Customer Reviews
Welcome to the world of 'in your face' - By: D. J. H. Thorn, 27 Oct 2007 
The Stranglers were regarded by some as bandwagon jumpers, though they were among the first of the new wave bands to hit the upper reaches of the singles & album charts. Those accusations had something to do with age & occupational history, though it was also obvious that they had far more musical ability than the likes of The Clash or The Banshees.
With JJ Burnel's emphatic bass & Dave Greenfield's thrilling keyboard runs standing out, 'Rattus' is an exhilarating musical experience. Hugh Cornwell's affected & provocative vocal delivery also gives the band an identity. The lyrics are a different matter. Articulate, confrontational, often tasteless & offensive, they set the tone for the band's ongoing conflicts with the objects of their rants. On this album, they alienate the female population with half of their songs.
There is no denying, however, the emotional brilliance of 'Hanging Around,' the sleazy humour of 'Peaches' or the chilling ride, 'Down In The Sewer.' Of the bonus tracks, 'Choosey Susie' is an earlier effort & 'Go Buddy Go' is one half of the double a-side hit with 'Peaches,' the side the BBC dared broadcast, & good fun, though most fans probably bought it for 'Peaches.'
Ratty - By: Sherlock, 02 Oct 2007 A great album for taking you back to the days of drainpipes & Doc Martens boots!
Perhaps the best album for raucous bass-lines & 'space' to hear the fantastic keyboard playing of Dave Greenfield.
Having said that, some of the tracks display a crass vindictiveness,(Sometimes, Ugly), that don't sit well alongside some of the more 'melodic' tunes.
A 'must-have'in any Stranglers/ punk collection.
The Start of a Dream - By: Crc Greenwold, 17 Sep 2007 Rattus Norvegicus is one of half a dozen LPS that are the punk movement, for thoes of us that were already hanging Around prior to its release it is a culmination of what the rejected side of Punk was all about, Dark, ugly, nasty, rejected.Oh & how the world lapped it up.
Today listen to Princess of the Street, Hanging Around, Sewer, Grip & Somtimes. There is no off tracks on this LP & every track makes bands of today look like meer children, it weas a start of an avalance of the finest music to grace the vynal & cd era & by the looks of Suite 16 the download era will have to bow to this band as well.
It will only bein latter years when Relentless time has taken the Stranglers from us that, like a great old master painter the Stranglers will be mentionedin the same sentance as the Beatles & the Sex Pistols for producing the greatest songs of the last 32 years.
HISS AND MAKE-UP - By: Kelvin J. Dickinson, 18 May 2007 
Nice front cover. For supposed men's men, it's a debut appearance that comes across as somewhat, er, gay; an hilarious post-modern ironic PUNK/GLAM ROCK statement - smothered under too much blusher, lipstick & eyeliner. Ha ha...OH DEAR. But it's not finished yet. Turn to the inside cover & there's ANOTHER shot guaranteed to send any red-blooded male's tasteometer into freefall. Was the photographer pointing at gun at you on that day or did you just owe someone a lot of money? Flip (quickly) to the back of the album, however, & there's no mixed messages there, just a neat study of a mean lookin' rodent against a setting sun. Now that's what I call a RATTUS NORVEGICUS.
Because it's the first album, there's nothing really to compare it to, exceptin hindsight, but I want to decribe how it felt when I originally bought it almost thirty years (a third of a lifetime!) ago.
The initial thing to notice is the heavy DOORS' influence on the proceedings, particularlyin the keyboard department; however, DAVE GREENFIELD's is a gritter touch & perfectlyin keeping with HUGH CORNWELL's snarling guitar & JEAN-JACQUES BURNEL's equally snarling bass. Solidly held together by JET BLACK's workmanlike drumming, this album wants you not so much to sing-along as to cop for each track's quota of musical phlegm. Very punk rock.
Production-wise, what the sound lacksin style is generally made up forin energy. Check out HANGING AROUND & LONDON LADY, fine examples of thrusting rock, while UGLY, on the other hand, is just that; a twisting & unpleasant little number, not easy to listen to even today. DOWN IN THE SEWER, the standout track - & the song most responsible for the above star rating - is positively epicin length by the genre's standards. Broken down into musical segments & accelerating to a breathless climax, it ends the albumin a superbly sweaty flourish, deliberately foreshadowing a positional pattern evidentin subsequent releases. A first listen to this one song alone had me wanting more from THE STRANGLERS & thus it succeededin its intentions, evenin spite of the dire SCHOOL MAM on the disappointing follow-up, NO MORE HEROES. Proof that, once hooked, they could be forgiven anything. Almost.
So, what you have here is an excellent debut from a band who emerged at the advent of the punk rock era. Although they never liked being called punks, to me they were never really anything else & their mysoginistic pose was just a calculated part of their public image & not to be taken seriously. Which brings me back to that front cover...
Buy this album & experience for yourself where it all started.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
how lucky am I... - By: ralphdogmusiclover, 28 Apr 2007 how lucky am I that my brother bought this vinyl & I had my first exposure to MUSIC through this. It is so driven through its bass lines & keyboard & anarchic lyrics. If you are young (like I once was!) & want to feel something through your music then get into this. There is some good new music today but it can't hold a candle to this. Remember, The Stranglers IV had a real life before the awfully commercial Golden Brown etc. Go & buy this & then pay me £100 for changing your life.
