Review: Ratt – The Atlantic Years 1984 – 1990

BMG (June 9th, 2023)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

The significance of Ratt onto the early 80s hard rock scene cannot be understated. Following in the wake of the success of Mötley Crüe and Quiet Riot, Ratt was the next band to bring the nation’s attention to the smouldering LA rock scene that would soon erupt in a blast that would have youths around the world run out and buy copious amounts of hairspray and jacket patches. Atlantic Records have seen it fit to re-release all their albums in a vinyl and CD boxset package as part of their “Atlantic Years” series. As with the Skid Row set review I wrote up in 2021, I will write a mini-review of each album followed by my thoughts on the entire collection.

Let’s begin with the missed opportunity. This set would have sold a few million units around the world had Atlantic figured out a way to secure the rights to the S/T EP from 1983. They distributed that release for Time Coast Communications and released a track from it on their 1991 best of compilation. Surely, they must know how to acquire the rights. If there was ever a time to re-release this much sought after recording, this would have been it.

Nonetheless, their first full length album release is their magnum opus. ‘Out of the Cellar’ is a landmark achievement. One of the greatest albums to come out of the scene and one of the best albums of the 80s overall. The biggest surprise for me is that the album only sold three million units in the US, and that’s the most recent data. In the mid-80s, I believe the album only went double platinum. Every song is a winner here, not just the hits. My only wish is that ‘Lack of Communication’ should have been released as a single. If the decade had a Top 5 riffs ranking, this song surely would have made the Top 3. The very definition of a hook-laden killer riff!

It would have been difficult for any band to try and top such a release and they gave it their best shot with ‘Invasion of Your Privacy’. I know people who say this is their favorite album from them, but parts of it are not as strong as what came before. The singles were great, with ‘You’re In Love’ being one of their best songs. Other songs like ‘Never Use Love’ and ‘Got Me On The Line’ also smoke.  However, tracks like ‘Closer To My Heart’ and ‘What You Give Is What You Get’ don’t hold a candle to anything off their prior album.

It was at this point in their career that the band was beginning to burn out. The excessive recording and touring schedule, not to mention all the copious drugs, were getting to them and their song constructions started to show fractures. That’s not to say there are not some winners on ‘Dancing Undercover’, but there were certainly diminishing returns. Tracks like ‘Dance’ and ‘Body Talk’ are terrific and non-singles like ‘One Good Lover’ and ‘It Doesn’t Matter’ have some great melodies. This may ruffle some feathers, but I don’t think ‘Slip of the Lip’ should have been released as a single.  It sounds like an album filler to me.  Never got the hype for this song.

Now we move on to what I believe is regarded as the least favorite Ratt album by many of their fans. ‘Reach For The Sky’ is not a bad album. I actually prefer it to the two albums that came before. The believe the issue lies in the infusion of more of a pop, commercial feel as evidenced by track ‘I Want A Woman’. Great song, but male fans would not be caught dead mouthing the words to this song. They do tap into harder edge material with ‘Chain Reaction’ but that song is an outlier. Finally, and I know many will disagree, ‘Way Cool, Jr.’ is one of the weakest songs in their entire catalog.  I always hated that song.

With the band running out of steam from the pressures of touring and album sales that were steady but not improving, a change was needed. Enter the esteemed Desmond Child to work with the band on constructing songs that would elevate the band back into the spotlight from which they were fading…or at least that’s how it should have gone. ‘Detonator’ is my second favorite of the Atlantic releases, and the injection of Mr. Child’s hit potential is all over this album. Excluding one or two tracks, every song is a winner. With such great songs, why did this release only go Gold and not Platinum? Perhaps it’s due to the first single. While ‘Loving You is a Dirty Job’ is a solid track, I don’t think it was a commercially viable one. They should have led with ‘Shame Shame Shame’ which was eventually released as a single. By the time they released ‘Givin’ Yourself Away’, the band was on their last legs, as evident by a slapped together video for the single, featuring only two of the band members.

I would love to tell you how the remastered songs sound on vinyl, but as a reviewer, we only get the CD conversions. There is nothing to indicate in any media I saw that the CDs are remastered. The songs that were released to reviewers by BMG were of lower quality (320kbps mp3) and there was no way to compare how they sounded. The vinyl set does come with some nice tchotchkes as well as a 7” single of the last recorded song with the original line-up, ‘Nobody Rides for Free’. The CD box set comes with none of these items.

Bottom line, if you have most or all the CDs from the band, there is no need to purchase this release. If you are a vinyl enthusiast and/or really love the band enough for the bonus materials, then this is targeted directly at you. As a collection overall, this is one of the premier bands of the genre for good reason and you can’t go wrong with a set of songs this strong if you feel the need to collect them all at once.

Tracklist:

Out Of The Cellar (1984)

1. Wanted Man

2. You’re In Trouble

3. Round And Round

4. In Your Direction

5. She Wants Money

6. Lack Of Communication

7. Back For More

8. The Morning After

9. I’m Insane

10. Scene Of The Crime

Invasion Of Your Privacy (1985)

1. You’re In Love

2. Never Use Love

3. Lay It Down

4. Give It All

5. Closer To My Heart

6. Between The Eyes

7. What You Give Is What You Get

8. Got Me On The Line

9. You Should Know By Now

10. Dangerous But Worth The Risk

Dancing Undercover (1986)

1. Dance

2. One Good Lover

3. Drive Me Crazy

4. Slip Of The Lip

5. Body Talk

6. Looking For Love

7. 7th Avenue

8. It Doesn’t Matter

9. Take A Chance

10. Enough Is Enough

Reach For The Sky (1988)

1. City To City

2. I Want A Woman

3. Way Cool Jr.

4. Don’t Bite The Hand That Feeds

5. I Want To Love You Tonight

6. Chain Reaction

7. No Surprise

8. Bottom Line

9. What’s It Gonna Be

10. What I’m After

Detonator (1990)

1. Intro To Shame

2. Shame Shame Shame

3. Lovin’ You’s A Dirty Job

4. Scratch That Itch

5. One Step Away

6. Hard Time

7. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

8. All Or Nothing

9. Can’t Wait On Love

10. Givin’ Yourself Away

11. Top Secret