Comments for Rose Tattoo, Assault & Battery

Tatts Put the Foot to the Floor ------------------------------- You know you're listening to a truly great band when the weakest, no that's completely the wrong word - least strong of their three classic albums contains 5 tracks that are absolute killers: - Out of This Place (an awesome intro) - All The Lessons (pure speed) - Assault & Battery (relentless riff) - Magnum Maid (a wailing wild slide rocker) - Suicide City (more speed with razor chords) All other songs on this album are really strong and don't follow a set formula - each have their unique nuances and identity. I wont bother trying to explain the rest only to say that the feel of this album is a lot more sparse and vicious than either album before (the classic self titled album) and after (the mighty Scarred for Life). If ever you were going to called Rose Tattoo a speed metal - skin band, this album would be it. But the point is they were never a skin band: they were and always will be a real hard rock 'n' roll band that were digging its roots and finding gold. Even on this album the traditional rock 'n' elements are there, it's just that they've been transmogrified into a frightening beast infused by sheer volume and speed.