Welcome to another “Album by Album Challenge.” For those that are new here, the “Album by Album Challenge” is where I take a band’s entire discography and listen to every album in order of release from front to back. With my unforgiving and well-aged ear, I call it how I hear it. In some cases, I find that what I once thought was good is actually pretty crappy and sometimes crap manages to age into something pretty kick ass. And in some cases, face melting is still just good ol’ face melting.
This time around we’re digging deep into the Ratt discography. Ratt was always one of my favorite 80’s era hard rock bands. I always enjoyed their live shows but their studio releases haven’t always been the most consistently good things. Most albums contained 1/2 filler and sometimes even had more filler than good songs. I was really curious to see how my mind may have changed (if at all) about these albums after all these years. I hope you’ll enjoy reading my Ratt Album By Album Challenge!
RATT – RATT
Release Date: August 23, 1983
The Good: Sweet Cheater, You Think You’re Tough, Tell The World, Back For More
The Bad:
The Indifferent: U Got It, Walkin’ The Dog
Ratt’s debut, self titled EP still holds up really well and also contains two of my favorite all time Ratt songs: “Tell The World” and “You Think You’re Tough.” This EP did little to break Ratt into the mainstream world as it would be their follow up major label album Out of the Cellar that put Ratt into the homes of millions. This EP is really cool and it sounds exactly how you think an independent EP release from a band in 80’s would sound. It sounds a bit dated but still a fun listen. I could’ve done with out their cover of “Walkin’ The Dog” and while I love the song “Back For More” this version doesn’t come close to the version that would appear on Out of the Cellar. This is a great one to own and a great starting point as it’s fun to hear their sound really progress and refine from this point.
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Ratt – Out of the Cellar
Release Date: March 27, 1984
The Good: Wanted Man, You’re In Trouble, In Your Direction, Lack of Communication, Back For More, The Morning After, I’m Insane
The Bad:
The Indifferent: She Wants Money, Scene of the Crime
Out of the Cellar is every bit as good as I remember it. This is the album that put Ratt on the map without a doubt. While the EP was a great introduction to Ratt, Out of the Cellar is a real tour de force of hard rock awesomeness. It has catchy hooks and choruses and this album also is responsible for some of Ratt’s most memorable songs. “Wanted Man” is still one of the coolest fucking songs ever and “Lack of Communication” has one of the baddest opening riffs ever. The songs are totally solid and the delivery is full of that fire and determination that I love so much in a band. “Scene of the Crime” and “She Wants Money” are the sore thumbs here as they do very little to enhance this album. They could’ve left them off and this would’ve been a perfect album. “The Morning After” is one of my favorite songs and it’s a total face ripper with its chunky riff, driving rhythm, and a killer dual guitar solo from Warrant DiMartini and Robin Crosby. Stephen Pearcy is such an underrated singer in my opinion. He has such a distinct voice and it’s a voice that cannot be duplicated no matter how hard you try. Out of the Cellar is a timeless classic and while the production sounds a bit dated, the songs hold up extremely well nearly 27 years later.
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Ratt – Invasion of Your Privacy
Release Date: June 13, 1985
The Good: You’re In Love, Never Use Love, Lay It Down, Closer To My Heart, What You Give Is What You Get, You Should Know By Now, Dangerous But Worth The Risk
The Bad:
The Indifferent: Give It All, Between The Eyes, Got Me On The Line,
It’s funny how time can change your opinion on things. I can remember only like maybe 2 songs off of this album back in the day but this time around I found myself really enjoying the majority of this album. I mean, the songs are cheesy as fuck but c’mon. This is Ratt. It’s not like they’re trying to be Bob Dylan here. These guys were the reigning kings of sleaze and this is a sleazy fucking album. The production is a bit brighter on this album and the songs are just as fun and memorable. “You’re In Love” starts out with that signature Warren DiMartini riff but it’s “Lay It Down” that totally stands above all. There’s a reason that is one of the band’s biggest songs. It’s because it kicks so much ass. “Closer to my Heart” is about as close as Ratt ever got to a ballad and it’s a great tune. Ratt as a band were amazing musicians and they had a way of taking these kinds of cheesy songs and giving it some substantial foundations. This one only had three duds on it but the good songs were so good that they more than make up for the not so good.
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Ratt –Dancing Undercover
Release Date: August 9, 1986
The Good: Dance, Drive Me Crazy, Slip of the Lip, Looking For Love, Take A Chance
The Bad: It Doesn’t Matter, Enough is Enough
The Indifferent: Body Talk, One Good Lover, 7th Avenue,
I know it’s kinda strange to talk about Ratt songs as “good songs” and “not so good songs.” Again, these guys were not Rush or Bob Dylan and they didn’t try to be. Ratt were the kings of sleaze just behind Motley Crue (I like Ratt way better to be honest) but on this album Ratt just seemed to start losing their momentum. The opening track on this album gets a lot of hate but I fucking love “Dance.” It’s got that killer opening riff and Pearcy just fucking nails it. As a whole, this is a pretty weak album though. Tons of filler but unlike Invasion of Your Privacy, the good songs are just that. They’re just “good” and nothing more. While songs like “Body Talk”, “One Good Lover”, and “7th Avenue” are just ok, they are totally forgettable. “Slip of the Lip” is probably the only real stand out track besides “Dance” that I feel is a really strong song. I don’t think I loved this album even back in the day and 20 something years later it’s just just meh.
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Ratt – Reach for the Sky
Release Date: November 3, 1988
The Good: City to City, I Want A Woman, Way Cool Jr., Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds You, I Want To Love You Tonight, Chain Reaction, The Bottom Line,
The Bad:
The Indifferent: No Surprise, What’s It Gonna Be, What I’m After
Ratt returned in 1988 with Reach For The Sky and this was a much better album than Dancing Undercover. Not only was this a great album but it sports Ratt’s greatest song to date, “Way Cool Jr.” The guys captured lightning in a bottle on that song but unfortunately, that song is so fucking good that no other song on the album comes close. There are some really great songs on this album such as “I Want A Woman” and the awesome “City to City” opener but here’s what I’ll never get. Why does Ratt always seem to close out their albums with like 2-3 weak ass songs? It’s always such a letdown to hear a Ratt album close out on such a weak note. As usually, there are really no terrible songs on this album. There’s one amazing song, a handful of really good songs and a few unforgettable ones. This seems to be the formula for Ratt albums so at least they’re consistent.
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Ratt – Detonator
Release Date: August 21, 1990
The Good: Shame Shame Shame, Loving You Is A Dirty Job, Scratch That Itch, Hard Time, Heads I Win – Tails You Lose, All or Nothing, Can’t Wait on Love, Givin’ Yourself Away, Top Secret
The Bad:
The Indifferent: One Step Away,
Detonator is hands down Ratt’s greatest album since Out of the Cellar. I can’t get over just how much I love this album. This would be Ratt’s last good selling album and even at this point saw the band downgrading from arena tours to small theaters and clubs. The good songs on this album are fucking killer with only one song that had me saying, “meh.” “Shame, Shame, Shame” is such a kick ass song and just may be in my top 5 favorite Ratt songs of all time. “Givin’ Yourself Away” is about as close to a ballad as they get on this album and it’s a great fucking song. Ratt even managed to close an album out with a great song called “Top Secret” which made me feel that they were finally breaking this trend of closing the album out on a weak note. Ratt just seemed to be clicking musically and creatively as all the songs just have a great vibe to them and while they’re catchy and cheesy, they have some seriously awesome guitar work going on in them. Song for song this is probably my 2nd favorite Ratt album and it holds up really well. This is a really fun listen and I’m so glad I was reminded of just how great of an album it is.
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Ratt – Ratt (1999)
Release Date: July 6, 1999
The Good: Over The Edge, Live For Today, Dead Reckoning, Luv Sick,
The Bad: We Don’t Belong, Breakout, Tug of War, It Ain’t Easy, All The Way, So Good So Fine
The Indifferent: Gave Up Givin’ Up,
This album really started off sounding kind of promising with “Over the Edge” but as the album played on, the worse it got. I’m not quite sure what Ratt was aiming for with this album. First off, Stephen Pearcy needs to not “try” and sing. I liked his voice so much better when he just didn’t seem to be trying to be a singer. Musically this album totally lacks those signature, crunchy, Warren DiMartini riffs. To me, it sounds like Ratt was trying to be a serious band and maybe even trying to achieve a more modern, kind of alternative sound. It’s really kind of sad because a lot of bands from their era tried to do shit like this and failed miserably. There are a handful of good songs on this album but even those songs are just totally forgettable. Ratt would have been better off not even putting out this album as it did very little, if anything, for them. It sounds more like a contractual obligation. Do yourself a favor and pass this one by.
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Ratt – Infestation
Release Date: April 20, 2010
The Good: Eat Me Up Alive, Best of Me, A Little Too Much, Look Out Below, Last Call, Lost Weekend (LoC), Garden of Eden, Take A Big Bite, Don’t Let Go, Scatter
The Bad:
The Indifferent: As Good As It Gets, Take Me Home,
Holy wow. Leave it RATT to make and release the greatest album of their career when nobody was expecting it. This album is just out of control awesome. Maybe the time away was good for them but whatever it was, Ratt made a huge comeback with ex Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo and they were firing on all cylinders. Every song (even the “OK” songs) are pure riff monsters. It’s like Warren DiMartini went back into the Ratt catalog, collected every kick ass riff, threw it into a blender, and came up with a slew of awesome songs. The first single from the album, “Best of Me” is probably the most riffatastic song since “Lay It Down” and my personal favorite song “Lost Weekend” totally sounds like the bastard brother of “Lack of Communication” from Out of the Cellar. All in all this is a fantastic album. It’s a great listen and it’s classic Ratt. Matter of fact, it’s even more classic that classic Ratt. I only wish that Ratt made more albums like this back in the day but this one gives me some hope that we haven’t seen the last of these guys. Ratt N’ Roll indeed.
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