You know this story all too well. A producer who's inherited some unfinished tracks, and a record company who's not afraid to make money off of a music icon's death. It's the "posthumous album", which today has become more commonplace than the artist's funeral. Joey Ramone's 2002 solo album Don't Worry About Me was no exception. More than 10 years after the famed front man's death, nobody, and I mean nobody expected a second posthumous album. But I don't think anyone could have expected the reality of Joey Ramone's new release "…ya know?" That it's actually a pretty good record.

Right out of the gate, the opening number "Rock and Roll is the Answer" provides simple but catchy hooks that Ramones fans will love. There are also some re-recordings of Ramones songs "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Die Tonight)" and "Life's a Gas". The stand out track of the album is "Party Line" which is a Phil Spector-esque love song with accompanying vocals by another rock and roll legend, Joan Jett.

This album, while not perfect, exhibits the legend that Joey Ramone truly is. For being six feet in the dirt for a decade, Joey writes better than some of the leading rock and roll acts. The sheer unevenness of the album is to be expected, because the artist had very little say in the work as a whole. As a counterculture icon, do you think he would have approved of an album sold in his name, but not for his name? Or would he just say "fuck it" and give the people what they want…ya know?