Album review: Detonator – Ratt

By STEVE MASCORD

IF THERE’S two things in life I find compellingly arousing, it’s a good Ratt album and a good Desmond Child song.

What better thing to do before you going looking for love than to get your hormones hummin’ with a classily sleazy Stephen Pearcy rave – and what better way to temper your animal lust than to get all mushy over a Child tearjerker? They’re the perfect combination.

So what do you receive if Desmond Child produces a Ratt album? A sensitive, considerate hard-on? Unfortunately not.

Detonator is possibly Ratt’s last great shot at recapturing their pre-Bon Jovi/Guns N’Roses/Whitesnake glory. It’s a minefield of a record, with guns blazing on both its Ratt’n’roll and Genius Child sides.

Unfortunately, there s a sizeable no man’s land in between…

Smack in the middle of that desolate area lie the moronic “Scratch That Itch”, and – possibly their worst song ever – “Top Secret”.

On the distinctively Ratty side of the trenches are “Shame, Shame, Shame” – all L.A. strut and pomp – “Lovin’ You’s A Dirty Job”, “Hard Time” and “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose”.

Then Desmond chips in with a couple of nifty radio-friendly tunes called “One Step Away” and the Poison-esque “Given Yourself Away”.

What Detonator lacks most is the continuity of the band’s last two vinyl efforts. However, if you are of the majority who preferred Out Of The Cellar and Invasion Of Your Privacy to those, then Detonator may well be your cup of tea.

I miss the stylised smugness of those afore-mentioned last two albums, and suspect Ratt are waving their hands and threatening to drown before our eyes.

Both Ratt and Child have compromised on Detonator, and neither have come out looking good for it. Sure there’s some great songs – and it will do no harm to your libido – but Detonator won’t make you into a Valentino either.

Get Detonator on vinyl or CD