-flavored reworking of "Havana Affair." These are the only moments when you can experience the Ramones' familiar songwriting while savoring the performers' distinct sound; it's disappointing that more bands didn't try it. We're a Happy Family is built on good intentions, but ultimately it's too uneven and rarely reflects the blunt honesty, brutal sarcasm, and pure fun that reside at the core of their best music. ~ Bradley Torreano | | In the wake of both Joey's and Dee Dee Ramone's untimely deaths, We're a Happy Family -- a star-studded tribute featuring Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Garbage, and Eddie Vedder -- was a well-timed reminder of the Ramones' lasting influence. The Pretenders focus the intense yearning of "Something to Believe In" into a spacious ballad, Tom Waits transforms "The Return of Jackie and Judy" into a wild backwoods blues song, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers add waves of melancholy guitar to their Latin-flavored reworking of "Havana Affair." These are moments when you can experience the Ramones' familiar songwriting while savoring the performers' distinct sound. ~ Bradley Torreano | | Finally arriving two years after Joey Ramone's death, WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY enlists some of rock's biggest names to participate in giving this Forest Hills outfit its due. Not surprisingly, out of this impressive roll call of artists, the California contingent of third-generation punks come the closest to tapping into the amphetamine tempo of the original songs. Green Day rips through "Outsider," Rancid spits out a killer version of "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker," and Offspring's Dexter Holland is practically a vocal doppelganger of Joey on "I Wanna Be Sedated." | | Other cuts by bigger names take a different creative path. Marilyn Manson pours ethereal, goth-soaked nuance into "The KKK Took My Baby Away," Bono tosses out a well-mannered vocal on "Beat On The Brat," and Tom Waits pulls out a T.Rex-meets-Leadbelly "Return of Jackie & Judie." Kiss uses horns and screaming guitar to make "Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio" an infectious stomper, the Red Hot Chili Peppers make "Havana Affair" resonate with melodic rhythm guitar, and Eddie Vedder and Zeke rage through "I Believe In Miracles." Excellent liner notes by Stephen King make WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY a keeper. Gabba Gabba Hey! |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 02/11/2003 | | Original Release Date : 2003 | | Catalog ID : 86352 | | Label : Columbia (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00696998635227 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Entertainment Weekly (2/14/03, pp.70-71)
- "...A sweet and well-intentioned salute to the Ramones and their profound impact..." - Rating: BMojo (Publisher)
(3/03, p.112)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "...It's edifying to see their trademark minimalist sound transmuted in the hands of their most high profile fans..." |
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