RAMONES - "Psycho Therapy" - The Metal Channel

I love how old music videos from the ‘80s would just blindside you with uncanny, horrifying shit. This offering was considered ‘cutting edge’ when it was released and it’s easy to understand why it would have been banned.

I’ve got to admit Metalcore bands are driving me crazy! This sub-genre has seemingly been worn out for years. The clean-vocal formula is ridiculously redundant and so standardized, I can’t tell one group from another. The individuality is long gone.

Aside from the few originators, I’ve given up on this overproduced crap and gone back to the punk roots of metal. A lot of people my age began as fans of punk rock and moved on to thrash metal when their favorite group entered a ‘crossover’ phase in the mid ‘80s. I’m talking about bands like: Suicidal Tendencies, Cryptic Slaughter or Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (D.R.I) but my dive took me even further back, to punk rock at its US origins. No band has been more prolific at leading this charge than the Ramones.

The Ramones were active as a band from 1974 to 1996. Often recognized as one of the pioneers of the punk genre, the group released fourteen studio albums throughout their career but never found any real commercial success.

Now, they’re considered one of the greatest rock groups of all time. All four original members: Joey Ramone – vocals (1951–2001), Dee Dee Ramone – bass (1951–2002), Johnny Ramone – guitars (1948–2004) and Tommy Ramone – drums (1949– 2014) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. Sadly, all four of these founding artists are now deceased.

“Psycho Therapy” is a track off the band’s seventh studio album, Subterranean Jungle, released in 1983 via Sire Records. The song, written by Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone, has become one of the more popular and identifiable anthems of the Ramones.

A music video was released which featured the band as inmates in a mental institution. Telling the story of a lobotomy gone wrong, a patient is shown with a mutant creature bursting from his head! This music video was originally banned by MTV.

I managed to catch this video recently on Xite and I thought it was awesome. A unique blend of comedy and horror. I imagine the song as part of a soundtrack for a horror movie. A combination of the Evil Dead (1981) meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975).

I love how old music videos from the ‘80s would just blindside you with uncanny, horrifying shit. This offering was considered ‘cutting edge’ when it was released and it’s easy to understand why it would have been banned by a conservative channel like MTV.

Featuring shocking scenes reminiscent of ‘80s horror classics, like H.P. Lovecraft’s Re–Animator (1985) or even From Beyond (1986). The special effects were considered physical and more practical than the CGI generated bullshit we see today.

On a final note, I wanted to mention the band Skid Row covered “Psycho Therapy” on their 1992 EP, B-Side Ourselves. They also released a music video.

The track is sung by bassist, Rachel Bolan, and features a guest appearance from Faster Pussycat’s Taime Downe on backing vocals.

The music video shows band performing on a soundstage with graffiti art and clips of the band in a kitchen eating some questionable things, like a can of worms!