Ratt: Out Of The Cellar - Album Of The Week Club review
Ratt's Out Of The Cellar was a tidy serving of arena-baiting pop metal, often to be found soundtracking the heart of a Saturday night
By Classic Rock
Wanted Man
You're in Trouble
Round and Round
In Your Direction
She Wants Money
Lack of Communication
Back for More
The Morning After
I'm Insane
Scene of the Crime
Ratt revolved around big-mouth singer Stephen Pearcy, even bigger-mouthed drummer Bobby ‘The Blotz’ Blotzer and the sunny and dumb guitarist Robbin Crosby. They took their cue from Aerosmith and Cheap Trick rather than from contemporaries like Motley Crue, but Ratt were neither as smart nor cool.
What they were tremendously good at was having a good time, and this record sums up their appeal: its best song, Round And Round, is ineffably stupid but impossible to forget. The cover, meanwhile, was "of its time", and featured the late Tawny Kitaen (then Crosby’s girlfriend and later David Coverdale’s wife) escaping said cellar in her scanties.
Like with much hair metal, it's easy to mock Ratt no matter how much affection you have for the source material, but Out Of The Cellar is still a pretty tidy serving of arena-baiting pop metal. It's puffed up and confident, with Van Halen guitar squeals and big choruses.
Other albums released in March 1984 This Is Spinal Tap - Spinal Tap
Rising Force - Yngwie Malmsteen
Psalm 9 - Trouble
Fugazi - Marillion
Alchemy Live - Dire Straits
About Face - David Gilmour
Love at First Sting - Scorpions
Heartbeat City - The Cars
Three of a Perfect Pair - King Crimson
All Those Wasted Years - Hanoi Rocks
Burning the Witches - Warlock
Deià...Vu - Kevin Ayers
Great White - Great White
My War - Black Flag
N.E.W.S. - Golden Earring
What they said..."Out Of The Cellar was a consistently entertaining listen from start to finish, thanks to strong album tracks like Wanted Man, Back For More, and the frenetic I'm Insane, and also spawned a massive MTV and radio smash with Round And Round. After all, a single gigantic hit is all a band needs, and Round And Round was an absolute monster. (AllMusic)
"What comes up first and foremost are the amazing melodies, Ratt‘s ability to let the songs breathe due to Stephen Pearcy‘s slower and well paced vocal delivery, and some truly kick ass and memorable guitar solos from Warren DeMartini. Ratt were one of the first bands to incorporate tons of melodies and catchiness without compromising on the heavier aspects of a hard rock / heavy metal band." (SleazeRoxx)
"With the release of Out of the Cellar, Ratt seemingly had checked all the boxes. Unharnessed swagger – check. Immaculately coiffed doos – check. Armadillos nestled snugly – check. Eye-catching videos featuring an array of noteworthy cameos – check. The obligatory scantily-clad “hot chick” gracing the album cover – check. But most of all, Out of the Cellar oozed amazing songs – songs brimming with heart-stopping cock rock riffs, irresistible sing-along melodies, and fist-pumping anthemic lyrics – check, check and, check.
What you said...Mark Veitch: A pretty average album from a very average band. Ratt were always a case of diminishing returns throughout their career, both commercially and artistically. From the high of Round And Round to bringing in Desmond Child at the end of the decade to try and halt the slide. This album has a couple of decent songs, but it's all one-paced to no variation, with Pearcy’s monotone vocals making every song sound similar.
They may have been influenced by Aerosmith and Cheap Trick, but get nowhere near these bands in terms of quality.Chris Downie: It's almost incredible to think that when Ratt toured with Bon Jovi in the mid-80s, it was the former who took the headline spot, with Jon and co. content to play second fiddle, just prior to their worldwide smash hit album Slippery When Wet. Yet it is a timely reminder that Ratt, along with Motley Crue and Twisted Sister, were leading lights in the US hair metal scene that followed soon after Van Halen's emergence.
On the face of it, there was nothing groundbreaking that set them apart and criticisms of vocalist Stephen Pearcy's limited range were both aplenty and with merit, but they had heart and across the scope of their 1983 debut EP and first two LP's, their place in the scene was merited. As their first full-length, Out Of The Cellar set their stall nicely, refining the raw power of the EP whilst retaining an edge to it that stands up better today than many of their poodle permed peers, not least in hits such as Round And Round.
If there is one criticism that can be levelled at them, it is that they never truly kicked on from here, largely due to said limitations and despite the obvious talent of lead guitarist Warren Demartini. The follow-up Invasion Of Your Privacy was a good match, but later albums such as Reach For The Sky and especially Detonator became increasingly bogged down by 80s cliche and decadence, ensuring they would forever be associated with the scene that ultimately fell to grunge. Whilst Motley Crue arrested their mid-80s slump with the triumphant return to form of Dr. Feelgood, Ratt continued to falter and eventually imploded, only sporadically returning in the late 90s and for the decent Infestation in 2010, but would never again come close to past glories. This however, is a timely reminder of what they one had. 8/10.
Brian Carr: As I’ve gotten older, the 70s have become my personal favourite decade for music, but the 80s were the most important. That was the decade where I shifted from getting all of my music from my family to discovering it on my own, mostly from magazines and MTV. By far my favourite musical genre from the decade is 80s hard rock. To me, it had melody, cool riffs and excellent guitar playing. And, to be fair, I was too young to notice the music’s shortcomings.
Ratt was easily in my top five favourite bands of the decade. The video for Round And Round was all over MTV, the video channel also aired a Ratt concert around the same time, and I was hooked. Then came videos for Wanted Man and Back For More, songs I liked even more than their breakthrough and best-known track. We bought Out Of The Cellar on vinyl, and I still have it almost four decades later.
So how does it hold up after all this time? I still love it. Every song. Is it a meaningful, important album in the history of rock and roll? Probably not. But it’s a 10/10 for me and always will be.
Mark Whitby: I have this one on vinyl and always have a fun time giving it a spin. It's very much of its time and is packed full of catchy songs, great riffs and fine musianship. I've never had a problem with the vocal style but the guitar work is the real stand out. Great 80s cover as well, Tawny RIP.
Mike Canoe: I unapologetically love Ratt's Out Of The Cellar. It came out when I was in my mid-teens, so it was the right album at the right time for me.
Aerosmith was yet to have their '80s makeover and the lead guitarist slot in Kiss was now a revolving door. Even the mighty Van Halen, arguably still the band most likely to have their logo scrawled on your notebook, seemed long in the tooth, lost in their own gargantuan success. Bands like Motley Crue, Ratt, and Dokken were for my friends and me, not older brothers or (God forbid) parents.