L.A.'s legendary hair metal band close out their original era with "Detonator", their fifth and final album released during the intial run of the band. Detonator may be the soundtrack to the collapse of hair metal, but it is certainly not an album that shows any serious signs of deterioration, at least in a musical sense. Let's take a look at "Detonator" and find out what makes this a somewhat underrated album.
The album takes a cue from peers Motley Crue and opens with a short keyboard introduction to the album's second song, "Shame Shame Shame". The album's lead single, "Shame Shame Shame" is a nice Ratt single. The song basically talks about a cheating woman and the revenge that singer "Stephen Pearcy" is going to enact on her. "Shame Shame Shame" contains all the hallmarks of a great Ratt song, a nice thunderous beat provided by "Bobby Blotzer" backed up by the screeching guitar madness of "Warren DeMartini" and the late "Robin Crosby". Next is perhaps the album's most well-known song. Lovin You's A Dirty Job" is kind of cliche and typical late 1980s hair metal, although it contains a catchy chorus that one will find themselves likely singing over and over. The song is passable, but it tacks on a section that sounds almost like ballad; an area which has never been Ratt's strong suite. "Scratch That Itch" does not really add much to the album; the band sounds out of steam somewhat here, it really shows the limitations of Ratt's sleaze-driven lyrics and music. A whole album of this stuff is simply boring at times; which is why Ratt has and always will remain a "singles" band rather than an "album" band.
"One Step Away" flirts with "Bon Jovi" territory, and the sappy song would sound nice at a high school prom during 1990. The song reminds me of contemporaries "Warrant", although I think it contains more musical merit via DeMartini's excellent guitar playing. The song is cheesy, but if you did not enjoy cheesy things, then why listen to Ratt? Nostalgic and sweet at the same time. "Hard Time" brings the album back into metal mode. "Hard Time" continues the themes of heartbreak and relationship disintegration, and the song is decent enough. The lyrics are utterly ridiculous, but the song has multiple guitar solos atop a heavy "Blotzer" beat. One complaint, the bass is buried in the mix on this song. Bassist "Juan Croucier" is quite a capable four-string player; and it is quite a shame that he is not very audible on this track. The song continues to reflect the then chart dominance of "Pop Metal" acts like Poison and Bon Jovi with "Heads I Win, Tails You Loose. The song actually features Jon Bon Jovi on backup vocals. The song is very out of character for Ratt, and it is way too poppy for my musical tastes. Pearcy sounds almost like a "Bret Michaels" imitator on this song. Skip this turkey of a song.
"All Or Nothing" sounds almost like Aerosmith during their seminal comeback album, "Pump". The song includes the incorporation of female backup vocals, perhaps due to the success of Motley Crue's 1989 smash hit "Dr. Feelgood", which contained very similar sounding female backup vocals.The song has some nice gritty Ratt lyrics; and it sufficiently sleazy sound despite some heavy effects processing in the mix. The song is classic Ratt, and a true highlight of the album. "Can't Wait On Love" is an energetic number that would not sound out of place on Ratt's seminal (in my mind) debut album, "Out of the Cellar". The song has blistering guitar solos, and anthem-like choruses and extremely horny lyrics that have always been a trademark of the Ratt sound. The song does little different from the vast majority of Ratt songs, but is enjoyable despite the not so "PG" moaning of Pearcy about "sliding it in deep". The song is very aggressive and sexual, and show that Ratt has always provided the proverbial soundtrack to young lust and sexual frustration. Single "Givin' Yourself Away" is utterly atrocious, it sounds like a Bon Jovi throwaway from the massive "New Jersey" album by Jovi and crew. The song does not work for Pearcy's cigarette-stained larynx; and is too slow and too sappy for Ratt. I suspect that master songwriter "Desmond Child" had a hand in the creation of this single, and this piece of schlock should be avoided at all costs. The guitar solos are nice, but that's about it. The album closes with "Top Secret", a decent enough number which sounds somewhat like an afterthought; as if the band did not want to leave a bad taste in our mouths after "Givin' Yourself Away". The song is ok, but never seems to really go anywhere musically, it is very repetitive and the choruses lack any punch. Average at best.
"Detonator" is a mixed bag of an album. The ballads definitely fail to work wonders for Ratt, but the album contains enough classic Ratt "sleaze-rock" to warrant a purchase. Unlike most hair metal bands, Ratt went out on top in my opinion with this album despite the cheesy and cliche ballads. If you are a fan of Ratt or a fan of hair metal, you could do a lot worse than purchase "Detonator". That is, if you can find it in print.
Rating-7/10
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