Ratt Vocalist Reveals That Writing ‘Infestation’ Wasn’t One Big Party

There are plenty of lines on Ratt's new album -- which is out April 2010 -- that make it sound like frontman Stephen Pearcy had a bacchanalian blast between the time he rejoined the band in 2006 and now. On 'Eat Me Up Alive' he sings, "Take me to the other side, make me feel your energy, eat me up alive." On 'Look Out Below' he boasts, "There's no one better when you're on your knees," and in 'Last Call' he exclaims, "I'm gonna give you everything you want, then never see you again ... If you didn't show me, I wouldn't stare."

In actuality, Pearcy wrote much of 'Infestation' while his marriage was falling apart, coming back together and falling apart again. And while much of 'Infestation' is ensconced in what the singer calls "the three P's – p---y, party, paycheck." There's more meaning to the songs than meets the thigh. Noisecreep talked to Pearcy about several of the key tracks on the record, including the first single, 'Best of Me.'

'Best of Me': "You always think the grass is greener on the other side, but in fact it isn't. So you're letting someone know 'you're the best thing I got, but I had to go f--- around to figure it out.' It's one of those you don't know what you got till it's gone kind of things. With me, I go through this s--- every day. I'm married one day, then I'm not, but I am."

'Look Out Below': "That's your good old relationship song, but I think when I said, 'There's no one better when you're on your knees.' It's saying, 'Yeah, that sex thing is good. But [at the same time], somebody's gonna get dead if I find out they're in my turf f---ing my woman.'"

'A Little Too Much': "I was doing too much of bad things and losing a lot of good things, and I think with this song I was trying to kind of let the other person know what was going on. And at the same time, it's kind of me talking to myself: 'You say let's stop, I say let's go. You say it's hot, I say it's cold.'"

'Garden of Eden': "Again, that's a place I was at to where I was unsure about my relationship to the point where there wasn't one for a while, even during the record. Even though I'm married, there was no relationship. So that song dabbles in that. It's saying, 'Here's my good place. Here's my garden of Eden.' But in this place there's lots of weird s---."