SUMMERTIME SPIN: RATT-INVASION OF YOUR PRIVACY (1985)

Another big release that had just come out in my world in June 1985 was RATT with the followup to there 3 times platinum debut (Out of The Cellar) was “Invasion of Your Privacy”

I originally purchased this one on cassette tape so when I pedalled my bike to my summertime job I could crank up the RATT N ROLL so to say and plus it was a good pick me up when I was working that summer of ’85 with a starting time of 6 am!

The whole RATT team was brought back together again( Beau Hill once again was producing) and just like on the debut a supermodel was featured on the cover of the new album.

Sex Sells….

It worked as myself and Tbone grabbed this tape basically the day it dropped into the shelves of the local record shops. Like many we needed another hit of some sleaze ball L.A Rock and Stephen Pearcy and crew delivered.

Looking back on this album in 2021 I have to say it’s probably my favourite RATT album and I can honestly say I liked all of this bands output in the 80s. (even the patchy Reach For The Sky had some decent moments).

Where “Invasion” works is in the theory of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Realistically this record is Side 3 & 4 of “Out of The Cellar” and that’s not a knock but a compliment as the tracks that are on this record are still strong.

Opener “Your In Love” gets the party started (or continuing I guess in regards to the debut) and this tune features Warren DeMartini leading the charge on the 6 string not only on this song but all the songs throughout as Warren is one of the best to come out of LA at this time. (George Lynch would be the other).

From there the party continues as Stephen tells us to “Never Use Love” followed by Pearcy telling us all to “Lay It Down” (first single).

“Give It All” has a great pre chorus where Ratt flex’s some musical muscle which at time can be lost in the how these guys looked at the time.

Is there such a thing as RATT Ballad? “Closer To The Heart” may just be that. A tune I don’t mind and  usually when bands from this genre would do the the quote on quote ‘Power Ballad’ I would puke in my mouth as I knew that was the game to be played..

Side 2 begins with “Between The Eyes” which is a sleazy slow cooker of a track that goes into “What You Give Is What You Get” which is another slow paced cooker of a track.

If your an old fart like me (take a bow Tbone) than you will remember the old answering machines where you would record  a message on a  cassette tape so if somebody called they would hear your voice and at the end leave you a message.  In other words old school voice mail. Well, with “Got Me On The Line” the tune begins with a phone ringing and Pearcy answering “Hello” than the band kicks in..

That back in the early 90s when I was living on my own was my message so if you were on the other line you would get blasted with Pearcy answering and the band firing it up.

Young goofy people do young goofy thing’s!

I always liked “Got Me On The Line” which is a great little ass kicker of a 3 minute RATT track which Steve-O tells us all at the end of the song “Nobody hangs up on me!!” 

BAM!!

Straight into “You Should Know By Know” which is another great  track with DeMartini laying down some snazzy fret work. 

“Dangerous But Worth The Risk” which was the opener on the “Invasion Tour” ends the album with another stellar track. I like Blotz’s drumming on this tune as he drives that RATT rocket ship forward.

RATT comes out with two strong albums and by looking back at things the summer of ’85 if rocking was my business than business was FRIGGING GOOD!

 

 

Stats/Stats/Stats

 

Rockin Roberts/BMellis and Deke’s rocking out to Tom Keifer!

Hey Friends ….

Once again thanks to YOU the readers of this Blog who continually show up/read/comment around these parts and enjoy my Scribbles of Rawk!

Some Rando Info …Up to this point I have reviewed 452 albums/books/live shows…

I had a couple of guests as well to add to the total which were Tbone with a Hip and Van Halen review and my sister who reviewed Def Leppard recently! Tbone and Kristin did a fantastic job!

A total of 455 Posts and over 27,000 views in three years along with 8,525 comments!  Holy Crap! Thanks everyone!

I thought it would be cool to show u the Most Viewed Blogs from June 24th  2016 to June 24th 2017 (that’s when this Post was typed)…

dEke’s Top 10 Most Viewed Rambling’s are….

1-Sebastian Bach/18 & LIfe On Skid Row- Yup Ladies and Gents in the past year a Book takes the top spot. Mikey Ladano posted my review on his Twitter page in which Baz seen and retweeted it to his Twitter and posted it to his Facebook Page. Thanks Mikey….and just goes to show you  that people are watching what you post even coming from a  rock schmuck sitting at his computer in Tbay!

2-Toque-Is the all star Canuck only group featuring Todd Kerns/Cory Churko and Brent Fitz who released a fun Canuck only cover album featuring a bunch of cool cover tunes with an updated sound! Thanks to Cory who posted my review on the Toque Facebook homepage!

3-Stephen Pearcy/Smash-  Stevie-o totally stepped up on this album and kicked out the jams in superb 80’s sleazeball rock that totally blew me away. Blown away that Stephen plastered my review on his Twitter and Facebook page and sent me a thanks via messenger!

4-Rock The Fort Day 2/The Cult/Cinderfella…- This was the ass kicking festival that showed up in Tbay and was a two day affair with Day2 headlined by Wolfchild and Duffy who basically ruled the weekend with there performance(check out current release Hidden City folk’s) Must also mention that Tommy Keifer showed up and played a wicked set of Cinderella tunes and solo stuff. Ol Tommy almost stole the weekend….Trews/Helix and Doucette also played this day as well! Great day of Live Rock!

5-Helix/Wild In The Streets-This review was written a few years back and Helix bassist Daryl Gray  graciously posted my review at the time. Daryl a few months ago reposted it via his memories on Facebook and this review picked up a bunch of steam again. Why not! Its a great album and ‘Whacha Bringing To The Party?”

6-Age of Electric/Live at Crocks,April 7th 2017- AOE showed up played Tbay and blew myself and Tbone out of the water with an airtight show filled with a ton of cool tunes. Met the dudes afterwards and they signed my discs and were all cool to chat with.

7th (Tie)- Metal Heart/Aiming High With Accept- Author Martin Popoff wrote a wicked good read on Accept that is well worth the dough. I am by no means a huge Accept fan but Martin delved in a band that really wasn’t written about much even back in the day so it’s these kind of Rock Books that peak my interest level. Martin interviews all these Accept dudes so it’s not some bullshit read. Check out  Popoff’s site.

7th(Tie)-Age of Electric/The Pretty Ep-AOE comes in with there second Top 10 entry and for Todd Kerns it’s 2 Top Tens here with AOE along with Toque. Dude is everywhere. AOE after a ton of years had passed put out this little ass kicker of an EP that is worth your time friends. Do check out!

8-The Tragically Hip-Roxy & Elsewhere- A bunch of fellow writers decided to do a 200 word only review and I choose to do this great soundboard bootleg of The Hip that was recorded back in 1991! They are on fire on this release. Highway Girl and Killer Whale Tank are so good as singer Gord Downie is looped and in another time zone but is so good at telling stories with the Hips riding shotgun and blasting off a ton of riffs underneath! Pure Brilliance and Geoff Stephen would and will be proud to see this entry of his hometown homey’s!

9-KISS Rocks Vegas- Is the audio portion from KISS’s Vegas performance that Mikey Ladano sent me! (Thanks Mikey) How could KISS not crack the Top 10.  These old Geezers are a part of my Musical DNA so to speak and say what you will. Whether you like em or hate em Kiss are a great discussion …..

10-Swords And Tequila/Riots Classic First Decade-Martin Popoff scores a second book here in the Top 10 and Riot is a band I love that stuck out great albums but for some reason never lifted off. Martin did his homework here, Tons of interviews/pics/the real story of which took me right back to over 3 decades ago.  Riot had even less written about them than Accept! Martin fixed that problem and wrote what I feel is one of his best written works!

Well,there you have it. Kinda wild that 3 books cracked the Top 10! Some Cancon is included withThe Hip, AOE,Helix & Toque.  Kinda of a neat mix really….

Thanks for reading….

 

Stephen Pearcy/ Smash (2017)

SMASH is released today! January 27th 2017! I’m on it!

Ya gotta hand it to Stephen Pearcy as in this day and age he still is putting out quality product. When Steve-o split from RATT in the early 90’s Stephen did not disappear  no sirree folks he put out the Wickedly Excellent Arcade record which when I  reviewed it I stated that the Arcade debut could hold its own against any Ratt album! Yeah man it’s soooooo good.( and thanks to Aaron at KMA who recently sent me a second copy of the Arcade debut after Aaron said the first copy he sent to me was kinda scuffed! Thanks a bunch Dude!)

Now I’m not gonna get into the whole drama of whats going in the RATT camp currently (It’s all over the music sites…) instead its to bring some attention to this 2017 version of L.A Sleazey Style done the Pearcy way!

SMASH is just that.  A smattering  of different rock styles. No Filler just Pearcy Killer as the songs ooze cool…

The Tunes….

1. I Know I’m Crazy
2. Ten Miles Wide
3. Shut Down Baby
4. Dead Roses
5. Lollipop
6. Hit Me With A Bullet
7. Rain
8. Want Too Much
9. What Do Ya Think
10. Jamie
11. I Can’t Take It (Album Version)
12. Passion Infinity
13. Summer’s End

The Cast of SMASH…….

Stephen E. Pearcy – Lead Vocals, Back-up Vocals……Erik Ferentinos – Rhythm & Lead Guitars, Back-up Vocals …….Greg D’Angelo – Drums, Percussion…….. Matt Thorne – Bass Guitar …….Chris Hager – Guitars, Lead Guitars on track #3 

So if you’re keeping score in the Rock Trivia side of things. Drummer D’Angelo drummed in White Lion. Ferentino has been with Pearcy for a ton of years and has known him for decades as Pearcy name drops’s him in Stephen’s autobiography  book Sex/Drugs/Ratt N Roll. Hager was from Rough Cutt who stuck out a decent debut album back in 85 and were managed by Dio’s people but fizzled out quick… Come to think of it Hager and Pearcy were band mates in a very early incarnation of Rough Cutt before Steve-o formed Ratt. There ya go….

I Know I’m Crazy opens the album and were off. Straight ahead 4 on the floor rocker and this is Pearcy 2017! Still a ton of Piss N Vinegar in that old Goats Voice. Right off the hop you know this album from the production end is gonna sound huge! Crunchy like guitars and hooks.

Ten Miles Wide is the second song in and Steve and crew take no prisoners as this is their strength which is a straight ahead mid tempo Hard Rock Gem! The guitars are jacked and the chorus is pure Gold! Which kinda brings me to another point as people rip on Pearcy’s vocals live but who gives a S**T! Listen to the audio below!

Rain features D’Angelo rumbling around on his kit and features the big chant chorus of Rain. A slow like brooding melodic rocker that keeps the album chugging along.

When you really dig your heel’s into Smash of course its sounds a lot like Ratt and it goes to show you who had a huge hand in shaping the sound of Ratt. Case in point Want To Much sounds like a it could have slid right in on Ratt’s 1990’s Detonator album as the guitars laid down by Ferentino and Hager have that throwback sound to Crosby(RIP)/De Martini picking on those Ratt albums! Definitely not a bad thing!

Jamie is one of those throwback 80 tunes! Hey don’t knock it especially when your speeding  down Pearcy Drive as Stephen eats and sleeps this stuff. The lyrics for sure tell the tale of a lady named Jamie and you know  Steve’s deal…”The way you pull into me!” sings Steve-o and he continues with “A nice surprise!”  Folks this is not rocket science but just a good time party tune about a (ahem) Lady!

I Can’t Take It has been floating around on iTunes for well over a year(I’m not big on buying “Singles”) as Pearcy would release a track here and their. Supposedly he reworked it up in the studio with Ratt’s producer back in the day Beau Hill. Another great rock track that oozes a toss back to a classic sound of yesteryear! You can watch and hear it for yourself below. Lot’s of Ladies in this video to keep my Good Pal Rockin Roberts amused!

Glad to see the old Road Dawg Pearcy out there just doing it and you got to hand it to Stephen as he just keeps doing what he does. Which for me is Good Ol Fashioned 80’s like Sleaze Rock with a added twist of keeping it Catchy!

One more thing! Kinda cool that this for me is the first Hard Rock release of new material in 2017! Atta Boy Pearcy!

Is it 1987 or 2017?

Get This!

 

 

 

 

Arcade/Arcade (1993)

1993 ! Kurt Cobain and The Seattle Tsunami  wiped out everything 80s Rock or as the Kids would say Hair Metal!

Yeah, well tell Stephen Pearcy(ex Ratt Lead Singer) that! Steve-O did not get that memo! By quitting Ratt in 1991 he formed Arcade with drummer Fred Coury(Fred was in  the band Cinderella and left that band I believe around the same time.)

From there Stephen and Fred secured a major record deal with Epic Records while others from the so-called Hair Genre(Warrant, Posion,Winger,BulletBoys,White Lion and many more) just crumbled  into Quicksand known as Grunge!

This album on so many levels Kicks Ass! Even Til this day! Pearcy and Coury when they began writing tunes did the right  thing and did some co writes with Jim Vallance(Bryan Adams sidekick songwriter for many a year).

Some will say ‘its kinda like Ratt” Sure it is but this is Pearcys deal as Ratt was his deal as it was his voice but Arcade kinda kicks it up a notch a little more Sleaze Ball Sunset Strip Style RnR for my liking!

So Stephen and Fred along with Frankie Wilsex(guitar) Donny Syracuse(guitar) & Michael Andrews(bass) roll up their sleeves and slam down what I consider a real good blast from the past  LA Rock but at the time keeping  the eye on not being stagnant and trying to move forward in a market at the time that didn’t want to know about them!

The Songs…..

“Dancin’ with the Angels”
“Nothin’ to Lose”
“Calm Before the Storm”
“Cry No More”
“Screamin’ S.O.S.”
“Never Goin’ Home”
“Messed Up World”
“All Shook Up”
“So Good… So Bad…”
“Livin’ Dangerously”
“Sons and Daughters”
“Mother Blues”

Arcade light the Sleaze Fuse with Dancin With The Angels the opening track as they rocket out of the gate with the best song that Aerosmith didn’t write in the 1990s! Seriously Dancin sets the tempo with a ton of bottom end between Fred’s Drums and Micheals  Bass while  the buzz saw guitars lay down some slick slide  work at a pissed off pace set forth by the rhythm section! Add in some Steve Tyler ‘Yelps’ at the beginning and we’re off! Think Aerosmith finding there stash and dipping into it and hitting the Sonic Highway….Yeah Man This Rocks! Watch the video and Yup Crank It!

Nothin To Lose begins with some serious Bass and drums with some added percussion added to the fire and here’s the first of four Vallance co writes as  Pearcy and Company are not easing off the gas folks! Nothin To Lose is a straight ahead take no prisoners track and keeps the Party Bus rolling! Catchy Chorus and Pearcy could always nail down a decent hook. Must mention the two guitar players  Frankie and Donny as they play cool solos on this album not that dipity do dah wank fests of the 80s! This here is the 90s!

Calm Before The Storm is a beast of a track! The  song starts off with guitars a riffing at a slow yet heavy clip and almost with a tinge of Aero tossed in for good flavour! The verses here are dope sick excellent as Pearcy takes control of the song and the Arcade Boys back him up! Wowzer’s! The vibe is so good! The Video is posted at the top of page. Crank it!

Oh Oh! Track 4 is the Ballad! Cry No More is built around the piano but due to the excellent production this song does not whimper  but more like a kicker and I’m real good with this style of ballad per se! This not your Poison Ballad Like Drivel(take your pick)Arcade and basically Coury drives this song and I must mention on this album Fred has 7 co writes on this record of course Pearcy dabbles in all 12 tracks but give it up for the Drummer Guy!  Cry No More really ramps and catches fire at the end with a real sweet spot of Syrupy Hard Rock that is so freaking good that I  can honestly say that these 4 tracks stand up and in some cases are better than the first 4 tracks on some  Ratt albums….Yup! You read that right!

The rest of Arcade is No Frills Rock N Roll and Pearcy delivers as this is his style and he doesn’t  reinvent the wheel. Steve-o just adds air to the tires and blasts off!

Screamin S.O.S,Never Goin’ Home,Messed Up World,All Shook Up totally subscribe to the theory of Loud Guitars,Big Drums and Great Vocal Screechin!

At the back end of the album is the piano driven ballad So Good…..So Bad and for all the times I holler ” I hate syrup added with cheese” in regards to Sap Tracks. Pearcy man his vocals sound tortured and he digs deep into the vocal and pulls it off. Surprising? No not really even back in the Ratt Hey Day of the roaring 80s Steve could dial-up a decent slow-paced track and not syrup out the sonics!

The album finishes up with Sons & Daughters(short little acoustic ditty) followed by the end of the album Acoustic  Driven Mother Blues

Ass Kicker of a debut comes to mind and this album is a classic!

On a side note I have to Thank Aaron from the K.M.A who about a year was going to Toronto with Mikey Ladano and Aaron always asks everyone in the blogging community if they want him to look for albums that are hard to find! We call it the Holy Grail!

I tossed out Arcade!( misplaced this album years ago and my policy is I will not review anything that is not in my iPod )Aaron looked last year couldn’t  find it and that was that right?!

Wrongo! Sitting in my inbox a few weeks back was the full album sent to me! Aaron called it Christmas In May! Ha! So true and then a few days later the cd arrived via Snail Mail! Aaron living in Southern Ontario tracked Arcade down in Nova Scotia!

Thanks Heaps Aaron….

Community……….

Ratt/Ratt (1983)

This is my fourth Ratt album review! Mötley Crüe I have reviewed 7 of their albums (5 of them are 1980s releases). What I’m getting at is after all these years when I compare the 80s output and compare the two bands (Motley and Ratt) it’s Ratt that in my opinion had the better recorded output. With Ratt’s stuff,Reach For The Sky was a dicey one at best. Where as the Crue had some real patchy albums with Theatre Of Pain and Girls Girls Girls leading the way. But back in the 80s I never picked up on this as Nikki sold me on the image,the live shows the cool threads,the motorcycles,the chicks where Ratt it was just the same look same everything image wise about them except the Ratt albums were pretty consistent with some real cool good material.

Ha! Who woulda thunk it!

Ratt released this Ep back in 1983 on their Time Coast Label and this 6 song firecracker is a full-out rock attack.

Stephen Pearcy(vocals) Warren DeMartini (guitar) Juan Croucier(bass) Robbin Crosby (guitar,RIP) and Bobby Blotzer(drums) let the world know that there gonna be Infested! Hahaha….that was brutal….

SWEET CHEATER-Blotzer rolls out the double bass to get the proceeding underway and this is a solid kick in the ass to set things in motion! The sound is on the raw side with the guitars being a little trebly but who cares! What a way to enter the hard rock sweepstakes back in 1983! This song punches gas and DeMartini lays down the solo of which many more good ones were to follow.

YOU THINK YOUR TOUGH-Dig the opening riff! The lyrics as well are slick as its’s a well built mid tempo Rock track that features bassist Juan singing a line right before Ratt sleazes into the chorus. Great simple yet effective solo.

U GOT IT-Pearcy punches  the RATT Rocket forward and U Got It If You Want It is a great quick Ratt N Roller track that  takes no prisoners. Quick little ditty of a track as it sleazes just over the 3 minute mark. Believe it was there opener on the Out Of The Cellar Tour(1984)

TELL THE WORLD-Blotzer and the boys launch right into this song off the get go! Tell The World is another good song. Blotzer smashes the cymbals during the choruses and like so many Ratt tracks that were to follow DiMartini takes over!

BACK FOR MORE-Ahhh so this track did appear when the suits signed RATT to Atlantic Records but they chopped out the middle part of this tune where it breaks down in the middle and then builds back up and Warren takes over with the solo! Actually on this version Blotzer does a nice job drumming I mean let’s call it right here. Ratt could play their instuments and write a decent hook n melody! Back For More here proves it! If you recall the video for this tune Ratt enlisted Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx to play cops in the clip!

WALKIN THE DOG-Ratt wants to do this cover tune some justice just like Aerosmith did and does! Too be honest this cover kinda falls short as I would have preferred another original still though it’s all right! Now just go…..Walking The Dog!

FINAL YAMMER- Ratt 1983 did this album their own way and I’m sure let everyone know they were gonna be players in the Wham Bam Thank Ya Mam L.A Sleazestakes! The rawness and enthusiasm here shows as Ratt just go for the throat!

 

 

 

 

RATT/Reach For The Sky(1988)

When I think of this Ratt album (gulp) 28 years later the term ‘sinking ship’ applies somewhat. When Ratt released this album in  November of 1988 myself and Tbone were all over this! New Ratt N Roll!

Ratt I can say even to this day I still can listen too and dig! They had the hooks in the tunes and of course they had your complimentary LA guitar hero(Warren DeMartini) and could actually play.

This album though for all intent and purposes is starting to show some cracks. Some  songs for the most part are pretty good some waaaaay better than others (you’ll find out shortly).

Reach  For The Sky is album number 4! The first three were all million sellers and so was  this one and in the summer of 1989 when Ratt hit the tour trail we (Tbone and Moi ) jumped at the fact that Ratt/Great White and Kix were touring and we’re gonna be playing Ladanos favourite U.S City (Duluth Minnesota)

We secured tickets through a local travel agency who sold drive down packages (hotel and concert tickets for one night since Duluth is only 3 hrs away) to go for a good dose of Live Ratt N Roll….

A few days before the show I got the call that Ratt had cancelled Duluth  due to lack of tickets being sold??!!

WHUT! …..Duluth Arena holds about 5,000 or so and here’s Ratt with a million selling album(the first three went either platinum or double platinum) Great White whose Once Bitten Twice Shy album was at 2 million sold and Kix with Blow Your Fuse which was at gold status and they couldn’t sell enough tickets.. Geezus Murphy!

We also had tickets to go see Poison/Tesla in Duluth(that same summer 1989) and Poison pulled the plug (cancelled) as someone was sick! (Ha) Me and Tbone were on a 0-2 er! Things were looking bleak of course by the end of the summer the streak ended when good Ol Bon Jovi played Winnipeg and  showed up and saved the summer from a being a complete catastrophe!

Stephen Pearcy,Demartini,Bobby Blotzer,Juan Croucier and Robbin Crosby(RIP) keep the party rolling with some good tunes and some tunes that had to haven been written hungover….

Also in Pearcys Sex Drugs Ratt N Roll Bio  he tells us that when they recorded Reach For The Sky they blew tons of cash on wasted days wasted nights(partying,firing producers) and that Juan Croucier did all the bass on computer? Double WHUT!?

“I’ve had enough,we’ve had enough Cold In Vain…she said”

CITY TO CITY-Typical Sleazey Pearcy like tune! A good opener about the Ratt  Dudes rolling from well you guessed it City To City and all points in between! The verses groove along at a mid tempo pace and Steve-o sings a good opener of a track with Croucier providing his distinctive backing vocals.

I WANT A WOMAN-Aaaaah the single! So cheesey, so hokey. I dunno about this tune as RATT is  wanting some serious ladies to dig them and not some phony baloney type girls. Really? Was Bret Michaels handing out his Kraft cheesey single slices for Ratt to devour in the songwriting deptmartment? I think so! Musically the song isn’t bad,lyrically this is asinine like Kiss and their Lets Put The X In Sex song and video (take a bow BMellis)

WAY COOL JR-Whoa! Now we’re talking Guitar Hero Warren starts this sloppy sleazy cool summer breezes riff right out of the gate. Sample in some horns to give that Aero Groove and Ratt slam one right out of the park! Blotzer on the drums  pushes the groove and Pearcy delivers the vocal. Say what you want about his voice now but in the context of Ratt it suits him  fine.

DONT BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS-Mmmm Ratt delivers a pretty decent tune except for the chorus where that’s the weak part of this tune. The verse’s are solid with some decent playing and such but the chorus lags somewhat …

I WANT TO LOVE YOU TONIGHT-1988 Power Ballad! Cue set formula slow meandering beginning verses followed with big ass chorus and here’s Ratt doing syrupy like Poison drivel! Pearcy! Kick Bret Michael’s into 1989 please. Ratt your sleazy down in the dumpster kinda rockers not some balladeers? That’s why I dug Dancing Undercover(1986)  from these guys so much it was ripping Ratt Rock no fuss and no sap crap! Dancing Undercover was about chicks on the Greyhound Bus and such and creeping around 7th Avenue Looking For Love that shit is the deal. But Ratt knew they needed to play the game.

CHAIN REACTION-Blotzer rolls up some double bass drumming and this is Ratt I like best! Straight ahead rocker,dumbo fun lyrics,catchy chorus all wrapped up with a Warren guitar solo! Watch the live vid I posted from 1988 of them performing this song live!

NO SURPRISE-“Why Live Your Life …Why!” Sings Steve -0 and Ratt slow things down to boil it’s almost like they wanna do a Aerosmith groove like tune but these songs are kinda overproduced so the swagger is lost. This song isn’t bad it’s just Ratt has done way better…

BOTTOM LINE-Things pick up as Blotzer smacks the drums and Warren plays almost a pre grungy like guitar against Pearcys voice. Bottom Line is Stephen telling the old lady that come hell or high water its you him together that’s the Bottom Line! This tune is pretty good. I am a sucker for back alley slobber rock!

WHATS IT GONNA BE-A real cool DeMartini opening riff and if Ratt would have fine tuned this song  a little more it could have been a possible single. Kinda corny lyrics but Warren basically saves this song with his playing.

WHAT I’M AFTER-Ratt bid adieu with the last track and its a good Ol Ratt Romper of a song I suppose. Nothing to really write home about. It’s just there. Typical verse,chorus,verse,chorus,Warren plays a cool solo back to the verse and end of album.

FINAL YAMMER- Reach For The Sky is kinda a hodge podge of hit n miss Ratt Rock! The album starts off strong but loses steam and certain parts lag as in Ratt is going through the motions.  Still City To City,Chain Reaction and Way Cool Jr. are all solid tracks while others if they would have tweaked around or perhaps put the recording  studio snow(blower) away things may have turned out better.

Still though I dig Ratt and their next album Detonator was a total bounce back to respectability even though the masses somewhat disagreed.

Further Ratt reading can be found here for …Invasion Of Your Privacy…….https://superdekes.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/sonic-waves-rattinvasion-of-your-privacy/

 

And Dancing Undercover here…https://superdekes.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/sonic-waves-rattdancing-undercover/

SONIC WAVES……Ratt/Dancing Undercover

So fall time 1986 as the leafs are changing colour and here comes a new Ratt album,Dancing Undercover and upon first listen it sounds like they rushed it out and I remember Tbone saying those exact words to me at the time in our hallowed halls of Lakeview High School. Who knows maybe Tbone still feels that way but for me I think out of all the Ratt albums I think over time this one has become a sleeper hit,one that flies under the radar as everyone focuses on especially Out Of The Cellar. Too bad but hey if your reading this thanks and check this one out If want some Raunch N Roll!

Lets hop on the Ratt tour bus and listen to what’s cooking!

DANCE- first impression of the lead single is man Ratt is stripping down the sound. Gone is the high gloss of the two previous Atlantic releases (Out Of The Cellar & Invasion Of Your Privacy) and the ladies are boarding the Greyhound bus towards the Ratt show. Warren DeMartini like he always does plays some blistering rock guitar and carries the tune as he usually does. This is a good leadoff number and Ratt N Roll is alive and well…..

ONE GOOD LOVER-Dance barely ends and it’s into One Good Lover and that’s the thing with this album the songs are coming at ya fast and furious as there is hardly any space between em. The guitars are mixed raw and I can honestly say here and I might be setting myself up for some debate this may be Ratts record version of Aerosmiths Done With Mirrors! Track two and this record is dripping with sleazeball Rock .

DRIVE ME CRAZY- is a straight ahead no nonsense rocker and features the late Robbin Crosby on lead guitar and such. This record is starting to feel like there’s gonna be no ballads I mean if there is its gonna be a raunched out love song! Whatever the hell that means!

SLIP OF THE LIP-real cool song it kinda does have that old school Aerosmith feel to it.” Slip Slip,Slip of the Lip “bellows Pearcy and sidekick Warren delivers the tune on his painted up Charvel guitar. Man you feel the sleaze dripping with grease from this tune as it slips and slide all over the map and why wouldn’t it? There from LA !

BODY TALK-yep another single and this was on the Eddie Murphy movie that flopped (Golden Child) but this song is not a flopper as it rocks! Bobby Blotzer steamrolls his drums in double bass fashion and hahaha he looks like he’s about to code blue at any moment! Another ripping solo and that seems to be the deal with Ratt as long as Dimartini is writing guitar riffs Ratt is safe…some what….

LOOKING FOR LOVE- side 2 begins with Stephen Pearcy slinking around Looking For Love and with any Ratt record yep it’s the guitars that carry the tune but also bassist and backing vocalist Juan Croucier who you can hear in all the Ratt tracks and his voice blends well with Pearcys (ahem) vocal style!

7th AVENUE- for me this is one of the highlights from  Ratt. It’s a slower tune but with all those 80s elements of more sleazeball LA rhythms from the original Ratt Bastards. This song for me oooooozes cool!

IT DOESNT MATTER- this song bounces along at a Ratt like style and well this another one of those albums that the songs are still snappy towards the end and for me that’s always a gauge of good Rockin coolness! Croucier is cranked up with his backing vocals and man thats  always a good thing

TAKE A CHANCE- Steve-o is staggering around the local Holiday Inn bar circa 1986 scoring chicks and would you the lady reader here take a chance? Hahaha….the song fits in nicely and if we’re keeping score there’s no snoozer like power ballads here so far! And hey even after all these years later (2014) I can honestly say I can listen to this album front to back no probs…no probs whatsoever!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH- Pearcy and Demartini start of the final track on Dancing Undercover and man it’s a great number cuz Emough is Enough is it love is it love cuz enough  is enough..Hahahaha …sometimes goofy cornholio lyrics but I’m ok with that! It’s all about the Rock!

IN CONCLUSION-I would have to say as some of you may be snickering at this review don’t judge a 80s hair metal Rock act by there look! Listen with your ears people! Ratt for me was not rocket science just straight ahead good time rock n roll! Ratt didn’t care either. Look at the cover ( the picture for the vid of 7th Avenue is the cover)for this record they don’t give a shit it’s just there mugs and the packaging to this record was pathetic but man the grooves inside rocked and for me that’s all that matters!

SONIC WAVES…RATT/Invasion Of Your Privacy

1985 is year two into Ratt’s run from there self titled major label debut Out Of The Cellar (1984)to Ratt’s final release 1990’s Detonator which basically after it’s release Ratt’s career Detonated! Too bad, they had a good run a lot better than some others and I always thought they were above a lot of LA bands at the time. I liked there albums but out of all of them I really dug Invasion Of Your Privacy. Take away there look at the time and just listen with your ears! Good band ….the 80s were great for me to listen to music as there was no youtube and if you wanted info and concert dates it was through magazines like Circus,Kerrang,Hit Parader,Metallion and Music Express. Nowadays a guy will get ripped apart by a youtube post a few minutes after his performance back than you would have no knowledge of anything. So perhaps a guy like Pearcy dodged a ton of verbal bullets back than because nowadays he is continuously ripped for his live vocals on youtube but no matter back in 1985 Pearcy was holding the fort down vocally or did Beau Hill help with studio gadgets? Who knows for sure but..

Let’s check it out….

YOUR IN LOVE- Ratt n Roll takes off on this opening number. Ratt crashes the party and Pearcy tells us ‘ You take the midnight subway train,ya Callin the shots….” Cool Pearcy is taking control of the situation and man if he found out that back in 1985 that I never had taken a subway but always rode around on a transit bus he would have  kicked my ass! Good opening track sets the tone and Warren Demartini flashes out some cool licks…

NEVER USE LOVE- two songs in, two songs with love so Pearcy shifts gears and than tells us to Never Use Love …geez pal first it’s Your In Love now this …where’s Dear Abbey? Cool song as well Bobby Blotzer Blotzes the drums on this track and the rest of the guys ummm lay it down so to spreak. Also of note of how importance of bassist Juan Crouciers backing vocals were on the Ratt records.

LAY IT DOWN- the first single and for me probably the weakest track out of this whole album. It’s a good Ratt song not a great Ratt song . The video was good …in a 1985 kinda way!

GIVE IT ALL- this is a great rocker of a track. Cool pre Chorus into Chorus. Snappy Ratt n Roll from these pesky rodents! Good Ratt track….

CLOSER TO THE HEART- wow the first ever Ratt somewhat ballad but you know what? It chugs along pretty good I mean Crouciers backing vocals carry the tune and of course Pearcy sounds good hear also.

BETWEEN THE EYES-kinda of a slow builder of a tune to kick off side two. Kinda of a melodic Chorus but a good song never the less. Kinda gets missed for some reason….

WHAT YOU GIVE IS WHAT YOU GET-that’s the cool thing about Ratt’s music. They put out pretty solid albums and kinda had there own sound. They weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel here people. Ratt just wanted to infest people with there Ratt n Roll. Gosh that was brutal critique….but I will run with it!

GOT YOU ON THE LINE – HOLY CRAP!! The rotary phone rings off the hook and Pearcy answers with a …..deep hello! And the band kicks in and this is a snappy two and half minute Ratt ball rocker and was one of my faves especially at the end when Pearcy lays down the law with a ‘ Nobody hangs up on me” that’s right man no one and I mean no one hangs up on Steve-o!!

YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW- Got You On The Line ends with a thud and Ratt crashes into this little ditty of a kicker track. Actually I wish Ratt would have done more of these kinda back to back tunes. Short to the point ! Cool guitaring (Warren Demartini and Robbin Crosby(RIP) ) on this song and album for that matter. Atlantic records must have dumped some change on this album cause the production sounded big !

DANGEROUS BUT WORTH THE RISK- the albums ends with another all out kicker. This was there opening tune on the Privacy Tour. Actually the last three tracks I always thought on Invasion were there three strongest tracks and the rest ain’t too bad either. In other words Ratt kept me amused as a listener to the end of the party,well there party!

IN CONCLUSION- RATT was good rock for a time and like I said had a tidy little run in the 80s for about 7-8 years and of course there like other bands nowadays  touring with or without original guys but hey man I dug em and Ratt deserves some respect in these pages of rock n roll babble !

 

What Comes Around Goes Around…

 

 

April 2003 /Stephen Pearcy And The Rat Bastards/Thunder Bay

So it’s announced Steve-o and his band of jolly men would be playing 4 shows in Canada(April 2003) and Thunder Bay is one of em??!

Say what??!. So Pearcy shows up to play a packed out bar on a Tuesday night which is no mean feat but here is the man who sleaze balled Ratt on a little tidy run in the 80s so Me and TBone were off to the show. The last time we had a chance to see Ratt live was on there Reach For The Sky tour 1989 in Duluth with them, Great White and Kix. Me and TBone had our tickets but not too many others as the show was scrapped due to lack of tickets being sold. So it was good when Pearcy showed up to the bar which I think was called Coyotes at the time and it was like said earlier packed. Ol Steve took the stage to a new solo track called You Talkin To Me good but umm  now it’s into In My Direction,Body Talk,Wanted Man,Lack Of Communication, Pearcy knew what we wanted and he delivered ya his voice sounds nasally  blown out  but who cares man it’s the dude who sold platinum and he’s here in front of us. The Rat Bastards his backing band was solid,but he could have used Juan Croucier (on backing vocals)! Great show.

So the show ends and I did bring my vinyl and cd just in case but I didn’t want to lug it around (I left it in Tbones truck)the bar so the bar dj says after Pearcys set that Steve will meet ya ( for free) and sign whatever.

I told TBone ahh man lets just split he said hang on gotta go to the bathroom,a few minutes later he shows up, the slider went outside to his truck and grabbed the Ratt Ep and Arcade disc and told me quote u quote ” you will regret not getting this stuff signed now get over their cuz I really have to go for a piss!” off TBone went  and I was taken downstairs and there was Steve and Frankie from Arcade. First thing I said to Steve was hey could you sign my vinyl? He said yeah man and thru out a” Holy Shit and said where did u get this Ep”? I told I got it about around 1984 when I went down to Duluth to see Sammy Hagar and we went to  record shop called Last Place On Earth. He laughed and said cool..and signed it. He was really a chill down to earth guy,no attitude whatsoever. I also told him that the two Arcades were excellent as well he said thanks and then I met Frankie and said can you sign my disc (Frankie plays on both Arcade releases)he said for sure and then asked me how long the drive was from Tbay to their next show in Brandon Manitoba I told him I dunno around 9 hrs..he laughed ,he said the drive from Toronto to Thunder Bay just about killed them…..

Thanks TBone …..