[7][8] Three weeks after Marky joined the band, the Ramones began recording Road to Ruin in Midtown Manhattan at Mediasound Studios, the premises of a former Episcopalian Church.

Music critic John Young of Rolling Stone called the album's production "clean and simple", but pointed out that the track "Bad Brain" contained "funny noises" suggested by the producers in between drum beats, which prevents the song from having the humorous asperity that was intended.

[7] The artwork's concept was originated by Ramones fan Gus MacDonald, who illustrated the members performing with a lobster claw coming out of an amplifier and a snake around their feet.

[13] Though "Bad Brain", "I Wanted Everything", and "I'm Against It" each serves as basic punk songs to intensify the behavior of the audience, the most popular tracks on the album are the pieces which part from their initial style.

[13] The next track, "I Wanted Everything", is compared to Merle Haggard's song "If We Make It Through December", being called its "punk counterpart" by Rock: A Canadian Perspective author Larry Starr.

[13] Rolling Stone critic Charles Young noted that the song could have easily been a joke, but was not since Joey "really puts his guts into these antiquated but beautiful lyrics and pulls it off.

"[15] The album's lack of commercial success showed for a negative impact on the members' morale, and this exasperation would continue into the band's future records and tours.

[23] The drive to sell more albums in the United States failed, which is evident when comparing the charting positions to Road to Ruin's predecessor Rocket to Russia, which peaked at 49 on the Billboard 200.

[30] Rolling Stone critic Charles M. Young found the album to be neither as humorous nor as innovative as the Ramones' debut, but noted that the band was not at all "losing its grip".

[7] In a highly positive review, The Village Voice's Robert Christgau wrote that the band was constantly "topping itself", and implied that each track on the album was very listenable except "Bad Brain", the theme of which he called "repetitious".

[33] Cash Box said of "Don't Come Close" that "the production values emphasize clear guitar lines" and "Joey's lead vocals are effective and reminiscent of early British rockers.

"[34] Record World called it "a fine pop outing" and said that "The vocals are familiar but the mid-'60s English rock beat and instrumentation have a smoother and finer edge.

[36] In a later retrospective review for AllMusic, Tim Sendra was more enthusiastic, writing that the more elaborate arrangements "worked well with the more diverse songs the band brought to the album".