Joey Ramone's posthumous solo debut Don't Worry About Me is, at the very least, evidence of the man's lifelong fidelity to his muse; that beneath Ramone's punk rock battledress of shaggy fringe and tattered leather jacket, there was no trace of a free jazz, hip-hop or folk sensibility patiently waiting for its moment. Which is to say that Don't Worry About Me is barely distinguishable from any late-period Ramones album, and that means, sadly, that it only occasionally rises above mediocrity, and certainly never threatens Rocket To Russia as a cornerstone of the Ramone's formidable musical legacy. The principal selling point here is given away as the opening track--the rousing roasting of the Louis Armstrong chestnut "What A Wonderful World", complete with intro lifted from the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant", would put a foolish smile on the face of a grandfather clock. Unfortunately, it establishes a standard that the desperately average punky rave-ups that constitute the remainder of the album struggle to match. --Andrew Mueller