Ratt - The Essentials (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

Ratt 'n' Roll Never Sounded So Good!

James Walsh | Mesa, Arizona United States | 07/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album was released by Warner Strategic records as the first comprehensive Ratt "greatest hits" release since the 1991 release of Ratt 'n' Roll. To me, it was about time a release was made with remasteerd audio. But, it is a travesty that the release was promoted by no one. The cover art is not even available on the Amazon site, which tends to be the sign of a not very well promoted release.So, lets review the album. The material on the album is well chosen. Most of the tracks, however, appear on Ratt 'n' Roll. Ratt 'n' Roll also features far more tracks than the Essentials does. But, having both, I must say that the audio quality of Essentials far exceeds that of Ratt 'n' Roll. But, Ratt 'n' Roll isn't exactly a production nightmare either.So, what should you do? Well, one thing you shouldn't do is complain that another best of album was released. One of my many pet peeves is reading reviews by both paid record reviewers and fans saying that an album was bad because it was "just another" or a "pointless" greatest hits release. Greatest hits releases are for fans that are going to see a band in concert and want to get to know the songs they probably will hear or for casual fans that don't want to buy 10 albums to get the select few tracks they will listen to regardless. Personally, I own all Ratt's albums. I still buy greatest hits because to me it is a lot easier carrying a travel bag with 20 greatest hits recordings in the bag rather than 200 CD's to get the songs I want to hear with me. So, stop complaining. My advice is simple. If you are looking for great music in today's audio quality, Essentials is for you. If you want to get the best compilation of Ratt material, buy Ratt 'n' Roll. If you just want to complain about greatest hits albums, buy all Ratt's albums. There's not a bad one in the bunch!"

Decent Overview, but...

Bleu Allen | Tennessee | 05/02/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not sure which release the other reviewer was listening to when he said "the sound quality will blow you away". I have Ratt and Roll 8191 and the only major difference I find is the recording level is higher on THE ESSENTIALS release. There is still an audible distortion crackle after the first note of BACK FOR MORE. This should have been cleaned up if it had been remastered properly. I am not happy about the way The record companies slap on a digitally remastered label and call it good, without really spending much time making the recording sound cleaner with less errors. I believe the CLASSIC MASTERS series from Capitol Records outshines the ESSENTIALS series hands down."

Waste of manufacturing time...

Mike Reed | 10/16/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, I have to give this collection at least 2 stars because it is RATT after all and there are some great tunes here. But in general, the Essentials series sucks. They try to put the big over-played radio tunes and leave out killer album cuts and fan favourites. They only have two tracks from Dancing Unvercover, my favourite Ratt release. The material from Detonator is the slow ballad crap and not the really high energy stuff. What a disappointment. Do yourself a favor and buy Dancing Undercover. If you still don't like Ratt after listening to that album, you never will."

The sound quality will blow you away!

Dan Robertson | Kingston, ON Canada | 01/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Unlike many other reviewers, I actually like a lot of these 12-track Essentials compilations. Unlike some of the Millennium Collection discs (how can you possibly capture the essence of Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart or Chuck Berry in 11 or 12 measly tracks) the Essentials discs tend to represent artists who didn't exactly take the world by storm. In the case of Ratt, who needs more than 12 tracks?I have owned the Ratt & Roll 81-91 compilation for many years, but I am definitely selling it now that I have this Essentials collection. The difference in the sound quality is astounding! The remastering process has brought new life to these songs. I was blasting this disc in my car the other day, and I couldn't believe that some of these tracks ("Round And Round", "Back For More", "Wanted Man") are almost 20 years old! They sound incredible.In some cases, I agree with the other reviewer that more tracks are better than slightly improved sound. However, in this case, the improvement in sound quality is anything but slight. And, of the 7 tracks you are losing from the Ratt & Roll 81-91 disc, the only ones worth caring about are "Lack Of Communication" and "I Want A Woman". The others ("Tell The World", "You Think You're Tough", "Slip Of The Lip", "Shame Shame Shame" and "Nobody Rides For Free") are mediocre at best, and are really no big loss.If you want only one Ratt disc, this is the one for you."

Ratt - 'The Essentials' (Warner)

Mike Reed | USA | 12/24/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The title notes these are the 'Original Master Recordings'.Are they sure about that?Quality seems to be a bit lacking here.Don't get me wrong,if you liked Ratt in their prime like I did,this twelve track compilation shouldn't let you down too hard.We get four tunes from each of Ratt's first three albums.Personally,I haven't heard "Dance","Way Cool Jr." or "Heads I Win,Tails You Lose" in sometime now.Pretty much aimed at Ratt completists."

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