Pleasant Dreams is the sixth studio album by American punk rock band the Ramones, released on July 20, 1981, through Sire Records. While the band members wanted Steve Lillywhite to produce, Sire chose Graham Gouldman in an attempt to gain popularity through a well-known producer. The recording process brought about many conflicts between band members, most notably the strife between Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone, due to Johnny starting a relationship with Joey's girlfriend. There were also disputes about the overall direction of the album, with Johnny leaning towards hard rock and Joey towards pop punk. Ultimately, the album incorporated high production values and varying musical styles, straying from traditional punk rock on songs such as "We Want the Airwaves", "She's a Sensation" and "Come On Now". It is the first Ramones album not to feature any cover songs. Despite Sire's efforts to broaden the band's appeal by enlisting Gouldman to produce, the album was not commercially successful, peaking at #58 on the Billboard 200 and only charting outside of the US in Sweden. The album also met with mixed critical reception. Conception The writing process for Pleasant Dreams began in January 1981. With Sire Records management being insistent on allowing a celebrity record producer to work on the album, they hired Graham Gouldman—songwriter and musician for the British band 10cc—to produce the album. Prior to working with Gouldman, the Ramones had recorded demos for the album with audio engineer Ed Stasium, and while the band had intended for Steve Lillywhite to produce the album, this decision was rejected by Sire. The studio recording process began on March 30, 1981, and initiated several conflicts between band members. This tension was partially due to Dee Dee Ramone's drug addiction, as well as Marky Ramone and Joey Ramone developing problems with alcohol, resulting in the frustration of Johnny Ramone. These conflicts and differences became evident in the songwriting as, for the first time on a Ramones album, each song was now credited to individual members rather than multiple members. The time period of recording was a high-point in musical style for both Joey and Johnny, though they directed their sound towards different styles of music: Joey's inspiration from pop music became evident in his writing, while Johnny's keenness of hard-rock guitar riffs are apparent in much of his performing on the album. Johnny thought that this did not result well for the