Has enough time passed to forgive the trespasses of the Wingers and Warrants that soured our ability to digest big toothed smile pretty boy pop metal? "Ratt" would like to think so, since they suffered the fate of a band who helped define a movement, and then was crucified for their sound because it was imitated to the point of cliché. So, with the reunion mentality seeping through the dregs of 80's cheese, "Ratt" has re-formed and recorded a brand spanking new album.

With bands that have come and gone and are now trying to come again, it's a tricky position to offer a review of one of them. Do we judge them against their previous catalog (and if so, the stuff that sold or the stuff that sank them into oblivion?), or do we stack it against the contemporary hard rock scene? Let's do both.

The newest "Ratt" shows a more intelligent approach to dynamic and structure than the riff hooks of their breakthrough work, but has the occasional easy to swallow jam so you don't have to try to hard to fell the idea. A good lesson some of today's bands could learn is the craft of the backing vocals. "Ratt" can still create this wash of backups (especially on the disk opener "Over The Edge") that gives such a slick professional gloss to the lyrics. Now, for the lyrics themselves, Stephen is still as shallow as a wading pool and most choruses consist of easy rhythms and cliché'd phrases ("We Don't Belong...I told you for the last time...still the same old song... I heard it all the first time...where did we go wrong...remember all the good times...we don't belong" - self-analyzing some Stephen?). But even with the lyrical ease, "We Don't Belong" is one of the albums more endearing songs, with it's nice, dreamy, drooping hook to the guitar whines and vocal lines that follow their lead.

"Ratt" 1999 is also a slightly different line-up. Robin Crosby is not present at all, with Stephen Pearcy taking up the slack by playing rhythm guitars, and bass player Juan Croucier has been replaced by Robbie Crane. Warren DeMartini is still the lead axeman, so the bulk of the guitars are very intelligent and talented in their wankering. "Tug of War" shines with classic Ratt-isms like the power ballad picking guitar (think White Lions "When the Children Cry"), with a faster tempo break for the chorus that falls into familiar "Ratt" vocal delivery. "Life is a tug of war/ A slap in the face/ Life is a tug of war/ A total disgrace/ Life is a tug of war/ Let's cut to the chase", etc.

I can honestly say this album is a whole lot more listenable than a lot of people might want to admit. There is a certain amount of the unavoidable 80's comparisons, especially in the overall "tone" of the album, but done more out of being influenced by the sound they helped define, rather than trying to recapture any kind of past glory. I guarantee this album will rock any of those denim-clad adults still stuck listening to their Cinderella and Poison albums. "Ratt" takes the sound and mentality they love and gives it a slightly more contemporary feel, without straying too far from the mold. If you were a fan in passing or never at all, this might be a little harder sell and might seem somewhat weak when thought of in today's hard rock market.

Rock is definitely back in lots of forms that hearken back to purer days, so "Ratt" might be able to put a dent in the new school of kids, but I wouldn't bank on it. The charm of this album, "Ratt" just being "Ratt" without trying too hard to outgrow their sound, will also be what holds them back from attaining any notable status with this release - meaning, retro-rock sells best to the people that were there the first time.