Rat in the Kitchen

Rat in the Kitchen
Studio album by UB40
Released	28 July 1986
Genre	Reggae
Length	43:06
Label	DEP / Virgin / A&M (US)
Producer	UB40
UB40 chronology
Baggariddim (1985) Rat in the Kitchen (1986) The Best of UB40 - Volume One (1987)
Singles from Rat in the Kitchen
"Sing Our Own Song" Released: 1986 "All I Want to Do" Released: 1986 "Rat in Mi Kitchen" Released: 1987

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+ [2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
The Great Rock Discography	7/10 [4]
MusicHound	3.5/5 [5]
Los Angeles Times	favourable [6]
Record Mirror	4/5 [7]
Rolling Stone	favourable [8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
Smash Hits	6/10 [10]

Rat in the Kitchen is the seventh album by UB40, released in July 1986. This album contained two UK hits, "Sing Our Own Song" (UK No. 5 in 1986) and "Rat in Mi Kitchen" (UK No. 12 in 1987). ^[11] The album itself reached 8 in the UK album charts in 1986 staying in the charts for twenty weeks. ^[11] The album provoked a positive reception from critics.

Reception

AllMusic said the album was "as usual, a tuneful collection of reggae" ^[1] and later described the album as "edgy". ^[12]

Track listing

All tracks composed by UB40

1. "All I Want to Do" – 5:33
2. "You Could Meet Somebody" – 4:52
3. "Tell It Like It Is" – 3:36
4. "The Elevator" – 3:25
5. "Watchdogs" – 4:18
6. "Rat in Mi Kitchen" – 6:58
7. "Looking Down at My Reflection" – 3:27
8. "Don't Blame Me" – 3:36
9. "Sing Our Own Song" – 7:21

Personnel

• The guest vocalists who appeared on the album were Mo Birch, Jaki Graham & Ruby Turner
• Herb Alpert (co-founder of A&M Records) played trumpet on "Rat in Mi Kitchen"

Charts

Weekly charts 1986–87 weekly chart performance for Rat in the Kitchen Chart (1986–87) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [13] 51 Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [14] 37 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [15] 3 European Albums ( Music & Media ) [16] 37 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [17] 4 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [18] 21 UK Albums (OCC) [19] 8 US Billboard 200 [20] 53

Year-end charts 1986 year-end performance for Rat in the Kitchen Chart (1986) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [21] 37 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [22] 45 1987 year-end performance for Rat in the Kitchen Chart (1987) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [23] 39

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [24]	Gold	50,000^
Netherlands (NVPI) [25]	Gold	50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) [26]	Gold	7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI) [27]	Gold	100,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Rat in the Kitchen - UB40 - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic.
2. Christgau, Robert (1990). "UB40". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s . Pantheon Books. ISBN   0-679-73015-X . Retrieved 11 September 2024– via robertchristgau.com.
3. Larkin, Colin (1998). "UB40". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Groves Dictionaries. p.  5561. ISBN   1-561-59237-4.
4. Strong, Martin C. (2004). "UB40". The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Canongate Books. p.  1577. ISBN   1-84195-615-5.
5. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). "UB40". MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. p.  1178. ISBN   1-57859-061-2.
6. MATSUMOTO, JON (12 October 1986). "Ub40 Gets Sharp" – via Los Angeles Times.
7. Cross, Di (2 August 1986). "UB40: Rat in the Kitchen". Record Mirror . Vol. 33. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
8. "UB40: Rat In The Kitchen : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". 2 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007.
9. Considine, J. D. (1992). "UB40". In DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James; George-Warren, Holly (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. pp.  726–727. ISBN   0-679-73729-4.
10. Campbell, Colette (30 July 1986). "UB40: Rat in the Kitchen". Smash Hits . No. 207. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
11. "Official charts – UK – UB40". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
12. "UB40 - UB40 - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic.
13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 316. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
14. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0739". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
15. "Dutchcharts.nl – UB40 – Rat in the Kitchen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
16. "European Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 3, no. 36. 13 September 1986. p. 17. OCLC   29800226. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2022– via World Radio History.
17. "Charts.nz – UB40 – Rat in the Kitchen". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
18. "Swisscharts.com – UB40 – Rat in the Kitchen". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
20. "UB40 Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
21. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1986" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts . Retrieved 5 February 2022.
22. "Top Selling Albums of 1986 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand . Retrieved 5 February 2022.
23. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1987" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts . Retrieved 5 February 2022.
24. "Canadian album certifications – UB40 – Rat in the Kitchen". Music Canada . Retrieved 22 August 2022.
25. "Dutch album certifications – UB 40 – Rat in the Kitchen" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers . Retrieved 10 June 2019.Enter Rat in the Kitchen in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1987 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
26. "New Zealand album certifications – UB40 – Rat in the Kitchen". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 20 November 2024.
27. "British album certifications – UB40 – Rat in the Kitchen". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 10 June 2019.