Ratt

Ratt
$11.98
I was never a real big Ratt fan although I thought they were okay. But this CD is fantastic. I love it and probably listen to it more than any other CD I have.

My favorite song is We Don't Belong. So awesome!

Out of the Cellar
$5.98
this is a nice little rock album. again hair metal we're not supposed to admit to liking. but every song on this with it's infectous groove will have you singing along.

Tell the World: The Very Best of Ratt
$18.98
A good collection of Ratt songs...but how can you leave out You Think Your Tough. Still worth owning for a greatest hits collection.

Reach for the Sky
$5.98
Offstage, RATT may have been a band that delved into countless excesses, but the group's album's -- like many heavy metal records of the time period -- were to-the-point and refreshingly easy to grasp. Made for the masses, albums like Out of the Cellar (1984) and Dancing Undercover (1986) were chunky 10-song gems that little rockers like me could grasp right away, rife with clean-sounding riffs, exuberant solos by Warren DeMartini, swinging bass, booming drums and of course Stephen Pearcy's scratchy vocals, which may have defined RATT most of all. These guys were backstage sinners and proud of it, with sexually laden lyrics that bordered on the ridiculous. But RATT were also top-notch songwriters who proved to be a fun and worthwhile band to keep track of during the 1980s.

RATT's third record, "Reach for the Sky" (1988) displayed the band clicking on all cylinders. It begins with the rousing "City to City, one of my favorite RATT tunes ever. In it, you seem to hear a band running at full throttle, touring hard but not tired; musically jacked up but not yet jaded. Pearcy sounds as fierce as ever, and the song perfectly leads off an album that showcases RATT's ability to expand its sound just a bit. Mixed with pop elements ("I Want a Woman," "What's it Gonna Be"), a touch of vibrant blues-rock ("Way Cool Jr."), a mandatory ballad ("I Want to Love You Tonight") and some good -- if a bit formulaic -- hard rockers ("Don't Bite the Hand that Feeds You," "Chain Reaction," "No Surprise," "Bottom Line"), "Reach for the Sky" sticks close to the tried and true formula while tepidly branching out into other realms. Through it all, the impressive and underrated backing vocals of DeMartini, the late Robbin Crosby and Juan Croucier enhance each song and offer further depth behind Pearcy's equally large wails. Also of note is the album's mid-tempo closer, "What I'm After," which may have made a good radio single.

Far from earthy, RATT albums were usually always so cleanly produced by Beau Hill that they were impossible not to be drawn into, at least for me. Of course, it takes good songs to keep people engaged, and RATT had those in spades, too.