You know when those first licks come storming in on 'Eat Me Up Alive' that you're likely in for a real treat of some kind, but who would have expected Ratt of all groups to actually come together long enough to put together an album that rivals their mid 80's peak? Especially since, you know, Robbin Crosby bit the bullet back in 2002? I know I sure as hell didn't, but that's what the world got four years ago in the form of Infestation. It was their first studio outing in 11 freakin' years and it sounded like a million bucks. It's a coked-up shot of adrenaline to a dying breed of metal, devoid of the self-parody that Steel Panther revel in or the excessive theatricality of The Darkness and their ilk.

In other words, Ratt are really fun and heavy in equal measure here, and they haven't done an album this consistent since..well, ever. You've got the snarling 'Lost Weekend', the face-stomping yet bluesy 'Look Out Below' and even a few Sunset Strip hook-laden throwbacks like the AOR-tinged 'Best Of Me' and the spacey ecstatic closing fireworks of 'Don't Let Go', but the highlights are numerous. The choruses are so well put together that you wonder if Stephen Pearcy has been *gasp* going through something resembling vocal rehabilitation since the late 90's. Who woulda thunk it?

That being said, as of 2014 it doesn't look like we'll be seeing any new Ratt for quite some time due to Pearcy's choice to leave forever. But hey, if that's how the curtain falls on one of the Sunset Strip's biggest bands ever, then they couldn't have ended on a better note with these songs. Great revivals like this are rare in any genre, but for sleaze enthusiasts like myself it was a godsend.