Search - Stranglers :: Rattus Norvegicus

IT DOES NOT GET BETTER THAN THIS

pbes744934@aol.com | Manchester England | 08/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The best studio album, from the best Band to come out of England ever. Forget the Beatles Stones etc. this is real English working class music from a very angry time in UK history.Buy it or stay listening to that wimpy American rock. We gave you The Stranglers,The Clash, The Jam. You gave us Kiss, Bon Jovi, Bob Seger heavens above do yourselves a favour listen to some real music you won't regret it promise. Cheers Pete-Manchester, England"

Classic Intellectual Punk from a Legendary Band

S. A. Keister | Los Angeles, CA | 03/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The best combination of melody, instrumentation, lyrics, and pure rock aggression probably ever! The first time I heard "Get a Grip on Yourself" I was hooked. The looping organ lines, pounding bass, guitar lines like bursts of electrical energy, and intense cracking drum work is irresistable. Then you add Hugh Cornwell's sardonic and sarcastic vocals with his self-mocking and male-debunking lyrics and you've got a band that noone (not the Stones, Zep, Clash) has ever been able to match. Not to mention one of the tightest, and most intelligent live acts. The Stranglers alone elevated the punk scene to a new level of sophistication.These guys put out brilliant, solid, unforgettable albums for ten years, and this was the first. They grew more and more pop as time progressed, but never again achieved the level of fury and aggro-humor found on Rattus Norvegicus. No band, except perhaps Midnight Oil, had the intelligence and range of The Stranglers. Long misunderstood for their surly satiric takes on chauvinism and violence, The Stranglers were actually accomplished arrangers, players and composers of funny and intellectual pop/rock songs. Their closest cousins are really the Kinks. And then there's J.J. Burnel's awesome bass-playing...not enough can be said for how this guy revolutionized the instrument. My personal biggest influence. Best rock bassist of all time, and no lightweight singer himself.Buy this, then buy more Stranglers. Why are their CDs so hard to find? Where is The Raven (their most accomplished album, truly a progressive masterwork)?"

Magnificent debut

Jim Shine | Dublin, Ireland | 04/22/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ah, the heady days of misogyny. Or was it really misanthropy? Rattus is already archetypal Stranglers within the first minute, punk-ish but obviously a band who knew how to play and keep a tune going amid the attitude. There are three undeniable classics here - the sweaty "Hanging Around", the sneering pseudo-reggae "Peaches", and the stomping "Grip" - but plenty more besides. "Sometimes" propels itself along Dave Greenfield's organ (as it were), "London Lady" audibly drips with contempt, and "Goodbye Toulouse" manages to be a thumping, melancholy ballad. "Down in the Sewer" is a wondrous marriage of punk and prog rock, with a bit of Hank Marvin thrown in. The lyrics throughout the album are probably offensive at times but then if you're the sort of person who listens to the Stranglers you can probably handle it. It's all a bit tame by today's standards anyway. "Ugly" is, however, rubbish."