On April 27th, 1984, the debut full length album from Ratt, Out of the Cellar, was released. Having come out four months after Quiet Riot got the first #1 metal album in Billboard chart history, it, along with that album and Motley Crue’s Shout at the Devil, ushered in the Sunset Strip hair metal explosion. While the band had existed in some incarnation since 1971, they’d only become Ratt in 1981. In 1982, the band had a song featured on Metal Massacre, the first release on Metal Blade Records that also featured a then-unsigned Metallica. A six-song EP followed in 1983, which led to them being signed to Atlantic.
Along with the instant classic “Round and Round,” the album also contains other hits, like “Wanted Man” and “Back For More” (which also appeared on the previous year’s EP). While Stephen Pearcy’s vocals are instantly familiar, the dual-guitar attack of Robbin Crosby and Warren DeMartini is what really set the band apart from the rest of the pack. MTV’s presence really helped the band take off, with the “Round and Round” video making ot to heavy rotation. The video featured comedian Milton Berle, who’s nephew managed the band. The album’s cover is also of note, with model Tawny Kitaen featured on it. Then dating Crosby, she went on to date Whitesnake’s David Coverdale and do splits all over his Jaguar in the “Here I Go Again” video. The album went on to be a triple platinum success, and the band’s success stretched on throughout the rest of the ’80s. While the band released an album, Infestation, in 2010, they then broke up for (at least) the third time, and Pearcy suggested there won’t be another reunion. But 31 years after its release, this remains Ratt’s finest moment.
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