Out of the Cellar

Album Review

Ratt's aptly named debut album, Out of the Cellar, may have suggested they were underdogs of the then burgeoning L.A. glam metal scene, but this five-piece made up of brash young San Diego transplants and relative local veterans was in fact a force to contend with, and already gunning for the top of the heap. Having established a good buzz with their eponymous EP one year earlier, and then signed with powerhouse Atlantic Records as a result, Ratt now transposed their high-energy hard rock (derived from usual suspects Van Halen and Aerosmith, plus the staccato riffing of Judas Priest) into a multi-platinum-bound juggernaut that reached number seven on the Billboard charts, and initially outsold the more notorious Shout at the Devil, released months earlier by their friendly rivals Mötley Crüe. Not that it's difficult to understand why, since Out of the Cellar was a consistently entertaining listen from start to finish, thanks to strong album tracks like "Wanted Man," "Back for More," and the frenetic "I'm Insane," and also spawned a massive MTV and radio smash with "Round and Round." After all, a single gigantic hit is all a band needs, and "Round and Round" was an absolute monster, peaking at number 12 on the charts and going on to achieve immortality as one of the defining songs of the 1980s. It was also an impossible act to follow, as things turned out, and even though Ratt would continue to prosper for years to come, Out of the Cellar eventually came to represent a premature career high point.