On June 13, 1985, Ratt released their second full length album called ‘Invasion of Your Privacy’.  After the success of their debut ‘Out of the Cellar’, Ratt wasted no time in repeating that formula and delivering another solid album.  The line-up was unchanged.

• Stephen Pearcy – vocals
• Robin Crosby – lead guitar
• Warren DeMartini – lead guitar
• Juan Croucier – bass
• Bobby Blotzer – drums

The producer was still Beau Hill. The only thing different was the model on the front cover.  This time around it was Playboy model Marianne Gravatte.  Marianne was Playmate of the Year in 1983 where she was noticed by Stephen Pearcy (and everyone else).  Fun fact…the prior Playmate of the Year was none other than Gene Simmons’ wife, Shannon Tweed.  Marianne also appeared in the video for “Lay It Down” which we will get to later.

The album was not quite as successful as the debut, but it did peak at #7 on the Billboard charts which was the same place ‘Out of the Cellar’ peaked.  The album did go on to sell over 2 million copies.  The album also peaked the interest of the group Parents Music Resource Center which is the Tipper Gore group that looked to censor the music industry.  The group did end up getting Parental Advisory stickers placed on albums with foul language and that contained inappropriate material.

The band continued the Ratt sound with Pearcy’s raspy vocals over those overtly sexualized lyrics along with the dual guitar combo of Crosby and DeMartini.  That combination was lethal and the band was now on top of the world.  The Glam Metal scene that they now led was on full force to dominate the airwaves for years to come.

One cool thing I have in the album is the original flyer for purchasing the Ratt: The Video.  The video contained all their music videos, interviews and back stage footage.  For the price of $19.98 plus $3.00 for shipping and handling and it was all yours.  That video is pretty rare nowadays.  Good luck finding it.

I think it is now time to get to the music and we will start as always with Side One.

The album kicks off with “You’re in Love” and a great opening riff by Warren DeMartini.  The song was the second single off the album, but as the opening track it picks up where ‘Out of the Cellar’ left off.  The video features old movie footage from “Brother Rat” featuring then President Ronald Reagan as well as live footage of two Ratt shows.  One from Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, and the other at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana.

“Never Use Love” was up next and nothing changes.  It is another blistering rock song heavy on the guitar and that same lyrical formula.  They definitely go with the adage, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it philosophy.  This is the only song on the album that is solely written by Stephen Pearcy.

The first single from the album was “Lay It Down”.  The song is what you come to expect from the boys and they don’t disappoint. DeMartini completely shreds it on this song and shows what a beast he was.  The song was one of the few written by almost everyone in the band…well, except Blotzer.  He isn’t involved in any of the writing on this album or the last album.  He gets his first writing credit on the next album, ‘Dancing Undercover’.   The video opens up with a birthday party and apparently when he blows out the candle he wishes to be a rock star as it cuts to the band.  The video also features the album cover girl Marianne Gravatte.  She doesn’t do much but walk around and look pretty and that is all we really need anyway.

“Give It All” is another typical song and in fact so typical it doesn’t really hold anything special.  It is comes across as same old, same old.  It has little moments here and there, but not enough to stand out too much on its own.  It isn’t a bad song, just so-so.

The final song on Side One is the first ballad, “Closer to My Heart”.  They slow things down a little and show their tender side.  It was a good time to change it up on the album and it is strong effort for a ballad.  It wasn’t released as a single, but I am so familiar with it that I am surprised that it wasn’t.  I thought it had.  It captures Ratt, but shows they can slow it down and still deliver a great song.

Side Two starts off with “Between the Eyes” and surprisingly doesn’t do what the title says.  It is a little different style for the band with a slower groove.  There seems to be a lot of echo on Pearcy’s vocals as there is a little hollow sound to it.  It is a little flat for me and doesn’t have anything impactful.  Side Two for me is a weaker side than the first although it isn’t all bad.

The third and final single on the album was “What You Give Is What You Get”.  The only song written solely by Juan Croucier.  Glad to see another Croucier penned song since he had a good one on ‘Out of the Cellar’ with “She Wants Money”.  This song opens up with a classic Ratt guitar riff and is a dirty sounding song with a lot teeth and grit.

“Got Me On The Line” starts off with a cheesy phone ringing on the someone answering with a hello.  It is really a bland song.  Very generic and nothing special to make it memorable and as a result I won’t spend much time on it.  There is a good guitar solo, but it can’t save the song.

The band continue with the lackluster with “You Should Know By Now”.  The song is catchy enough, but it is really repetitive.  The second half of the album is filled up with too much filler and and not enough strong songs.  Maybe they should have taken more time in between albums or changed up the producer.

The album comes to and end, thankfully, with “Dangerous But Worth the Risk”.  Another flat, overly repetitive song like before.  Can’t really tell the two songs apart.  The band did not have enough solid songs for this album and I can see why it lagged behind the debut.

 

Based on the commentary above, I would keep 5 of the 10 tracks for sure which would give the Track Listing a score of 50%.  And rating the content of the album, I would go slightly better than that with a 3.0 out of 5 stars.  The 5 songs I like are really strong Ratt songs and help boost it above a 50% rating.  However, I felt the effort was weak overall and not their best work.  They stuck too much to a formula and didn’t take any chances with this album.  A little risk taking might have been the boost this album needed.  Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

If you want to check out the review on the all the albums reviewed, just click on the album name below…

Ratt E.P.

Out of the Cellar

Invasion of Your Privacy

Dancing Undercover

Reach For the Sky

Detonator

Collage

Ratt (1999)

Infestation

And the following:

Top 20 Ratt Songs

Ratt – Albums Ranked Worst to First