Apparently, this Italian hard rock/heavy metal band are celebrating thirty years of existence here with this compilation release.
Umm…what? I’ve never heard of these guys, and I’m pretty sure that not many of you outside Italy have seen the Rain name scattered across club and marquee boards across the country.
Regardless of this fact, the music contained here within XXX is of a surprisingly high quality, delivering on the promise of sleazy hard rock and melodic traditional metal with an obvious and apparent love for the source material. In case you were wondering, think big hair, stiff drinks and unprotected sex; of slick licks and stadium ready choruses, prancing ’round with a Sunset Strip strut.
The only aspect of these songs which lets the band down is the somewhat shoddy production value; a rough ’round the edges feel which doesn’t do their crisp song attempts enough justice. The accented English and somewhat clumsy handling of the lyrics also doesn’t do XXX any favors, but it isn’t that big a deal with Rain let loose with some echoes of old school Maiden harmony. These licks creep up now and then, as well, letting us know that Rain do indeed possess a metal heart beating within their whiskey ‘n women exterior. Across the board, all the songs here are instantly memorable and hit that traditional note in a big way. This one was a surprise, so give it a shot!
Rising up from the shifty ‘n sleazy 1980s Sunset Strip, the relatively infamous Cali metal band known pleasantly as Bitch made quite a bit of ruckus on Metal Blade Records during the early part of the decade, serving as the then-rising label’s more popular and successful acts of the day.
The stuff wet metal dreams were made of in the 80s
The band was tantalizingly fronted by the bondage-glorifying, hyper-sexualized domina of Betsy Bitch-a right fit young lass who seemed to delight in cheeky S&M lyrical references and puberty-inducing moaning-and delivered a slightly glammy form of traditional metal meets Motorhead.
Subtlety was never Bitch's strong suit.
This heavy rocking balance was best executed on the band’s Damnation Alley EP and debut album Be My Slave, both of which featured such future Bitch staples as “Live For the Whip,” “Gimme A Kiss,” “In Heat” and Be My Slave‘s excellent title track. Together with more anthemic numbers like “Make It Rock (Make It Real” and “Saturdays,” this double shot of West Coast metal served to firmly set Bitch on a bright road to heavy rock acclaim.
1987′s The Bitch Is Back continued much in the same fashion, albeit with a bit more of a commercial edge. Betsy’s voice had become a bit more tuneful by this point, still utilizing the piercing falsetto and cat-like screeching of old, while also incorporating a bluesier shout into the mix. As, The Bitch Is Back was a more diverse effort which featured a bunch of killer new songs, including “Headbanger,” “Hot ‘n Heavy,” “Turns Me On” and the double-kick madness of “Skullcrusher.”
It wasn’t until 1988′s Betsy where the band began to rally full behind Betsy Bitch as a concept, even changing their moniker to share their frontwoman’s name at this point. For what it’s worth, Betsy the album is an enjoyable hair metal record, with a number of choice cuts (“Sunset Strut” and “Turn You Inside Out” come to mind), yet overall the album failed to captivate fans of Bitch’s hard ‘n heavy sound of old.
Not much was heard from Betsy/Bitch after the Rose By Any Other Name EP in ’89…that is, until the band reformed years later to make the European festival circuit. With both band and Betsy sounding (and looking) as good as they have in years, it seems as if the legacy of Bitch is safe and secure in the hearts of old school metalheads.
RATT TO PLAY A FREE FAN APPRECIATION SHOW ON THURSDAY.
What better way for a band to show its love for its fans than by playing a free show in their hometown? RATT, who earned their way into the Sunset Strip’s legendary and historical rock pantheon with a parade of hook-filled anthems that went on to define the ’80s, will play a free “Fan Appreciation” show at the Key Club in West Hollywood Tonight, July 29.
That’s right. We said “free.” No gimmicks. No fine print. No tricks. The show is 100 percent free for fans anxious to Ratt ‘n’ Roll on a hot July night!
This free show is presented as part of the Sunset Strip Summer Concert Series and is being sponsored by BING. The show will be filmed for a forthcoming, feature-length documentary about the famed Sunset Strip, where some of the most culturally relevant bands of the past four decades were spawned. The documentary will also feature X representing the ’70s; JANE’S ADDICTION representing the ’90s; PUSSYCAT DOLLS representing the ’00s; and, of course, RATT representing the ’80s.
Tickets will be available here: www.therattpack.com/contests/lagiveaway, so get them now, because they are guaranteed not to last.
RATT was recently forced to cancel its European tour in order to allow vocalist Stephen Pearcy to undergo urgent hernia surgery. However, the RATT family is happy to report that Pearcy has made a full recovery and is eager to get back on the road.
“Despite the forced break with my surgery, I’m feeling better and being out here on tour with the SCORPIONS is rehabilitating, to say the least,” Pearcy said. “We’re doing different songs from Infestation and they are going over great! We’re mixing up our set and kicking some ass. It’s a Scorpion sting with some Ratt ‘n’ Roll!”
Metal Army America is hosting the RATT AFTER PARTY at Angels and Kings in Hollywood, CA.
e never heard of these guys, and I’m pretty sure that not many of you outside Italy have seen the Rain name scattered across club and marquee boards across the country.
