Pleasant Dreams is the sixth studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released on July 20, 1981, through Sire Records.

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".

Despite Sire's efforts to broaden the band's appeal by enlisting Gouldman to produce, the album was not commercially successful, peaking at No.

"[9][10] While Johnny would eventually marry Linda, Joey held a strong grudge against them both, and, though they continued to perform and tour together, the two rarely talked to each other.

Joey explained that Johnny had "crossed the line" once he started dating Daniele, and noted that "he destroyed the relationship and the band right there".

Joey's brother Mickey Leigh relates: "The fluky connection between Johnny and the KKK raised a specter that keeps friends and fans speculating to this day.

According to the magazine, the lyrics detail "an archivist's sense of young love by the book and how innocent rock 'n' roll is supposed to sound.

Side A ends with "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)", which was described by music critic David Fricke as "driven home" by drummer Marky's "feisty, Bo Diddley-style" drum beat, noting that it borrows the middle eight (of thirty-two-bar form) from the Who song "Whiskey Man".

[20] Side B of the album begins with "She's a Sensation", which was said by author Dave Thompson to have a 1960s melody which "melts through the hard rock".

The lyrics follow a boy who meets a girl by a Space Invaders arcade machine, who eventually has to let her go after she dies in a car crash.

Joey details in time-honoured girl group fashion the beauty of young love that takes place among the most mundane, humdrum of surroundings.

[27][28] Pleasant Dreams received mixed reviews from critics, with many pointing out that the high quality sound production made the band stray from their roots even more so than the change in style.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, senior editor for AllMusic, noted that Gouldman steers the band's style away from "bubblegum, British invasion, and surf fetishes" and toward "acid rock and heavy metal".

"[25] Music critic Robert Christgau said that the album "comes off corny" compared to the band's first four releases, which he described as "aural rush and conceptual punch".

Fricke noted "studio sleight of hand: fortified vocal harmonies, an occasional dash of keyboards, a certain production gimmickry.

But the ironically titled Pleasant Dreams is actually the Ramones‘ state-of-the-union message, an impassioned display of irrepressible optimism and high-amp defiance laced with bitterness over what they see as corporate sabotage of their rock & roll fantasies.“ The New York Times concluded that "the Ramones have made a record that sounds like a New York version of the Beach Boys...

"[29] The Boston Globe praised Gouldman's "intelligent, balanced production, in contrast with Phil Spector's stultifying barrier of sound on the band's last album.