Editing Halfway to Sanity (section)

==Production==
Recording sessions for ''Halfway to Sanity'' began in early 1987 at Intergalactic Studios in [[New York City]], described by Rey as "a dingy place in midtown."<ref name="true276">{{Harvnb|True|2010|page=276}}</ref> Drums, guitars and bass guitar were all recorded earlier in the afternoon, while the vocal track was always recorded later in the evening. Rey explained that they did this because "it was quicker to learn songs without any vocal, so they did."<ref name="true274">{{Harvnb|True|2010|pages=274–275}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Leigh|1994|pages=332}}</ref> Joey, however, wanted to work out "how to phrase his singing" and was not a fan of this method of recording.<ref name="true274"/> Johnny stated that Dee Dee Ramone, while credited as bass player on the album, didn't actually play on it, with producer Daniel Rey playing his parts instead.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ramone|first1=Johnny|title=Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone|date=2012|publisher=[[Abrams_Books#Abrams_Image|Abrams Image]]|isbn=978-0-8109-9660-1|page=160}}</ref>

On the band's relationship with producer Daniel Rey, Johnny stated that no one involved with the album would listen to Rey nor let him make the decisions he needed to, adding that Joey and drummer [[Richie Ramone]] made it particularly difficult for Rey because they wanted to [[remix]] or change tracks.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ramone|first1=Johnny|title=Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone|date=2012|publisher=[[Abrams_Books#Abrams_Image|Abrams Image]]|isbn=978-0-8109-9660-1|page=158}}</ref> Richie did not get along with Rey, saying that the two would "butt heads" often since he only liked writing songs with one other person.<ref name="true277">{{Harvnb|True|2010|page=277}}</ref> Richie has explained that this may have been the reason why he never co-wrote any songs on the album with Joey, saying that Rey "always came with the package."<ref name="true277"/> Tour manager Monte Melnick, on the other hand, said Rey eventually befriended all the band members.<ref name="melnickxxi"/> In 2018, Richie stated that the rift between him and Rey occurred when Richie remixed five songs on the album on a request from Joey and although Johnny approved the work, he refused to credit him for it on the album.<ref>{{Citation |title=Richie Ramone & Eric Blair Talk Ramones & New Book 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytQXEWfOqM |language=en |access-date=2022-07-16}}</ref> 

Richie added that Johnny, along with their manager [[Gary Kurfirst]], made the album process difficult by keeping the band on a tight budget. He explained that he wanted the music to be more radio-friendly and promote it more so they might have a hit album, but Johnny and Kurfirst did not think it would make a difference. Richie would later recall: "Why would you not want an album to be as successful as it could be? Gary Kurfirst seemed to want to keep the Ramones an underground band, I guess his thinking was, he'd profit more."<ref>{{Harvnb|True|2010|page=270}}</ref>

The band's publicist Ida Langsam agreed that the band and their record company all felt the need to keep to a strict budget for recording, production and promotion of the Ramones' music. She pointed out that just because much of their album process was done "cut-rate," it did not mean that their performance on the album was not done well. Rather they were trying to find people who could do things more cheaply, along with cheaper places to record, such as Intergalactic Studios, where they had also recorded their previous album, ''[[Animal Boy]]''.<ref name="true269">{{Harvnb|True|2010|page=268–269}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Leigh|1994|pages=357}}</ref> Langsam went on to say that the Ramones were "never afforded the respect a band of their caliber should have," insisting that other bands who were "much less worthy" were more respected. "Everybody thought of them as the local band," she continued, "everybody's friends—'when are you going to break, when are you going to get big, when are you going to reach stardom?'"<ref name="true269"/>

Rey claimed that the band was very impatient during the album process, and noted that members, especially Johnny and Joey, weren't getting along. "John was fast in the studio," recalls [[George Tabb]], who was recording with his band the [[False Prophets (band)|False Prophets]] at Intergalactic at the same time the Ramones recorded ''Halfway to Sanity''. He called it humorous "because John would be going, 'Enough, enough, it sounds right.' And Joey, the artist, would go, 'I gotta do my vocals, I gotta do my vocals,' and the drummer's going, 'But my drums!' Johnny was like, 'Fuck it. It's the Ramones. It is what it is and comes out like that.' And he was right. It was the Ramones. He was a good businessman about it."<ref name="true276"/>

In his book ''Commando'', Johnny Ramone concluded that "the tracks on this one aren't the best. I always had a problem bringing songs into the band unless I was sure they were going to be very good. [...] The other guys brought in things that sucked, but they acted like they were great." However, he cited "I Wanna Live", "Weasel Face", "Bop 'til You Drop" and "Garden of Serenity" as the album's highlights and awarded the album a "B−" grade.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ramone|first1=Johnny|title=Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone|date=2012|publisher=[[Abrams_Books#Abrams_Image|Abrams Image]]|isbn=978-0-8109-9660-1|page=158–160}}</ref> 

This is the first Ramones album since ''[[Leave Home]]''—and their last—to clock in at under 30 minutes.