Get A Grip Of This! (Rattus Norvegicus: IV - Stranglers)

Member Name: I Like Blue

Product:	Rattus Norvegicus: IV - Stranglers
Date:	02/08/04 (1195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The Stranglers of course!, Well constructed, musically, The start of great things

Disadvantages: Hmmm...

This is my first music review since becoming the new music guide, taking over from Frankingsteins. It was his love (obsession?) for Iron Maiden and the amount of reviews he wrote about them that has inspired me somewhat to write some more about one of my favourite bands of all time, The Stranglers.

Until recently dooyoo only had a couple of The Stranglers? albums to review, but now I?m like a kid in a sweet shop and where better to start than with Rattus Norvegicus.

Rattus Norvegicus (That's Norwegian Rat to you and me) is the title of The Stranglers first album. In truth the album title reads 'The Stranglers IV Rattus Norvegicus', and it was done so in a deliberate effort to confuse people, and it worked.

Rattus Norvegicus was first released on April 15th 1977 and hit the album charts at No 46 which was believed to be a fair start for the album. However by the end of the next week the album had climbed to No 4 with only Abba, The Shadows and The Eagles above them!

When actually listening to this album for the first few times you couldn't be blamed for thinking this was an 'angry young people' type album, or an anti-establishment type album like so many more of that era. A lot was assumed about The Stranglers in their early days, especially by one or two new journalists on the scene writing for the music papers at that time.

There was no 'new' material for this debut album, not like a lot of bands do especially nowadays where new songs are written specifically for an album. No, the strange thing was that Rattus Norvegicus was more of a 'Best of?' album in a funny sort of way because the songs were a collection of the groups previous 2 years work.

Anyway here we have a debut album
with some of the songs already established favourites amongst those that had already seen and heard them in and around London on their pubs and clubs gigs.

The album starts with [1] Sometimes, a quite melodic and gentle song, instrumentally, with more of an emphasis on Dave Greenfield?s keyboard contribution. However, what gives this song edge is Hugh Cornwell?s quite aggressive singing style. This ?theme? continues into [2] Goodbye Toulouse but now there is more of a collective emphasis; Jet Black?s drumming, JJ Burnel?s bass guitar and Hugh Cornwell?s rhythm guitar contributions have a bit more edge and bite to them.

Things ease off a bit for [3] London Lady, a song with, for me, some of the strangest lyrics on this album. One particular line that stands out is:

?Making love to,
The Mersey Tunnel,
With a sausage,
Have you ever been to Liverpool??

But then, this isn?t confined to just this track, the whole album is littered with strange lyrics like this. It was meant to create more of a menacing feel to the songs; a kind of dark surrealism. The next track [4] Princess Of The Streets is more of a ballad but this song in particular came in for some quite heavy criticism because of its references to prostitution. The Stranglers defended themselves, not just for this track, but for the whole album, which generally came in for criticism, stating that they weren?t condoning or endorsing anything they were singing about adding that they were merely ?social commentators? and were highlighting subjects in our lives that were rarely sung about other than from personal experience.

The next 3 songs were all released as singles although [5] Hanging Around was covered by Hazel O?Connor in 1981 and not released by the band themselves. Either way
it?s a good song and to be honest I think Hazel had more success with it than The Stranglers would have if they released it.

The next song [6] Peaches, is an all-time classic and was probably one of THE summer tunes of 1977 reaching number 8 in the charts. Of course the song had to be ?cleaned? up first so it was suitable for radio and TV as in its original form the lyrics were deemed to be a tad on the delicate side back then. Only 2 words were replaced by less-offensive ones and they were ?shit? and ?clitoris?, however the word ?bummer? was allowed! Back then ?bummer? was also a rather derogatory term for a homosexual.

The third single from the album [7] Grip, which, given it?s proper title is (Get A) Grip (On Yourself), didn?t fare so well in the charts but that was no fault of the bands. The people responsible for printing the Charts each week forgot to include ?Grip? on it?s second week and had accidentally put in another song by another group in place.

The penultimate song is [8] Ugly, a rather aggressively delivered song with plenty of trademark Stranglers attitude. The final song [9] Down In The Sewer is the longest track on the album and probably my favourite. At a shade under 8 minutes this song shows the confidence of The Stranglers to put such a long song on their debut album.

For me it is a fitting end as throughout the album there are plenty of solo performances to enhance each of the songs in particular Dave Greenfield with his keyboard magic. JJ Burnel?s rather unique bass guitar playing style and Hugh Cornwell?s contribution with the rhythm guitar also give Rattus a definite edge and the structure of each song shows how truly technically gifted they were which stood them out amongst their peers who, in the main, stuck to a particular formul
a without experimenting like The Stranglers did, without fear.

Down In The Sewer epitomises that fact and displays how ?tight? the band were technically and musically. The solos by Greenfield, JJ and Cornwell are all complimented by Jet Black?s playing his drums for fun keeping the rhythm of the track going as it moves from one segment to another, which is divided into 4 parts; (a) Falling, (b) Down In The Sewer, (c) Trying To Get Out Again and (d) Rats Rally.

This album shows how The Stranglers made their own style. It wasn?t punk, despite the media trying to class it as such, and it wasn?t copied from anyone, despite the comparison by some to The Doors style, especially Dave Greenfield?s keyboard technique and sound.

Rattus Norvegicus shows how The Stranglers were setting their own mark, their own identity and how they weren?t afraid to experiment. Their rather surreal and menacing lyrics showed their creativity and imagination, and that with how well they played as a unit is what attracted me to them and their music.

This is an album I quite often listen to. I have the original vinyl version and have it on CD as part of the 4-CD album set ?The Old Testament?.

I have reviewed the original vinyl version however you can also get the album on CD for around as little as £5 (hmv.co.uk) and on the CD version there are 3 bonus tracks - ?Choosy Susie?, ?Go Buddy Go? and a live version of ?Peasant In The Big Shitty?. You can also get the album as part of a ?double album? package, again in CD format, paired with The Stranglers? third album ?Black and White? for about £9 (amazon.co.uk), which has a few more bonus tracks as part of the package.

&#
69;ven 27 years after this album was first released I?d still recommend it, as to me it is timeless, and I?d especially recommend it to some of the younger generation who might be interested where, probably, ?ProgRock? or ?Indie Rock? started from.

The Stranglers are definitely not Punk!

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