Post by Josh McLaughlin on Dec 9, 2011 6:45:32 GMT -5
Steel Panther are a band that are a cut above the crop in today's music scene. Mature, hardened and determined to make a difference with deep, meaningful music that you can't help but feel emotional listening to. Oh, wait, that's not right! Steel Panther? Mature!? In all seriousness, Steel Panther are a balls-to-the-wall throwback to the glory days of Los Angeles' music scene; pulling no punches in their quest to offend everybody on the planet and bring heavy metal back from obscurity! "Balls Out", their second studio album is no different; saucy riffs, shocking lyrics and wailing guitars abound in this release as the band looks to solidify itself not only as a comedy band, but also show the world they are in fact crazily talented!
The album starts out with "In The Future", a look into the year 6969 (har har) narrated by a deep-voiced robot who details the world of his time and the downfall of the planet Earth, leading into the kickass riffs of "Supersonic Sex Machine". Satchel, the bands uber guitarist lays out incredible 80's-sounding riffs and shredding solos that are guaranteed to melt your balls off! Michael Starr sounds great, with an incredibly powerful voice and ridiculously impressive range. Despite being close to 50, they are still big kids and their music shows with brattiness that brings with an hilarity and charm. Satchel shines in this song and shows that he is one of the greatest guitarists going around! "Just Like Tiger Woods" is next, and of course, it's a song parodying Tiger Woods' relationship problems EVERYBODY knows about. The song is funny, extremely catchy and smart (in a really stupid way).
"17 Girls in a Row" is a fictional (or maybe not?) account of Michael Starr's wild night out, and how he tried to convince the band he wasn't lying. Once again, the guitars are highlighted in this track; the riffs much better than the hair metal bands they are parodying and paying tribute to. The rhythm section, Stix Zadinia on drums and Lexxi Foxx on bass, are incredibly tight and bring a brashness and hubris that you can't help but admire. "If You Really, Really Love Me" is a catchy ballad that mixes touching melodies with ridiculous lyrics such as "don't whine when I put it in your booty; or if I'm up all night playing Call of Duty". It's a great song, and if the lyrics were serious, I could see it being very successful on radio, but hey, what's the fun in that, right? The following song, "It Won't Suck Itself" features Nickelback vocalist Chad Kroeger, and once again, the riffs are fantastic. The vocal hooks are fresh, funny and will get stuck in your head. Kroeger fits in well with the bands style; especially seeing as Nickelback seem to try to be PG offensive nowadays with their tame sex songs. Who better than Steel Panther to show him how to go all-or-nothing?
"Tomorrow Night" has a very Alice Cooper-ish sound in structure and instruments; but with the added SP charm. The lyrics are crude and sexist; as we've come to expect. "Why Can't You Trust Me" is a ballad aimed at telling girls that they should be more trusting, though I must admit if I were a girl I'd have trouble trusting them too after lyrics like these, haha! The next song "That's What Girls Are For" is made to be played with crowds of people singing along, especially in the chorus. The band, for all their lack of seriousness, are incredibly talented musicians and amazingly tight. "Gold Digging Whore" follows up with more screeching guitars and a chugging drive through the verse leading to a big chorus. The bridge in particular is well done, with a spelled-out chant of the title that, once again, seems made for adoring fans to scream along to live.
"I Like Drugs" is a hilarious ride through the disturbed minds of the band, with some pretty funny situations and creative hooks in both the vocals and instrumentals. It's hard to find describing words for a band like Steel Panther, as they all sound too detatched and mature; so I'll describe this song as one of the band's favourite words: sextastic! The skit in the bridge of the band mocking police before starting a high-speed chase when caught with drugs is hilarious. "Critter" is another song with with a classic guitar riff that perfectly combines sillyness with awesomeness, and the chorus of the song is particularly crude, and thus great. "Let Me Cum In" is a fast, shredding song that instrumentally sounds like it could fit right into a classic Guns N' Roses album. It is immediately followed by "Weenie Ride" a song that is reminiscent of the best ballads of the hair metal era, and if you weren't paying attention, it would sound like a brilliant, heartfelt song. As the name suggests, it's far from that! Melodically and musically brilliant; lyrically hilarious. A perfect, well-working combination.
When the bands first album "Feel the Steel" was released; it took the world by surprise, shocking many who listened to it. Having established a huge fanbase, most knew what to expect with this album, meaning the band really had to step up the songs to push them over the edge to meet or exceed expectations. I don't particularly feel the album managed to do that; but that doesn't mean in the slightest that it's a bad album! It was thoroughly enjoyable, and has 5-6 really cool songs. The lyrical content got a bit predictable as the album went on, but the amazing instrumentals helps balance that out. A solid release for sure, but I feel it didn't match up to "Feel the Steel". Still a fun listen; so don your best mullet and put gender equality behind you and give it a whirl! If you are easily offended however, this may not be the album for you!
7/10