Detailed look into the tortured life of a Rock genius. Joey suffered with depression, OCD and bi-polar illness most of his life, was painfully shy and yet fronted one of music's most influential Punk Rock bands. The Ramones never achieved great commercial success, and in some cases completely screwed over by the industry, yet their music lives on. Joey just wanted to make music that people would love.This book, written by the title namesake's actual brother, is a great tribute to one of music's mos recognizable figures. As far as reading this book, I honestly wish I hadn't. If I hadn't, I could still cling to some of the more romantic notions I had about Joey Ramone . . . and The Ramones in general. Sure, I'd heard the stories before of bitter fights about money, mental illness, etc., but somehow it is different hearing it from Joey's own brother. There's a mist of bitterness in almost every sentence in this tale . . . it gets downright caustic sometimes. That aside, a smaller (very small) part of me is glad for the honesty. Even in the midst of bitterness, there's really humanity and a sense of loss - - it's almost like he's describing a mourned relationship between brothers that never quite was instead of mourning the brother that he had. There's real love between these two, but throughout the book you're wondering if it is mostly out of obligation or real connection. I think most of the time it's a volatile mix of a little of both. If you don't mind having one of your heroes taken down a peg or two (or you don't give a shit about The Ramones), this book is a decent read.
What do You think about Veljeni Joey Ramone (2009)?
Read Monte Melnicks book first as you can tell Mickey took a lot from Melnicks book.
—lilycupcake
Nice history of the Ramones writen by Joey's brother who loved him so much.
—fairygirltiphanie
Interesting first hand history of the Ramones
—1222
