Ratt – Dancing Undercover and Out of the Cellar (remastered)
Rock Candy Records
www.rockcandyrecords.com

Dancing Undercover: C-

Out of the Cellar: B+

Rock Candy Records have remastered and re-released two albums by the band Ratt.  One a classic, the other a ‘last hurrah’. 

Let’s start with 1986's Dancing Undercover.  This album saw the band at the end of their mainstream success, and while it had all of the tell-tale signs of a Ratt album- the swagger, the riffs and the sass- it just didn't have that ‘something special’ that previous albums contained. 

Dancing Undercover never quite gets to where it wants to go, though there are some killer songs.  “Dance,” “Body Talk” and “Enough is Enough” make this one good enough to add to one's collection, but don't expect the same masterfully done music as is contained within Out of the Cellar.

Released in 1984, Ratt scored a major FM radio and MTV hit with the song “Round and Round.”  The tune is still one of the best LA West Coast Hard Rock tunes of all time.  Out of the Cellar does not stop there, however, as “Wanted Man” and “Back for More” prove.  This is a pure classic album that sounds best cranked up all the way... and I MEAN that. The tone. The riffs. The melodies. Rock.

Ratt had it all back in '84, yet they had a hard time holding onto the pinnacle of success, as each album that followed declined in sales and creativity. 

In typical Rock Candy Records fashion, both albums have killer new liner notes as well as interviews with those who were there. 

By Jeb Wright