Unitron Ah, glam metal/hair metal/pop metal/whatever you want to call it. It's a part of metal that's been long shamed, and it's easy to see why with bands like Poison, Warrant, White Lion, and the more recent Black Veil Brides being part of it. Though, that was mostly the second wave of the scene. At the start, you had the likes of Motley Crue, Lita Ford, Y & T, Great White, Quiet Riot, and my personal favorite Ratt.

This is when hair bands were metal, taking a lot more from the NWoBHM than what would come later. With a penchant for razor-sharp guitar riffing, catchy as hell melodies, and tight rhythm section, Ratt was at the top of their game during the 80's. Many prefer Out of the Cellar, which yielded the hit single "Round and Round", but as great as that album is, I find Invasion of Your Privacy to be superior and one of the best albums of the 80's.

The album immediately opens up with what should be a metal classic, "You're in Love", which is simply one of the best opening songs on any album. The guitar and drums perfectly play off of one another, making it almost impossible not to headbang with the syncopation. Speaking of, Bobby Blotzer brings in not only a gigantic loud drum sound, but also some really cool cannon/thunder effects. The twin lead guitars of Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby lays down (pun not intended) killer riff after riff and singing solos after another. Juan Croucier's bass brings a nice bounce in the bottom end, and Stephen Pearcy is easily my favorite glam metal vocalist. Pearcy's vocals remind me of a more melodic Dave Mustaine, as he has that same sort of nasal-y tone.

The whole album is flawless from beginning to end, but if I had to pick highlights besides "You're in Love", the other single "Lay It Down" is certainly one. The chorus is simply beautiful. "What You Give is What You Get", "Dangerous but Worth the Risk", and "Closer to My Heart" are also masterpieces. The latter especially has sweet contrast between the main riffs.

If you've been apprehensive to check out glam metal, give Ratt's first four albums a try, especially this one. This one is up there with Powerslave, Screaming for Vengeance, Balls to the Wall, Metal on Metal, and Shout at the Devil as 80's heavy metal classics. This is pure metal all the way. Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!

siLLy puPPy After their lackluster 1999 eponymous release, RATT disappeared into obscurity but caught everyone off guard by reemerging in 2010 with their comeback album INFESTATION. This was their first album after the death of guitarist Robin Crosby in 2002, leaving original members Stephen Pearcy (vocals), Warren DeMartini (guitars) and Bobby Blotzer (drums.) New to the band is Robbie Crane on bass replacing original bassist Juan Croucier and ex-Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazo. Despite all the new members on board, this is a true throwback to the early RATT years with upbeat tempos, catchy sleazy glam metal songwriting and the much missed duo lead guitar trade offs. In fact the band set out to purposely construct an album that would fit in between their first two full albums “Out Of The Cellar” and “Invasion Of Your Privacy.” Apparently they had a lot pent up support awaiting the year of the RATT to cycle around the bend once again because upon release it debuted at number 30 on the Billboard charts 20 years after any relevancy.

INFESTATION is exactly what it claims to be. It is a bunch of catchy glam metal rockers that sound exactly like they fit into the heyday of the RATT’n Rollers. The songs are similarly constructed, similarly executed and at the end of it all is RATT by the numbers. While this album got a lot of rave reviews upon its release i have to admit that it just sounds a little too forced for the most part. Yeah, it is successful in its attempts to be authentically retro and the production is superior to anything they’ve recorded in the past, but it just seems like this kind of glam metal in 2010 seems off to me. Yeah, i know you can’t take this kind of glam metal too seriously so i don’t need to make an intellectual journey out of it. It is exactly what it is. However, even being exactly what it is i feel the consistency of the whole thing is a tad off. There are lots of standout tracks starting with the excellent “Eat Me Up Alive” followed by a whole parade of tracks that sound like reworkings of their classic riffs. Personally i like “As Good As It Gets,” “Best Of Me” and “Eat Me Up Alive” the best. This is definitely a worthy return to form delivering the goods of yestercentury but personally i would have liked to hear some musical development of some kind, but this is still one of the band’s better albums so a return to form is much preferred to the 1999 nonsense.

siLLy puPPy This album is usually called RATT 1999 since their debut EP was already an eponymous release. This album is a perfect example of what a band should not release. RATT was wise or lucky or whatever the case was that they disbanded a couple years before the glam metal scene imploded under the weight of grunge and more extreme forms of metal. They avoided that whole ridiculous band reinvention snafu of trying to fit in on the changing musical landscape but in 1999 they decided to release this unspiring heap of well, let's just say generic filler. This is the first album without the original five members. Guitarist Robin Crosby was out and so was bassist Juan Croucier.

This album basically churns out the same shallow lyrics that passed in the 80s but at this point seemed pretty lame. In addition all the musical attributes that made RATT interesting to me musically are gone as well. The songwriting is pretty much RATT-by-the-numbers but missing are the melodic twin lead guitar assault of Robin Crosby and Warren DeMartini. It all just sounds tired, stale and utterly useless. This album serves really one purpose and that is to make all the other RATT albums sound good! I have avoided this one for a while due to its reputation but I couldn't help but check it out and after finally having done so I have to join in with the rest of world who gives a big thumbs down and I can only highly advise to just skip it unless you're like me and just have to know what a big steaming pile of generic filler sounds like. I can't say there's even one track that I can recommend.

siLLy puPPy RATT knew they needed a much needed career booster shot as they managed to achieve four platinum albums in a row with basically the same type of album. Getting a reality check during the sagging interest of the REACH FOR THE SKY tour they solicited the songwriting assistance of pop hit makers Desmond Child and Diane Warren to co-write many of the songs and even got Jon Bon Jovi to make a cameo on “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose” to hopefully give a jump start to their sound.

I think they succeeded in this endeavor. This is the first album since INVASION that I think every track is really good and they managed to keep it interesting and despite using outside sources to spice up the songwriting it doesn't feel like they significantly deviated from their signature sound. I particularly love the way the intro bleeds into the extremely catchy “Shame Shame Shame.” The most hilarious song of RATT's career I think is the next track “Lovin' You's A Dirty Job.” All throughout this album track by track they keep my interest including the ballads.

Keep in mind this is teenage mentality glam metal but for what it is it's quite good being my third favorite RATT album after their first two. Unfortunately this would be the last album with all original five members. Robin Crosby suffered heavily from a drug addiction and he ultimately contracted HIV. The album only went gold and the band decided to call it a day and go their separate ways. I say it was good timing on their part as only two years later grunge would blow the glam metal scene off the map leaving those remaining to grasp straws on how to adapt to the new musical climate that happened practically overnight.

siLLy puPPy After toying with a heavier thrashier sound on their previous album, RATT retreated back to the bluesy glam metal sound they did so well with on their first two albums. Although their popularity seemed to be waning a bit they still had enough oompf in their career to get heavy rotation of the extra bluesy track “Way Cool Jr” as well as “I Want A Woman” and this album just squeaked by the platinum mark in the US making it their fourth consecutive album to attain such status.

This is often deemed RATT's weakest album but I find it to be of equal quality to DANCIN' UNDERCOVER. As always most of the songs are catchy balls-to-the-wall glam metal with some filler towards the end. It's true that the formula was getting a little stale since their debut but it seems that the ear worms were strong enough and the album did ok. The following tour was cut short due to lack of attendance hinting of the growing power of competing styles of metal especially in the Metallica and Slayer world of thrash. Overall this is a decent album that is worth having if you like RATT but hardly their best.