The year is 1976 and the best new musical group, at least according to Grammy Awards, is the Starland Vocal Band.

 As wise man Joey Ramone once sang, "We need change and we need it fast," and his group The Ramones were smart enough to know what to do and courageous enough to do it. With their 1976 debut, they emerged from Queens, Noo Yawk, with a cartoonish juvenile-delinquent image, a cache of short, fast and loud songs containing no more than three chords apiece, melodies inspired by The Beach Boys and the Phil Spector girl groups, and lyrics expressing their most base impulses (Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, I Wanna Be Sedated, I Just Want To Have Something to Do).

 Unwittingly, they helped spawn punk rock and, by modifying their sonic barrage ever so slightly, enjoyed a 20-year recording career encapsulated on this superb two-CD retrospective.

 Almost half of the music here is drawn from the group's essential first four records, which reduced rock 'n' roll to its bare essentials with thrilling, wildly entertaining results. The remainder of Anthology cherry picks the best stuff from the spotty post-1978 albums, when producers such as Spector, 10CC's Graham Gouldman and Eurythmic Dave Stewart tried to sweeten the Ramones' sound with only intermittent success.

 The quartet would later flirt with heavy metal and political commentary, then, having travelled down every avenue open to them, they handed in their uniforms -- sneakers, ripped blue jeans, white T-shirts and black leather jackets -- for good in 1996.

 A marvelous trip, expertly retraced on these 58 chronologically arranged songs and nicely documented in the set's surprisingly upscale hard-cover booklet. By the way, whatever happened to the Starland Vocal Band?

Track Listing Disc1
1. Blitzkreig Bop
2. Beat On The Brat
3. Judy Is A Punk
4. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
5. 53rd & 3rd
6. Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
7. Glad To See You Go
8. Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
9. I Remember You
10. California Sun
11. Commando
12. Swallow My Pride
13. Carbona Not Glue
14. Pinhead
15. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
16. Cretin Hop
17. Rockaway Beach
18. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
19. Teenage Lobotomy
20. Surfin' Bird
21. I Don't Care
22. I Just Want To Have Something To Do
23. I Wanna Be Sedated
24. Don't Come Close
25. She's The One
26. Needles & Pins
27. Rock 'N' Roll High School
28. I Want You Around
29. Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?
30. I Can't Make It On Time
31. Chinese Rock
32. I'm Affected
33. Danny Says
 
Disc2
1. The KKK Took My Baby Away
2. She's A Sensation
3. It's Not My Place (In The 9 To 5 World)
4. We Want The Airwaves
5. Psycho Therapy
6. Howling At The Moon (Sha-La-La)
7. Mama's Boy
8. Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love)
9. I'm Not Afraid Of Life
10. Too Tough To Die
11. Endless Vacation
12. My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg)
13. Somebody Put Something In My Drink
14. Something To Believe In
15. I Don't Want To Live This Life (Anymore)
16. I Wanna Live
17. Garden Of Serenity
18. Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
19. Pet Sematary
20. I Believe In Miracles
21. Tomorrow She Goes Away
22. Poison Heat
23. I Don't Wanna Grow Up
24. She Talks To Rainbows
25. R.A.M.O.N.E.S.