On May 22, Joey Ramone’s second solo album, “…ya know?” will be released (BMG Rights Management), eleven years after his life was cruelly cut short by lymphoma. The tracks were drawn from a cache of demos and unreleased recordings that Joey had cut at various times during the last decade and a half of his life.
His brother, musician Mickey Leigh, executive produced the project. “It was of the utmost importance to me that these remaining songs of Joey’s be finished properly, and made available for the world to hear,” Leigh says of “…ya know?”, which is comprised primarily of never-before-heard songs written and sung by his brother.
But this is no half-baked grab-bag of odds and ends. Rather, it’s a riveting collection of first-rate songs that embody Joey’s trademark intensity and wit, and that can stand proudly alongside his most beloved Ramones compositions. It’s also a fitting, if belated, follow-up to Joey’s first solo album Don’t Worry About Me, which was recorded just prior to his death and released the following year.