1. I Know I'm Crazy
2. Ten Miles Wide
3. Shut Down Baby
4. Dead Roses
5. Lollipop
6. Hit Me With A Bullet
7. Rain
8. Want Too Much
9. What Do Ya Think
10. Jamie
11. I Can't Take It (2017)
12. Passion Infinity
13. Summer's End
For those of you unfamiliar
with Stephen Pearcy, he's the lead
singer of Ratt, and as I've been a
fan for many years I was really keen to
check out his new album. If you follow Ratt,
you will no doubt be aware of the legal battle that has been going on between drummer
Bobby Blotzer and the other members
(inc Pearcy) for the name Ratt. After mountains of online drama,
a judge ruled in favour of Pearcy
and co, and now the re-united Stephen
Pearcy, Warren DeMartini and Juan Croucier are back together as Ratt with a promise of live shows and a
new studio album. The judgement was made shortly before Smash was released, giving Ratt
a lot of press, and no doubt this solo album lots of attention it may not have
otherwise had. There's a huge global hype for a new Ratt album, but Smash
will have to tide fans over in the meantime.
Smash is a straight up Hard Rock album. There aren't any huge
surprises here which for most fans is a good thing. It does what it says on the
tin. Naturally it sounds a lot like Ratt
because Hard Rock with Stephen's
unique voice always will to some degree. However, Stephen draws on a variety of influences to make it a bit more of a
diverse record than expected. For example, Shut
Down Baby has a bluesy swagger that's reminiscent of early Aerosmith, Dead Roses is a more aggressive stomping track that, in places,
brings to mind Skid Row's Piece Of Me, and both What Do Ya Think and Summer's End have a distinctly Led Zeppelin vibe about them.
For me, Ten Miles Wide, Jamie
and the 2017 re-recording of I Can't
Take it are easily the best three songs on here.
Smash isn't as strong as the last Ratt album Infestation,
or most of the back catalogue if I'm brutally honest. It is still good in its
own right and has enough catchy tunes on there to warrant picking it up. It
certainly wets the appetite for the forthcoming Ratt album.
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