Editing Leave Home (section)

== Background ==
The writing and structure are both somewhat more sophisticated than the songs on their previous record. Guitarist [[Johnny Ramone]] relates: "We recorded them in the order they were written; we wanted to show a slight progression in song structure."<ref>Lander 2010, p. 194.</ref> Most of the songs were written in the band members' homes, rather than at a studio; "Suzy Is a Headbanger" was written in drummer [[Tommy Ramone]]'s [[loft]] apartment.<ref name="leigh 141" /> [[Joey Ramone]] later recalled:

{{Quote|I wrote most of the stuff I contributed at my apartment in Forest Hills before I left and moved back to a place in the city. I had no amp at home, just an electric guitar. I recorded it onto a cassette and played that back at rehearsal. We had better production, we were playing a little faster, and we had a lot of songs accumulated. We were in really good shape for that album.<ref name="commando">Ramone 2012, ch. 2.</ref>}}

Recorded October and November 1976 in New York City at Sundragon Studios through [[Sire Records]], ''Leave Home'' featured increased sound quality through more advanced output methods. Sire set their budget at about $10,000 ($56,000 in 2025), hiring [[Tony Bongiovi]] to produce the album, and [[Tommy Ramone]] (credited as T. Erdelyi) to co-produce. More emphasis was placed on the album's mixing and engineering than their debut album, which received merely $6,400 ($35,970 in 2025) to record and produce.<ref>Porter, p. 75</ref><ref name="l 128">Leigh 2009, p. 128.</ref> With a more fine-tuned and exceptional sound, ''Leave Home'' also presented a production value superior to other punk rock bands at the time. Author Joe S. Harrington called the band's production "brilliant", and noted that it "put them ahead of the run-of-the-mill garage band."<ref>Harrington 2002, p. 334.</ref>

The title ''Leave Home'' refers to the Ramones' leaving New York City to go on tour around the world. The album cover was designed by Moshe Brakha, who had worked with the [[Rolling Stones]] to yield the ''[[Black and Blue]]'' (1976) cover art, and would later work with artists like [[Devo]] and [[Iron Maiden]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/moshe-brakha-mn0001657833|title=Moshe Brakha|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=2014-01-26}}</ref> The back cover of the album was a drawing of a [[bald eagle]] by graphic designer [[Arturo Vega]]. The image would soon become the band's logo.<ref name="commando" />

=== Carbona controversy ===
The original release included "Carbona Not Glue" as the fifth track. However, a month before the band released ''Leave Home'', Ramones' manager Danny Fields announced to the band that [[Delta Carbona L.P.|Carbona]] was a [[registered trademark]] and that their record label had to remove the song from the album's track listing. [[Legs McNeil]] recalled: "I was shocked. It was such a great song, so radio-friendly—like a song [[the Beatles]] or the [[Rolling Stones]] would have written if they were just starting out in 1976, with great harmonies and catchy lyrics."<ref>Bessman 1993, p. 74.</ref> Although early purchasers of the Sire release got an album that included the song, "Carbona Not Glue" was later replaced by "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" for the US release, and "Babysitter" for the UK release.<ref>Gimarc 1994, p. 53.</ref><ref name="Popmatters" /> In the early ‘90s, after being unavailable for years, the song was bootlegged as a 45&nbsp;RPM single with "I Can't Be" as the B-side.  The single's cover sported a faux [[Sub Pop]] Singles design, despite not actually being released by the label. The song was revived on the 2001 Extended Edition of the album, which also included "Babysitter".<ref name="Popmatters" />