Album: Joey Ramone, Ya Know? (BMG)

Did "punk" offer a more loveable figure to posterity than Joey?

Whatever your answer, it's always a pleasure to hear his nasal beluga wail, even from beyond the grave; even from within a production sound so, er, evolved from Tommy Erdelyi's no-fi blueprint. Still, the spirit is pretty faithful. We get big chugging ballads, slugging distortion-fests, big-gloomy-softie emotions; and we get Joan Jett, Steve Van Zandt and Lenny Kaye. Nothing you wouldn't expect.