All signs pointed towards a new Probot record this year, whatwith recent news of Dave Grohl collaborating with such metal luminaries as Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, but now it appears that’s not the case.

Taylor recently gave an interview to Artisan News Service at Zakk Wylde’s Celebrity Roast [above, via Metal Injection] in which he revealed that Grohl is working on a documentary about Sound City Studios — the legendary California studios where Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Slipknot and many others recorded groundbreaking albums — and he’s recording some kind of companion project on the original Sound City mixing console (now housed elsewhere) to go along with it.

It’s not quite a new Probot record but it still sounds pretty cool, yeah? The Grohl + Ratt combo in particular turns me on.

-VN

First came the news blip earlier this month that Dave Grohl was working on a new “project” with Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy and guitarist Warren “Tasty McTasterson” DeMartini. And now Noisecreep is reporting that Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor tweeted his excitement about having recently wrapped up a recording with Grohl, too.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you… or something? My point being: the collabo with Ratt could’ve been anything, but the second announcement of Grohl teaming up with a prominent metal musician(s) this month would seem to indicate he’s working on something big, something metal. As the great Euclid deduced, a line can be drawn from just two known points, and this straight line points squarely at Probot.

Of course it’s entirely possible that Grohl is working on something else entirely. But I’m calling it right now: Probot’s second album! Having just wrapped up a massive Foo Fighters touring cycle, the timing would be perfect.

-VN

It’s almost as if Dave Grohl isn’t confident in his perennial “Coolest Rockstar on Earth” status and needs to keep finding ways to prove his coolness over and over again. Fortunately, he never fails.

Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy spilled the beans via his Twitter account yesterday that he and Ratt guitarist Warren DeMartini would be working with Sir Grohlness, then later clarified that’s it’a “Grohl song idea open to Ratt madness” for some kind of new project.Could this be the resurrection of Grohl’s metal side project Probot? Let’s hope! But either way, I’m completely bonered about the posibility of a Grohl + Ratt collabo; with some of the best rock songwriters of the ’80s and ’90s (and ’00s and ’10s!) working together, it’s all but assured of being fan-fucking-tastic.

In other Ratt-related news, check out a cover of “Round and Round” by Ryan Adams after the break:

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The gates of the Mansion may be shuttered this week, but that doesn’t mean there won’t still be a few bibs and bobs happening in the metal world before the holidays put us all into a food coma. To boot:

• Axl Rose booted a concertgoer out of the GN’R show in Vancouver, just like in the good ol’ days. Watch video of the incident above, in which DJ Slashba stands there and looks on awkwardly. In other GN’R news, Duff McKagan joined the band in Seattle to play “You Could Be Mine” (after his band, Duff McKagan’s Loaded featuring Duff McKagan, opened the show.)
• Attack Attack! are now a djent band. Check out their new tune here. Sergeant D misses the old Attack Attack!.
• Every Time I Die invited fans up on stage for their last song at their annual Christmas song in Buffalo, NY, but the venue’s security team wasn’t having it. Watch video of the bench-clearing brawl that ensued here. Maybe it’s a pre-cursor for what’s to come when all the scene bands open for Every Time I Die at the 2012 New England Metal and Hardcore Fest?
• Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy released an unplugged album of seven Ratt classics under his solo name. I wonder how his bandmates feel about that?
• Jeff Loomis just completed a three-week clinic tour of China, Taiwan and Indonesia. Here’s Jeff permorning “Enemies of Reality” in Jakarta; Gawd, I love this dude.
• Tool have announced a few more live dates as part of their winter U.S. run, and Intronaut might be the opening act.

-VN

For every Vince there’s a Nikki, for every Steven Tyler there’s a Joe Perry, for every Axl there’s a Slash (or Izzy, as it were); rarely is the frontman of a band the driving creative force and chief songwriter, even when he’s the outsize personality. I love Stephen Pearcy to death and what he brings to the table in Ratt as a frontman and voice, but his new solo stuff just ain’t doing it. Without Warren DeMartini’s sweet n’ tasty riffs, “Don’t Wanna Think About,” Pearcy’s new solo single, could be any old group of dudes in an aging bar band. I’m sure the dudes in his band are all great guys, but the way they’re dolled up in this video they look like the waiting room of a Five Finger Death Punch audition session:

Ratt’s last album was so good (#1 of 2010 good!) that I wanted to like Pearcy’s upcoming solo record Sucker Punch at all costs, but if this is the best song that just ain’t gonna happen. Hopefully those guys get to kissing and making nice instead of talking smack in the press sooner rather than later

-VN

The current drama in the Ratt camp that’s playing out through the media is nothing short of ridiculous, but we really shouldn’t be surprised; they’ve always conducted business this way! It’s part of how they operate, like how you know Axl Rose is always going to show up late to a concert or how an abusive husband is probably gonna repeat the same behavior over and over again despite what he promises. Eventually Pearcy, DeMartini, Blotzer and co. will kiss and make nice, after which they’ll inevitably hate each other even more and sink to even deeper lows via press mud-slinging. Hopefully they can record an album as unstoppably good as 2010′s Infestation in between.

The latest: Blotz referred to the way the rest of the band handles business as “a joke,” as if the very act of him saying that was somehow not apt to be included in his own statement (so meta!). The sleuths at Metal Insider then goaded Stephen Pearcy to react via Twitter:

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Am I the only one who sees the complete absurdity in the whole “on hiatus” thing bands do these days? In 2010 no band stays broken up… every band gets back together, at least to tour if not also to release new music, because they need to do so to make a living. But it seems like every time a band announces they’re taking a break / “on hiatus” the media freaks out; will they ever be back, or is this the end??? Of course they’ll be back, nincompoop!

I call Metal Insider’s Bram Teitelman a nincompoop only in jest, of course, because I know the guy’s a legit Ratt fan; dude once told me his first concert was Ratt with special guest openers Bon Jovi, some new young band at the time. That’s real deal! Metal Insider is reporting that Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy is the latest band member to confirm there won’t be any more Ratt shows or new music in the near future after bassist Robbie Crane said the same this past Monday. In an interview with Philadelphia’s WYSP:

I’ll be taking care of some solo stuff until Ratt takes care of its business, and then we’ll probably or hopefully start working on another record. We’ll go on hiatus for a while, and everybody will do their own thing, and then we’ll take it from there.

Click to read more…

We now rejoin Allyson B. Crawford (Bring Back Glam!) and Anso DF (MetalSucks) and their riveting analysis of Glam Metal’s Ten Best Must-Have Records.

Get caught up on yesterday’s action here.

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7. TRASH - Alice Cooper

July 25, 1989 // Epic Records // p: Desmond Child

The hits: “Poison” “Bed of Nails” “House of Fire” “Only My Heart Talkin’”

The heart: “Hell Is Living Without You” “Spark In The Dark” “I’m Your Gun”

Anso: So by 1989′s Trash, Coop had been in a booze stupor for like seven straight albums. The good news was that his successful comeback tour inspired some check-writing at Epic Records. But that support came with strict control, or at least that’s what the presence of Bon Jovi/Kiss/Aerosmith/Ratt hit-maker Desmond Child implies. So Allyson, what’s your stance on Desmond Child?

Allyson: I got to interview Alice Cooper once. One of the highlights of my life, I swear. The man rules. He was all about sobriety when we spoke and I think that’s awesome. Now, Desmond Child. Oh my. I’ve written about him before on Bring Back Glam!. I suppose he is — no, he is a genius, but damn. Aerosmith is my favorite band of all time and Child sort of took away their grit. So that hurt. But for some people he really, really helped and that’s Alice Cooper. Alice needed a hit for a new generation and Trash came along at the right time, didn’t it? Oh and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to meet and interview Desmond Child, so there you go.

Anso: Hey, same here! His stuff is mega-cheesy, but so are delicious Cheetos. Plus, Detonator rules, so it’s easy to forgive misfires like “I Was Made For Lovin’ You.” Oh and of course I warmed to him after VH1 aired that hilarious footage of his collaboration with (and antagonism of) Vince Neil. You saw that right? “Hello-o! Successs!”

Allyson: Yeah, I’ve seen that. Oh, I’ve seen it.

Anso: Okay, Trash was buffed up by a full whack of celebrity guests: Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi, Kip Winger, Guy Mann-Dude, Steve Lukather, and 80% of Aerosmith. I suppose they helped pull chicks and young people to this old man record. Did these guys make Trash more attractive to you in any way?

Allyson: Because I’m a chick? Well, here’s the thing about me. I’ll agree there are some hot guys in rock, but that doesn’t mean much to me when it comes to music I like. If the song rocks, awesome. If not, okay. I like tons of music that is mocked — often right here on MetalSucks, ha! — and I always “go my own way if you will.” Trash is awesome to me because I love the songs. “Only My Heart Talkin’” is a great love song, a completely different type of power ballad. But, back to guests. I usually don’t care about guest stars on albums. I buy records because I want to hear the real band — not a slew of guests, you know?

Anso: Yeah. I’m not an Alice Cooper scholar, but I’ll wager that Trash is his sexiest record. It’s a bit uncomfortable to hear a 41-year old Coop describe passionate banging.

Allyson: As you know, my dear Anso, sexy is in the eyes of the beholder.

Anso: Hey, let’s talk about Trash‘s super-hit, “Poison.” Can you think of any single in history with such a memorably quirky riff? It’s awesome on its own and I love how they set it against different chords in the intro.

Allyson: So I’ve talked to Alice guitarist Keri Kelli a few times. Once I said I was frustrated trying to learn bass and guitar parts for some Alice songs. And Keri said something like, “Look, if you want to learn ‘Poison’ it’s just going to take awhile.” This frustrated me because I have little patience. I think I got off the phone with Keri, looked at the guitar and then sat down with a bag of chips or something. Anyway, yes, “Poison” is freaking epic. One of the best songs of the ’80s. Then again, Alice is a master. I love when the band performs “Poison” live. The crowd always goes batshit crazy.

Anso: What else makes you love this record?

Allyson: Hmm. It’s the sum of its parts I guess. I think all the songs fit well together, there’s not really a dud and the album helped push Alice to the top again. The cover photo is iconic. It was in magazines first and then Alice chose it as his cover — so I remember seeing the image of Alice everywhere as a kid. I had this instant connection to the record I suppose.

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Bobby Blotzer’s life reads like something out of the mind of a Hollywood screenwriter. Raised in a blue collar neighborhood in Pittsburgh, PA, he achieved fame and fortune playing drums for Ratt in the mid-‘80s, only to find himself, and the kind of hard rock his band played, out of fashion throughout the ‘90s. During the time when boy bands and pop punk acts like Blink 182 and The Offspring ruled the Billboard charts, Blotzer figured out new ways to keep busy and make money. One of the things he did was start a small steam cleaning carpet business. Here was a guy who had headlined Madison Square Garden driving a van around Los Angeles and hustling Scotch Guard to housewives who might have had Out of the Cellar in their music collection. The music business can be cruel.

Despite the career turn of events, Blotzer pushed forward, and the musical climate finally was ready for Ratt’s brand of Sunset Strip kissed rock-n-roll. The band signed to Roadrunner Records in 2009 and recently released Infestation, one of the finest hard rock albums of the last few years – period. Even though Blotzer was busy writing and recording the record, he still found time to finish Tales of a Ratt, his newly released autobiography.

Anyone familiar with the drummer already knows that he’s never been one to hold back his feelings. If you’re looking for inside stories about Ratt and the golden age of the Sunset Strip, the book will not disappoint you. There is plenty of shit talking too. Don Dokken, Nikki Sixx, and Kevin DuBrow (the late lead singer of Quiet Riot) are among some of Blotzer’s targets. There are some grammar issues and spelling mistakes throughout the book, but that’s beside the point. The way I like to explain Tales of a Ratt to people is this: imagine sitting next to Bobby at the bar at The Rainbow, and he’s telling you stories without any kind of filter.

Metal Sucks spoke with Bobby a few days after he was arrested for DUI, though he didn’t mention it during the interview. As you’ll read below Blotzer seems a bit uneasy about the current state of Ratt. He complains about vocalist Stephen Pearcy and lead guitarist Warren DeMartini and their stubbornness. A few days after our interview, Ratt cancelled their European tour, saying that Pearcy needed to undergo hernia surgery. Hopefully Ratt can get everything worked out and get back out on the road, because Infestation is worth the hassle. Check out the interview below and make sure you also pick up Tales of a Ratt directly from Blotzer’s official website today.

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There really aren’t any ’80s bands that are still making relevant music in 2010, and Ratt managed to do just that with Infestation… but I’ve waxed ecstatic about that album enough already. While other ’80s hair bands have been relegated to either the fair and festival circuit or nostalgia package tours, it’s fitting that Ratt commemorated their album release with a good old fashioned tour of sweaty clubs. And in Philadelphia on Saturday night — the ultimate Ratturday celebration — Ratt dazzled with a captivating performance that served to remind why this band is experiencing such an unlikely renaissance.

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Since Ratt’s awesome Infestation release party took place at The Key Club on Sunset Strip, the birthplace of hair rock, one could conclude that nostalgia was inevitable. And probably intentional. Even knowing that, it still was easy to get choked up at the sight of Ratt guitar stud Warren DeMartini partnering on a harmony solo with a tall, blond guy. That hasn’t happened since cordless phones were invented and late guitarist Robbin Crosby hadn’t yet been ravaged by hard drugs.

And even though Ratt’s setlist relied on early singles, the event was firmly rooted in the present (contrary to my pathetic wishes). For one thing, there were a ton of 4/20 revelers, and the hot rock chicks present eschewed the timeless appeal of a loose florescent tank top for complicated tattoos and blinding douchewear. But honors for loudest outfit go to the singer, as it should be, as Stephen Pearcy was rocking leather pants that I guess become jeans at the knees.

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I just wanna throw my two cents in…

True story: when I was a kid, I thought the lyrics to “Black No. 1″ were “You can’t go out ’cause your boobs are showing.” I was confused about what the song’s title meant, but otherwise, the words made perfect sense to me. Oh, misheard lyrics. You never cease to amuse.

Even if you weren’t a Type O Negative fan or a Carnivore fan, you have to admit that Peter Steele had one of the most distinctive voices in the history of metal. You never heard the guy and thought, “Gee, who is that?” And because my mother used to work with Josh Silver’s (now sadly also departed) dad, Type O Negative always felt, somehow, more tangible to me; Steele was iconic and often seemed larger than life, but I knew he wasn’t superhuman.That he passed away so young was a very unfortunate reminder that he wasn’t The Man of Steele. But he made his mark and left something to appreciated behind, and in the end, that’s all any of us can really ask for.

Here are some happier things that happened in the world of metal this week:

• We unveiled the line-up for Summer Slaughter 2010.
• We debuted a new video by Jungle Rot.
• We spoke to Kerry King and Dave Lombardo from Slayer, Chino Moreno from Deftones, and Stephen Pearcy from Ratt.
• Cynic’s Paul Masvidal contemplated depression, As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa contemplated L O S T, and The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley contemplated the perfect Taco Riff.
• We checked out new releases by Levi/Werstler, Wormrot, and Bison B.C. and Sweet Apple.
• Ever dreamed of singing with Nevermore? We’re running pretty much the coolest contest in the history of ever.

Next week brings at least one and possibly two big surprises, plus, knock on a wood, the debut of a new column by a writer you will hate. See ya then.

-AR

Full disclosure: I’m a giant fucking Ratt nerd. In fact, it’s fair to say that if it weren’t for hearing their seminal hit “Round and Round” for the first time as a preteen, I probably wouldn’t have grown up to be a giant fucking metal nerd.

Something about Stephen Pearcy’s acidic voice and Warren DeMartini’s wailing guitar riffs compelled me to keep chasing the louder, faster, heavier dragon for all these years. But you never forget that first time, do you?

So when Vince offered me a chance to talk to Pearcy — who rejoined the band last year after a seven-year hiatus — about Ratt’s new album Infestation, I jumped at the chance. That excitement increased exponentially when I actually heard the record—a true throwback to melodic, ballsy hard rock with plenty of attitude and sexual innuendo.

Check out Infestation when it’s released on April 20 through Roadrunner Records. And be sure to worship every Ratturday.

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After refusing to battle hour-plus lines in our quest to eat the best of NYC’s dumplings, today I ended up comfortably toasted with Zena Metal and Relapse Bob listening to Ratt’s greatest hits collection, Ratt & Roll 8191. It was the perfect afternoon activity for a rainy Fall day that capped another week of late CMJ Music Marathon nights full of booze, music, and a festival-best performance by Boston shredders Revocation.

A greatest hits collection doesn’t necessarily convey the original artistic intentions and context of a band’s songs as thoroughly as listening to a full album does, but it does provide an interesting look into a band’s career arc. By the late ’80s Ratt had shifted towards the cheesier metal constructs and lighter pop-metal of then-popular bands like Warrant and Poison, and listening to their greatest hits collection underscores that transformation. The fact is, everything after 1986′s Dancing Undercover is doused in heapings of weak sauce, even the moderate hit “Way Cool Jr/” (which Zena Metal pointed out I liked for purely sentimental reasons… the song does kinda blow). But out of all of Ratt’s later material we all agreed that one song matched the edge and swagger of their earlier stuff — “Nobody Rides for Free,” a track that only appeared on the 1991 soundtrack for Point Break.

Stephen Pearcy looks absolutely ridiculous in this video, the first step of his descent into his current status of looking worn-the-fuck-out. Someone needs to add this man to Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians.

-VN