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Tag: Bobby Blotzer
4 Bobby Blotzer – Tales of A RATT (2010) – Book Review
I don’t get anywhere near enough time to read in 2011, but when I do, I love to read rock biographies. They often provide an interesting, behind the scenes look of the careers of the bands I have followed for decades.
RATT drummer, Bobby Blotzer needs no introduction to the readers of this site. He has been one of my favorite drummers for as long as I have been listening to RATT. I first saw him play back in 1986 with RATT, and have never forgotten that show. I could not resist picking up his new book.
His book, Tales of a RATT: Things You Shouldn’t Know is a pretty good read. Some of the stories in this book are laugh out loud funny. Literally no one is safe in this book. Want the behind the scenes dirt on RATT? It is in there. Want to read some good stories that include Don Dokken, Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, Blackie Lawless, Keith Richards, Ozzy Osbourne, Matthias Jabs, Steven Tyler and more? It is in there too!
“Blotz” doesn’t hold back any punches, and gives a interesting, and sometimes not so nice look on many of the musicians we have all loved. In his defense, he doesn’t exactly paint himself as an angel either. I am glad he took the time to tell the stories that no one in else in RATT has.
My only real issue with this book is that the stories tend to bounce around, and the editing job could have been a lot better. I have found some infrequent misspellings amongst other errors. The average editing job really wasn’t enough of a distraction to keep me from enjoying this book.
If you are a fan of RATT, and have read and enjoyed the biographies, The Dirt, or Slash, you will likely enjoy Tales of a RATT. (If you like to download your books, this book is now available on the Kindle!) Check it out!!
Rating: 
Out of 10
0 New Bobby Blotzer Book, “Wanted Things YOU Need to Know” Coming Soon!
RATT drummer Bobby Blotzer and “Blotzer Brothers Publishing” are embarking on a new book franchise entitled, “WANTED Things YOU Need to know!”
This new informational book “series” will give the publishing industry a kick in the ass by inviting the world to participate in the first, as far as we know, “User Interactive” book.
Volume one, of the series will be a follow up to Bobby’s greatly received autobiography, “Tales Of A RATT, Things you Shouldn’t know” (Still available onwww.Amazon.com, www.BobbyBlotzer.com, www.Kindle.com. This first volume will have you the fan’s, asking the questions, about things, YOU NEED TO KNOW!
Any subject on anything and everything Rock, RATT, Music and music business related. Touring, recording, studios, backstage, hotels, record deals, record producing, publishing deals, etc. Anything goes, nothing is off limits.
I got the idea for the series in thinking, wouldn’t it be nice to approach the author of any given book that always has one or two unanswered questions? “I want to gather not only the questions, but also have the person posing the question be in the book itself. Including your name, where you’re from, and a picture of you next to your questions. How fun right?” (Click Here to Submit Your Question to Bobby!)
The “WANTED” series will start with 80s Rock with Bobby Blotzer doing the Q&A. Shortly thereafter the series will expand into different industries regarding all subjects and people like you, asking the questions that we all NEED to know. This first book will be arriving in Spring 2011!
Also coming soon, Bobby Blotzer’s new wine franchise,
RATT N ROLL / Out Of The Cellar™ Featuring a fine selection of your favorite red and white wines. Much more to be announced soon.
Bobby Blotzer is the celebrated drummer of 80’s staple multi platinum band RATT.
1 Rock Stars Unite for New Year’s Eve Cancer Benefit Concert In Benefit For Bassist PHIL KENNEMORE Of Y&T
NEW YEAR’S EVE @ THE AVALON in SANTA CLARA, CA
GEOFF TATE, DON DOKKEN, CHUCK BILLY, JIMMY DEGRASSO, RON KEEL AND MANY MORE!
A parade of Rockstars are coming together to support beloved bassist, Phil Kennemore, founding member of Northern California’s legendary rockers Y&T,
Kennemore was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer while on tour this last summer. Having recorded and toured the world relentlessly since 1974, Kennemore has dedicated his life to making millions of people happy with his music. Now, he needs your help.
Due to the overwhelming medical bills, Y&T’s lead singer and best mate, Dave Meniketti, started the “Phil Kennemore Fund” to help Phil with his bills. This New Year’s concert is the ultimate fund-raiser for a friend who has made such a positive impact on the music scene.
This concert is an allstar line up of many of Kennemore’s friends from bands such as Queensryche, Dokken, RATT, Black Sabbath, DIO, Alice Cooper, Testament, and Y&T all donating their time to perform on New Year’s Eve. This is a must-see concert and is going to rock!
The lineup for the all star extravaganza is as follows:
- · Geoff Tate (Queensryche)
- · Don Dokken (Dokken)
- · Bobby Blotzer (RATT)
- · Vinny Appice (DIO, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell)
- · Sean McNabb (Dokken, Montrose)
- · Loren Gold (Roger Daltrey)
- · Chuck Billy (Testament)
- · Paul Bostaph (Testament, Slayer)
- · Jimmy DeGrasso (Alice Cooper)
- · Joey Alves
- · Leonard Haze
- · Ron Keel
- · Greg Kihn
- · …and more (see www.YandTRocks.com for updates)
The show will take place at the Avalon (777 Lawrence Expressway. Santa Clara, CA), a 1000+ capacity venue which Y&T has performed at several times on New Year’s Eve over the past five years. The club, like the performers, has generously volunteered to donate 100% of the ticket proceeds directly to Phil.
The doors open at 8:00PM. Tickets are $75. For further information, call the Avalon at 408.241.0777 or visit www.YandTRocks.com.
3 RATT – Infestation (2010)
Man oh Mercy! What is going on in the RATT Camp? RATT’s new album Infestation sounds like a return to 1987 when rock was fun, and this merry band of rodent rockers were amongst the biggest bands of the hair metal era. Infestation is easily RATT’s best album since 1985’s Invasion of Your Privacy.
I must admit that I didn’t have high hopes for this CD. My memory of RATT’s last album, their self titled effort from ’99, still lingers in my memory. Needless to say, I didn’t care for it very much. Luckily Infestation has quickly made me remember the RATT of old. Warren DeMartini’s blazing guitar solos are back, and are a pleasure to hear once more. Carlos Cavazo seems to do a pretty good job trading off licks with Warren. Stephen Pearcy’s vocals are on point. He hasn’t sounded this good in quite some time.
Any way you look at it, RATT has some renewed energy, and the songs on Infestation shine as a result. Chances are, you may have heard “Eat Me Up Alive”, and “Best of Me” (See video below), and if so, you already know that Infestation has two big hit worthy tunes to lead off the CD. The fun doesn’t end there. “Look Out Below” sounds like the cousin of “Way Cool Jr”. “Lost Weekend” kind of reminds me of “Lack of Communication”. This is a very catchy tune, that seems like it would have been better served with the name, “Rock Steady” instead.
DeMartini’s playing has always been awesome, and his bluesy licks on “Garden of Eden” are awesome. You need to listen to this one multiple times to fully appreciate his guitar work here. “Take A Big Bite” is a monster tune from RATT. The layered guitar riffs on this song are pretty incredible. This song is going to get a lot of play from me.
‘Take Me Home” is the slowest song on Infestation, and one of the only ones that has keyboards. Thankfully, this song does NOT fall into the power ballad trap, and is a very solid tune. I probably would have mixed this song more towards the middle of the album to break up the pace a little bit more, but it works nonetheless.
The Bottom Line: Infestation is a return to form for RATT. The band has returned to their classic sound, and have ripped out another great album, that is easily one of their best. If you have ever been a fan of the band, you owe it to yourself to go out and pick this disc up as soon as possible. Infestation rocks!!
Rating: Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Eat Me Up Alive
2. Best Of Me
3. A Little Too Much
4. Look Out Below
5. Last Call
6. Lost Weekend
7. As Good As It Gets
8. Garden Of Eden
9. Take A Big Bite
10. Take Me Home
11. Don’t Let Go
RATT is:
Stephen Pearcy – Lead Vocals
Warren DeMartini – Guitar and Vocals
Carlos Cavazo – Guitar and Vocals
Robbie Crane – Bass
Bobby Blotzer – Drums
2 New Video – RATT – Best of Me
6 Prizoner & RATT Concert Review
RATT & Roll returned to Cincinnati last Thursday Night. Two local acts opened this show, A Nervous Wreck, and Prizoner. I made it to Annies shortly after Prizoner started playing, so I can’t say how A Nervous Wreck’s set went, but Prizoner was on fire Thursday Night.
Prizoner’s set included covers by The Cult, AC/DC, Buckcherry, Kix, Cinderella, Puddle of Mudd, Skid Row, Tesla, Iron Maiden and a damn good cover of Motley Crue’s Saints of Los Angeles, as well as their own original tune, White Knuckle Ride. Prizoner has been a staple in the Cincinnati rock scene since the 80’s, and they did a fantastic job at getting the crowd pumped up and ready to see RATT.
Prizoner was so good that I though RATT would be a let down, after their excellent set. This was not the case tonight. Prizoner set the crowd up, and RATT tore the roof off of the club.
I have seen RATT twice in 2007, and Stephen Pearcy with his solo band in December. Each time, I thought Pearcy’s voice was a little better than the last time I saw him. His voice was damn near perfect this time around. I made a point to stand on the side of the stage where Warren DeMartini was playing. I am quite glad I did. His playing and solos were quite impressive.
Robby Crane might just be the best bass player RATT has ever had. Does this guy ever stand still during a show? His bass combined with Bobby Blotzer’s drums sounded great all night.
John Corabi played rhythm guitar and sang backup to Stephen Pearcy. I never noticed how much Corabi was singing until this show. I hope he doesn’t leave the band as it has been rumored of late. He will be greatly missed if he does quit RATT.
RATT played a pretty good selection of their hits including Tug of War, You’re In Love, Way Cool Jr., Lack of Communication, Lay It Down, Wanted Man, Back For More, a cover of Aerosmith’s Walkin’ The Dog, Nobody Rides For Free and a few other tunes that I can’t recall.
They also did an encore of Body Talk and Round & Round.
I didn’t decide to hit this show until a couple of days before. It was a great concert for a club show. I was glad I went. If I had any complaints at all, it would have wished RATT would have played longer.
Don’t miss RATT if they head your way. They have a few shows left on this tour.
I have included videos from RATT’s encore of Body Talk and Round and Below.
Check them out!
| 8/10/08 | Charter One Pavillion | Chicago, IL | w/ Scorpions |
| 8/16/08 | TBA | Acoma, NM | |
| 8/29/08 | Rock The Bayou | Houston, TX | |
| 8/31/08 | TBA | Calgary, Albera | |
| 10/25/08 | TBA | Norman, OK |
8 Saints of the Underground (Release Year – 2008)
Jani Lane’s side project has finally seen the light of day, and has been released by Warrior Records. The timing of this release is kind of odd, with Jani recently reuniting with his former band, Warrant.
Nonetheless, The Saints of the Underground new disc is here, and I believe that this is Jani Lane’s most solid effort since the Warrant CD, Dog Eat Dog from 1992.
On this disc, you get two cover songs and eight original tunes. The first is American Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. SOTU has increased the tempo on this song by a half step or so, and I like their version quite a bit, although it is very true to the original.
The second cover song is Moonlight Mile by the Rolling Stones. I didn’t really care for the Stones’ version of this song, and SOTU didn’t do anything to improve upon it. Their version is o.k. but It seems like an odd song for them to cover, especially when the Rolling Stones have so many great upbeat songs in their catalog.
The opening track, Dead Man Shoes sounds like a lost Warrant hit from the early 90’s. I like this tune a lot. Tomorrow Never Comes is another solid tune, and a good follow up to keep the pace going on this record. Good Times has a decent intro, which gave me high hopes for this song. It is a mid tempo number that came across as semi-average tune. It took a few listens for me to get into this tune more. I wish they would have made this one a little heavier, but it is, what it is.
The song Exit, didn’t really excite me too much. This sounds like an extra tune that was cut off of a Warrant album. Just when I was starting to lose faith in this record, Signs of Life came at exactly the right time. This tune has a heavier edge that some of the other songs on this record are lacking. It is a cool tune.
Bobby Blotzer’s drums stand out a little more to me, on the tune Bruised. I like the music on this tune, a lot more than the lyrics. Jimmy is a solid closer for this album. This song has a guitar lick that reminds me a whole lot of some old Thin Lizzy tunes.
All in All, Saints of the Underground have released a pretty good CD for the most part. Their are a couple of weak spots, but there are great songs here too.
Warrant and Jani Lane fans will eat this record up! For more information on Saints of the Underground, and to preview six of the songs from Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner, please visit the SOTU myspace page.
Rating:
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Dead Man Shoes
2. Tomorrow Never Comes
3. All in How You Wear It
4. Good Times
5. Exit
6. American Girl
7. Signs of Life
8. Bruised
9. Moonlight Mile
10. Jimmy
Saints of the Underground is:
Jani Lane – Vocals
Bobby Blotzer – Drums
Robby Crane – Bass
Kerri Kelli – Guitars
4 Saints of the Underground to be released 4/22/08
Saints of the Underground, the hard rock project featuring Jani Lane (Warrant), Robbi Crane (RATT), Keri Kelli (Alice Cooper) and Bobby Blotzer (RATT), is about to see the light of day! The new disc, Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner will be released to retailers on April 22, 2008.
You can preview the new songs below!
You can pre-order the new CD through Warrior Records at this link!
0 Silent Rage Completes Work On Star Studded Disc
US Arena Rock band SILENT RAGE completed the production of their brand new studio album, their first in 5 years, entitled “Four Letter Word”. Guitarist and singer Jesse Damon comments: “I love all the new songs a lot! The vibe on this new CD is a blending of hard driving rock with big memorable choruses, just the way we like to write. The new material continues as a natural progression from our “Don’t Touch Me There” CD. We’ve always strived to uphold what the band is known for with our multi-vocals, a style of blending melodic with hard rock, and signature song writing! All these new songs have a common thread of energy, enthusiasm, and balls! It’s been 5 years since our last release and so we made sure to make it enjoyable, and to have a blast in the studio recording it! We rocked hard on this CD, and this time we asked and included some of our good friends to play on several of the new songs.Some of my favorite’s on this new CD would be the song “Man or Machine” the story of Frankenstein, with the main guitar solo and guitar fills performed by Bruce Kulick. This track is one of the heaviest songs with strong performances by everyone! I also think the title track “Four Letter Word” with it’s storyline about not to fall into love’s trap turned out very cool, and is a continuation of Don’t Touch Me There material. Some other stand out songs include “Bona Fide” a primal lust rocker, with Bobby Blotzer on drums and Gilby Clarke performing the main guitar solo and fills, also the song “Sinister Man” another ballsy rocker showing a darker melodic side to us, with a lyric suggesting “Livin’ life my own way” with very special guest backing singers”.
Silent Rage lineup on the album includes Jesse Damon on vocals & guitar, EJ Curse on vocals & bass, Mark Hawkins on vocals & guitar, and newest member Rodney Pino on vocals & drums.
Track Listing includes: “You Could Be The One”, “Four Letter Word”, “Man Or Machine”, “Feel My Love”, “Close Your Eye’s”, “Sinister Man”, “Hard Habit To Break”, “Nobody Knows (the Ballad Of Andy and Glory)” “Bona Fide”, “I’m Not Lonely”, “Trouble”.
Produced by Gilby Clarke, including a line-up of some very special guests performances by Bruce Kulick (KISS), Bobby Blotzer (Ratt), Gilby Clarke (Guns N Roses, Rockstar Supernova), Dilana (Rockstar Supernova), Brian James Fox (Silent Rage) and more!
Get ready for a raw, rock explosion for melodic hard rock fans, new and old! More details and release date to be released at a later stage.
