Just by looking at the songs listed in this DVD release, you know that Ramones was one of the greatest bands in rock music ever. The band championed the Punk Rock sound, showed the way and influenced countless bands. Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, Marky and C.J prove why the Ramones have stood the test of time with their simplistic yet immortal brand of music that influenced generations the world over. Sadly in the last few years 3 of the Ramones members have passed away and the only thing that remains now is the memories and thankfully the music committed on vinyl, CDs and this DVD here which is a good starting point for people that did not witness the Ramones phenomenon first hand –meaning, never had the chance to go to one of their gigs- but also the die hard fans that did. So here you have the chance to climb in the Ramones van and experience life on the road with the founding fathers of punk rock.

This all-encompassing video scrapbook contains rare footage spanning the Ramones history from 1979 to 1996. Most of the content is previously unreleased and exclusively to this DVD, so the die-hard fans will definitely be delighted. Most of you will be amazed by the reaction of their fans, chasing them around the venues and towns that they were visiting whilst on tour. Quite honestly we get way too many moments that show these incidents and the band trying to run away from their fans or making comments, etc. (These fans were both scary and ridiculous at times, this has got to be said). "Ramones Raw" includes vintage concert footage professionally shot on film in 1980, archived and nearly forgotten for over 20 years, plus countless memorable moments from the band's illustrious career, rare TV appearances, backstage footage and a plethora of home video from the Ramones personal archives, (which are funny / interesting to see once, but obviously not at all interesting to see second time around).

Armed with a Hi-8 camera on the road for the final eight years of the band's world tours, Marky Ramone captured it all on tape. The director and the Ramones aficionado John Cafiero selected the cream-of-the-crop of 'raw' footage from the Marky Ramone video library and the end result does give an exclusive fly-on-the-wall perspective that's the next best thing to actually being in the band. Note that the running time is a whopping 105 minutes and you also get a 27 minute full-length bonus programme “Ramones Live In Italy” (shown in its entirety and seen for the first time anywhere since its original broadcast on European TV in 1980), 9 TV Appearances, 18 Deleted Scenes and audio commentary with Johnny Ramone, Marky Ramone and John Cafiero. Last but not least you get a mix of guest celebrity appearances from Drew Barrymore, Carly Simon, Gilbert Gottfried, 'Grandpa' Al Lewis (of "the Munsters"), Bono & U2, Debbie Harry & Chris Stein of Blondie and many more personalities including guitarist Robby Krieger of the Doors performing the classic "Take It As It Comes" live with the Ramones at the Hollywood Palladium in October 1992, touted by Johnny Ramone as one of the highlights of his career.

If you are a fan or you just want to explore the Ramones phenomenon, you need to check this DVD out.

Rating: 8 out of 10