Artist: Ratt
Title: “Videos From The Cellar: The Atlantic Years”
Label: Rhino Entertainment
Release Date: 7/31/2007
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 4/5
Continuing their fulfillment of the wish-list dreams of many eighties Hard Rock and Metal fans, Rhino Entertainment delivers “Ratt: Videos From The Cellar: The Atlantic Years”, a DVD compilation that presents their two out of print home videos along with several others that never received an official release. It was during this period in Hard Rock history that MTV was in full-swing and really showed a lot of actual videos as opposed to the seemingly endless reality programs and juvenile dating shows that they are most known for today. With Ratt being one of the most popular attractions that the genre had in its roster of bands their individual albums would of course come with a number of videos. The band debuted with “Out Of The Cellar” which was a rough-edged but pop-savvy recording loaded with memorable anthems and powerful guitar hooks. This album gave birth to three videos that are presented here and from their original VHS release “Ratt: The Video” (1985). It was great to see the “Round And Round” clip again since it was so tongue in cheek with a drag-queen Milton Berle doing his thing while Ratt performed upstairs from a huge banquet table. What Metal fan from way back can forget when the waiter served a tray full of rats to the table or when guitarist Warren DeMartini crashed through the ceiling to perform his shredding solo in front of the shocked dinner guests.
“Wanted Man” was also fun and finds the boys all dressed up as cowboys and being part of the Ratt Gang and wanted by the sheriff. It was quirky stuff that people would remember and made for entertaining television time to say the least. “Lay It Down” is here from “Invasion Of Your Privacy” as is “You Think You’re Tough” from the debut EP and it’s great to see and hear them under the technological upgrade that a DVD offers. Ratt released a second video compilation in 1991 called “Detonator Videoaction” and though it featured four videos, only two of them would actually come from the “Detonator” album. The others hailed from “Reach For The Sky”. The DVD compilation presents these home videos in the exact fashion that they could be viewed had you original copies in front of you now and while I know that some of you still might have these in a hidden box somewhere around your house this little trinket saves you time and shelf space. I opted to watch them as videos alone and figured I would watch the filler footage at some other time. Similar to the Dokken home video “Unchain The Night”, these video films had band bantering, shenanigans and meeting with fans as the between stuff before the next video would come on.
The DVD also makes sure to include four more videos that while finding airplay and rotation on the video networks never actually saw the light of day on an officially released product. I was glad to see them do this as I always enjoyed the performance based clip for “You’re In Love”, my favorite track from the “Invasion Of Your Privacy” record. There is no booklet to leaf through which was a shame, but there is a chance to hear a running commentary from both Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini who talk about the time back when in today’s mindset. This is truly something that is not only for Ratt fans to enjoy but also anyone who has fond memories of the Hair Metal Eighties and the bands that defined the era. The film runs in total about 60 minutes in length. Rhino Entertainment has led the charge in re-issuing this stuff and has done similar with Twisted Sister and Dokken, please check out those releases as well as it is money well-spent.
Track Listing:
1. Wanted Man
2. You Think You’re Tough
3. Back From More
4. Round And Round
5. Lay It Down
6. Shame, Shame, Shame
7. Lovin’ You’s A Dirty Job
8. I Want A Woman
9. Way Cool Jr.
10. You’re In Love
11. Dance
12. Body Talk
13. Slip Of The Lip
Official Website: http://www.therattpack.com/