Album title: Lower the Bar
Artist: Steel Panther
Genre: Glam Metal
Nationality: American
Release date: February 24
Position in Discography: Fourth
Fear Factor: Low
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Yes
Average RYM Score: 2.88
Steel Panther have always struck me as something less than a serious band. I mean, come on! Steel ****ing Panther? They have to be taking the piss, don't they? Look at the opening track to this album: “Goin' In the Backdoor”? Wonder what
that's a reference to?
Well, I have no problem with humour – especially smutty, schoolboy, sexual innuendo humour – as long as the guys can rock. And can they! Whereas Sanctuary portrayed the worst side of eighties meh-metal on their new album as already reviewed, Steel Panther recall the over-bombast of bands like Van Halen and Def Leppard, bands which in some cases were not the greatest in the world but were masters of the tongue-in-cheek humour. Fun bands, y'know? I mean: “Backdoor never got a welcome mat, but that's never stopped me”.
You gotta love that.
Superb piss-take of Bon Jovi/Poison on “That's When You Came In”, complete with whiny acoustic guitar, and I love the line “That's when you came in and blew me, that's when you came in and blew me, that's when you came in and blew me away!”
Ah, who else could write a song called “Pussy Ain't Free”? Another pop at Bon Jovi in “Wasting Too Much Time”: these guys are so ****ing hilarious! And yeah, they're funny but they sure can rock too. Sweet.
Hey, nobody's gonna accuse these guys of being original – they're taking the best from the Crue, Hanoi Rocks, GNR, you name it, and putting their own spin on it – but you can't not like a band whose drummer calls himself Stix and whose bassist is called Lexxi Foxx! Just good-time headbanging fun with several large beers and a party for all. Can't argue with that. Not gonna win any Grammys or turn up, I would imagine, on anyone's AOTY list, but that's not their aim, as you can see from the album title. Bar successfully lowered. God bless you, guys!
Check out more from this artist? Yeah
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes
Expectation Index: 0