10 Greatest Hair Metal Albums Of All Time

10. Out Of The Cellar - Ratt

The story of Ratt begins a little bit before the hair metal movement started getting underway. Rather than the big-haired darlings we have come to know through '80s marathons, these guys actually started off as a grittier band named Mickey Ratt, only to turn a corner once the hair metal scene got underway. Even though they had a bit of a late start, they were a force to be reckoned with when Out of the Cellar came out.

Recorded at the legendary Sound City Studios, it seemed like these guys were already poised to be stars right out of the gate, as Robbin Crosby pumped out some of the smartest riff to come from the streets of LA. Once the music of a song like Wanted Man or Round and Round graced the streets on Sunset, everything started to make sense.

It also didn't hurt that they just acquired one of the greatest shredders of the time in Warren DeMartini, who absolutely wails on his six-string every chance he gets. Being one of the first success stories of hair metal, these guys also deserve some credit for exposing later acts like Poison to their headbanging audiences. Ratt might not be as remembered as much as their contemporaries, but this is the sound of hair metal as told by the people who lived it night after night.