In February 1992, lead vocalist Stephen Pearcy announced that he was stepping away from Ratt to follow other pursuits, and while it was never officially announced if Ratt was going on a hiatus, or whether the band had actually split, all five members of the band went out and pursued other interests. It wasn’t until five years later, with the grunge phenomenon having finally worn down and the industrial metal side of things ramping up, that the members of Ratt moved to come together once again. With a new project looking to be in the works, guitarist Robbin Crosby was sidelined due to the ravages he was suffering after having been diagnosed as being HIV positive back in 1994, while bass guitarist Juan Croucier also decided not to participate. Robbie Crane was brought in as his replacement, and the compilation album “Collage” was released late that year. With a new worldwide record deal secured following this release, the rejuvenated four piece went about the task of writing and recording their first album with wholly new material since 1990’s “Detonator” album. After a break of nine years, and with the music industry having been through a great deal of upheaval over that period of time, it was always going to be interesting to hear just what the band would come up with for what could essentially be regarded as their comeback album. To throw more confusion into the mix, the band decided that the album title would be “Ratt”, which while being the band’s name, was also the name of their first EP back in 1984. The dual naming was not to be the only confusion part of the new album when it finally reached the shop shelves.
One thing that was obvious was that we were not going to get a glam or hair metal album from Ratt in 1999. Given the length of time since their previous new material release, it would have been something that would never have worked at that time. However, that does not reign in the surprise Ratt fans may have experienced when they first put this album on. Because, from the outset, what we are met with is a very blues rock-oriented track list, stylised completely from the vocals through to the guitar riffs throughout, and with a mid-tempo that rarely gets itself out of second gear. Producer Richard Zito brought in several guests to help co-compose some songs on the album, which does add to the style of the album. Jack Russell from Great White and Jack Blades from Night Ranger contribute, along with several others with a production and soft rock background. There is little doubt that this is a deliberate move to craft the sound that this album obviates to the listener.
“Over the Edge” taps into this immediately, perhaps only missing the true blues twang of Warren de Martini’s guitar to complete the full picture. The vocals from Stephen Pearcy are the immediate noticeable change to the albums we have heard in the past, the pulling back of his natural energy when singing makes this a less energetic sounding Ratt than we have had in the past. “Live for Today” has De Martini pushing a fuller complement of solo for his guitar, while the song actually sounds more like a latter day Def Leppard song than anything Ratt has produced before. It’s an interesting mix from the outset, with both of the opening tracks setting the platform for the layout of the album to come. Then we have “Gave Up Givin’ Up”, which is even more surprising because both vocally and with a certain guitar riff leading into the bridge and chorus, this has all the sounds that come from a Dream Theater song. Not the intensity and overplayed encompassment of the instruments, but just the sonic sounds of the track itself. The solo by de Martini lifts the song above the average once again, but the mix of tracks here and the incorporation of sounds does make this an interesting journey. Further troubles arrive with “We Don’t Belong” which is basically a country and western song, no doubt coming from the influence of one of the co-writers brought in for the album. Now we’ve already discussed that this album is different from what the band has issued before, but a C&W ballad?! Come on lads, this just won’t do.
“Breakout” returns to the blues formula from earlier in the album, and along with “Tug of War” and “Dead Reckoning” pick up the middle part of the album from the slower manifest that had come immediately prior to it. Then we have “Luv Sick” (spelled LUV) which it probably the closest the band comes to writing a song from their halcyon days, at the least lyrically if not necessarily musically. “It Ain’t Easy” is an interesting piece as well, as Pearcy actually sounds more like Axl Rose on this song than he does his normal self. Basing itself on an acoustic rock sound, it seems like a strange choice, but again appears to be at the whim of the co-writer on the track, which this time is the producer of the album. Possibly the best two songs on the album are left until last. “All the Way” is the best sounding song, best tempo-ed track, and most enjoyable of everything on this album. I think it would have been a better album overall if they had stuck to this formula more than they did. And the album closer “So Good, So Fine” rocks more than everything before it as well. It seems like an oversight to leave both of these songs until the end, when they may well have picked up the interest of the album if they had been utilised earlier in the track list.
I initially found Ratt the band through my heavy metal music dealer in high school and loved them from the outset with their first two albums, “Out of the Cellar” and “Invasion of Your Privacy”. They were hair metal gold, one of the best of that genre coming through and I played those albums to death over a number of years.
I didn’t pick up this album until about three years after its release, mainly because I wasn’t even sure the band was still together at that time, or that they released another album after all those years. So when I first got the album I was looking forward to what it contained. To say I was underwhelmed and disappointed would be accurate. As I have mentioned throughout this review, the music is of a different genre than what I had enjoyed back in the glory days, and while I did understand why that was the case, it didn’t make it any more palatable. Given the progression of metal music over the previous decade before this was released, I guess I expected the on-the-verge-of-the-millennium Ratt to be a more tuned down and aggressive style, harping on those characteristics that were most prevalent. Instead, we get what is basically a refined blues rock album, with a tempo and style that is not in the top five of my own favourite musical genres. The songs are composed well, and performed well. Pearcy’s vocals are not anything like what I expected from their original material, and there is not enough Warren de Martini magic on the guitar to help save these songs either.
Over the past week, I have listened to this album again, ten times in total, to correlate what I thought of the album at the time, and what I think of it now. My mind hasn’t been swayed from my reactions 20 years ago. I know when I first got the album I listened to it, found it was nothing like what I was listening to at that time, and shelved it. I can say with full confidence that now I have finished this podcast episode, it will return to my shelves without any qualms, where it can rest until the next time I have to do something similar to this. Which is probably never.
It would be another 11 years before Ratt released another studio album, which was also to be their last. But unlike this one, the band listened to their hearts and pulled out an amazing album. But that is for another day, a long way down the road.
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