Good Rats - From Rats to Riches

Name: Good Rats
Album: From Rats to Riches
Year:1978
Style: Glam, Metal, Powerpop, Prog
Similar Bands: Journey, Def Leppard, Queen, Cheap Trick, Kiss, Alex Harvey Band, Black Sabbath, Rush
"One-Word" Review: Theatrical Metal
Based Out Of: Long Island, NYC
Label: Passport, JEM

Cover, Credits, Record

Back, Lyrics, Record

From Rats to Riches (1978)

1. Taking It To Detroit 3:36
2. Just Found me A Lady 2:50
3. Mr. Mechanic 3:39
4. Dear Sir 3:12
5. Let Me 4:45 /
6. Victory In Space 3:06
7. Coo Coo Coo Blues 4:37
8. Don't hate the Pnes Who Bring You Rock n' Roll 3:18
9. Could be Tonight 2:54
10. Local Zero 5:08

Album Rating (1-10): 7.5

Members & Other Bands:

• Micky Marchello - Guitar, Vox, Guitar Arrangements
• Joe Franco - Drums (Twisted Sister, Chiliwack, Fiona, Widowmaker, Vinnie Moore, Blues Saraceno, Leslie West, Jack Bruce, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Taylor Dayne, Diana Ross, Hall & Oates, Desperado, The Ladder, Ellen Shipley, Barry Manilow, Natalie Cole, Annie Haslam, Donnie Osmond, Natasha's Brother, Baton Rouge, Henry Lee Summer,Kathy Troccoli, Sheena Easton, Jennifer Holiday, Francesca Beghe, Doro, Mojo Bros. Hammerhead, Magellan, Vanm Helsing's Curse, Mecano, Eddie Ojeda, Steve Walsh, James LaBrie, Leslie West)
• Peppi Marchello - Lead Vox, Writer (U-Men, Popzarocca, Marchello, Dum, Intergalactic Touring Band)
• John "the cat" Gatto - Guitar, Keys
• Lenny Kotke - Bass, Vox
• Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman & Howard Kaylan) - Producer, Ba Ba Ba's (Phlorescent Leech & Eddie, The Turtles, Frank Zappa)
• John Hansen - Engineer, Mixing
• Clay Hutchinson - Second Engineer
• Stephen Galfas - Project Coordinator, Co-Producer, Engineer
• David Sonenberg - Business Director
• Alan MacMillan - String Arrangement & Conduction (Hollywood Vampires, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Babys, UFO, Del Erickson, Staccatos, Poco, Guess Who, Barnaby Bye, Kiss, Dave Mason, American Flyer, Mike Finnigan) 
• Tom Juliano - Sax (Gentle Giants, Kip Carmen)
• Brian Cuomo - Piano (Fireballet, Sylvia, First Class, Brook Benton, Jack McDuff, Intergalactic Touring Band, Martha Velez, Brother to Brother, Eon, First Class, Bill Perkins, Strawbs)
• Joe Hosey - Art Direction, Layout & Design
• Murray Brenman - Art Direction, Layout & Design
• Bob Friedman - Photos
• Bob Sherbow - Photos
• Tom Macchi - Album Title

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band. But they have some solid facial hair going on the cover, and they really look like a bunch of musicians, rather than models posing as a band. Between the cover & smokey back, they seem like this might be a slightly experimental, possibly punk or prog-centered band with a sense of humor.

Album Review: This album spans a gamut of Def Leppard Metal, Queen Glam Pop, catchy Cheap Trick Power-Punk and even some orchestral sections. hard to truly put this band in one genre- in a good way- as the songs still sound cohesive. Some times they go heavy with prog, sometimes harmonized hairband rock, sometime theatrical ballad or showtunes...even throwing in some Beach Boys harmonies. Their 1974 Tasty was their biggest release. And they played with huge superstars at some of the biggest venues- mostly on the East coast, however.

Stand Out Track: Victory in Space

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