an awful lot of people." In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote, "People who consider this a one-joke band aren't going to change their minds now. People who love the joke for its power, wit, and economy will be happy to hear it twice. Hint: read the lyrics." The year-end critics' poll at NME ranked it at No. 9 among the top "Albums of the Year" for 1977, with "Sheena" ranked at No. 5 among the year's top tracks. Retrospective reviews have also been positive. Writing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine found it very similar to their debut. Though he did consider it to be slightly more pop music oriented, Erlewine writes that despite being "weaker" than its preceding album, Leave Home "deliver[s] at breakneck speed and conclude[s] in under a half-hour." April Long from NME especially favored "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker", calling it "a punk-surf-pop crossover that has never been rivalled." It was given a favorable review by PopMatters editor Adrien Begrand, who called it his favorite Ramones album, saying: "In this album, the Ramones are witty, menacing, goofy, cynical, and head-over-heels in love, all at the same time." During his extensive review, he called "I Remember You" a "perfect bubblegum pop song", while saying that "Pinhead" urges "all the freaks of the world to unite as one" with the lines "D-U-M-B / Everyone's accusing me." Commercial performance The album did not chart as well in the United States as its predecessor, peaking at number 148 on the Billboard 200. It was, however, the band's first album to chart on the UK Albums Chart, debuting at number 45. Many of the songs on Leave Home were not considered by Mickey Leigh to be "radio–friendly" because "Carbona Not Glue" was about Intoxicative inhalant. Joey relates: "We thought we had a lotta songs that should've been hits. If you grew up in the sixties, things would just get played and be hits right off the bat. So we thought since our music was doin' something unique that everyone would pick up on that. What really happened was we were so alien that no one wanted to touch us. And so we wouldn't get played." Track listing All tracks originally credited to the Ramones (except "California Sun"). Actual writers are listed alongside the tracks. Writing credits are credited to Mickey Leigh's book I Slept with