Sass Jordan never sounded more focused, confident and inspired than she does on Rats, which is undeniably her finest album.
Some of Jordan's '80s efforts didn't fully illustrate just how compelling a singer she can be, but that's no problem on Rats.
This CD finds the whiskey-voiced Canadian doing what she does best: tough, gritty, no-nonsense rock & roll with soul/R&B overtones and a heavy dose of blues feeling.
Although Jordan is very much her own person, there's no denying the strong influence Tina Turner has had on her singing -- and Turner's influence serves Jordan impressively well on such gutsy, down-and-dirty offerings as "Ugly," "Damaged" and "Pissin' Down." If fact, this is the sort of rockin' album one wishes Turner would have recorded in 1994 (which isn't to say that the slick, glossy pop/rock and pop/R&B Turner provided in the 1990s wasn't enjoyable).
With Jordan, Steve Salas and Nick Didia handling the production and studio ace Michael Wagener doing most of the mixing, all of the pieces fit together perfectly on Rats.
This album was definitely Jordan's crowning achievement.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DamagedSteve Allen, Sass Jordan, Tony Reyes, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 03:18 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 2 | SlaveSass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Pissin' DownSass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 05:20 | 12 MB | 32 MB |
| 4 | High Road EasySass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 5 | Sun's Gonna RiseSass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 02:53 | 6 MB | 20 MB |
| 6 | HeadSass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 7 | UglySass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 8 | I'm NotSass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 03:38 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | HoneySass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 10 | WishSass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan | Play | 03:37 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 11 | Breakin'Sass Jordan, Stevie Salas | Sass Jordan, Johan Langlie Orchestra | Play | 02:40 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 12 | GiveSass Jordan, Tony Reyes | Sass Jordan | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 44 mins | 101 MB | |||||
| 44 mins | 306 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jim Albert | Engineer |
| 2 | Steve Allen | Composer |
| 3 | Terri Apanasewicz | Clothing/Wardrobe, Hair Stylist, Make-Up |
| 4 | Rei Atsumi | Mellotron, Organ (Hammond), Piano |
| 5 | Tal Bergman | Percussion |
| 6 | Colin Bogart | Engineer |
| 7 | Jeanne Bradshaw | Art Direction, Cover Design, Design |
| 8 | George Clinton | Guest Artist, Introduction, Talking, Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Grant Conway | Engineer |
| 10 | Nick DiDia | Engineer, Mixing, Producer, String Arrangements |
| 11 | Pat Dorn | Coordination |
| 12 | Karen Dusenberry | Clothing/Wardrobe |
| 13 | Matthew Ellard | Engineer |
| 14 | Paul Foley | Engineer |
| 15 | Michael Gibson | Engineer |
| 16 | Larry Gloege | Illustrations |
| 17 | Caroline Greyshock | Photography |
| 18 | Ross Hogarth | Engineer |
| 19 | Sass Jordan | Bass, Composer, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 20 | Allen Kamai | Bass |
| 21 | Richie Kotzen | Guest Artist, Vocals (Background) |
| 22 | Rolly Ladd | Engineer |
| 23 | Johan Langlie Orchestra | Primary Artist, Strings |
| 24 | Johann Langlie | String Arrangements |
| 25 | Stephen Marcussen | Mastering |
| 26 | Ian Moore | Guest Artist, Guitar (Electric), Slide Guitar, Vocals (Background) |
| 27 | Randy Nicklaus | A&R |
| 28 | Wade Norton | Engineer |
| 29 | Rich Novak | Engineer |
| 30 | Michael Page | Bass |
| 31 | Tom Peterson | Bass |
| 32 | Tom Petersson | Bass, Guest Artist |
| 33 | Tony Reyes | Bass, Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background) |
| 34 | Carmine Rojas | Bass |
| 35 | Vince Ruby | Vocals (Background) |
| 36 | Stevie Salas | Bass, Composer, Guest Artist, Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Mixing, Producer, String Arrangements, Vocals (Background) |
| 37 | Kevin Smith | Engineer |
| 38 | Liz Sroka | Assistant, Mixing Assistant |
| 39 | Brian Tichy | Drums |
| 40 | Uncle Jam | Introduction, Talking, Voices |
| 41 | Michael Wagener | Mixing |
| 42 | Jamie Wood | Harmonica |
| 43 | Jimmie Wood | Harmonica |
| 44 | John X. | Engineer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |