{"id":18342,"date":"2014-04-01T00:00:07","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T00:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=18342"},"modified":"2014-04-10T10:20:25","modified_gmt":"2014-04-10T10:20:25","slug":"album-review-steel-panther-all-you-can-eat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-steel-panther-all-you-can-eat\/","title":{"rendered":"STEEL PANTHER – All You Can Eat (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

STEEL PANTHER
All You Can Eat<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nOpen E Music (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

I was getting concerned that the Steel Panther joke was wearing a bit thin. Mind you, I don\u2019t really see how these guys can win. If they attempt to play serious yet tongue-in-cheek metal, then they\u2019ll probably be accused of \u201cselling out\u201d. If they resort to parody throughout, on the other hand, then no-one will take them seriously, and they\u2019ll probably be blamed for bringing the metal genre down.<\/p>\n

But anyway, All You Can Eat<\/em> is the third instalment in Steel Panther\u2019s colourful career. It could be argued that these guys, despite the wigs, bad spandex and constant references to other songs, have kept the metal flame burning. Many detractors will state that Spinal Tap, Bad News, and the little known Skrapp Mettle (from 1991) did this all before, but as we all know with music, it\u2019s often about cycles. <\/p>\n

In a sense, the tomfoolery of Steel Panther and their highly popular debut proper, Feel The Steel<\/em> (2009), was a much needed kick up the arse for metal in that the genre had begun to take itself too seriously. With thrash and glam \/ sleaze metal back in a big way, it seems that the Los Angeles-based band have a right to be here, whatever your opinion.<\/p>\n

Michael Starr (vocals), Satchel (guitars), Lexxi Foxx (bass) and Stix Zadinia (drums) haven\u2019t quite outstayed their welcome, as yet. As an acoustic trickle leads us into the opening \u2018Pussywhipped\u2019, I\u2019m reminded as to why Steel Panther still bring a wry smile to some of our faces. Riff-wise it\u2019s classic, crystal clear metal as Starr barks, \u201cThe gays are here but you ain\u2019t anywhere in sight…\u201d<\/em> as Satchel provides the oomph with those stirring melodies and crisp solos. Despite the lyrics of course there\u2019s that feeling that Steel Panther want to carve a whole career out of this carry-on metal \u2013 these guys are obviously very talented musicians who are slowly outgrowing the mockery, however. <\/p>\n

Musically, it\u2019s high gloss metal with the archetypal structures and dazzling dynamics which gave a majority of bands a career back in the 80s. On the opening track the band aren\u2019t afraid to get heavy either, but despite it being a decent track, musically it\u2019s not one of Panther\u2019s most memorable tunes. <\/p>\n

\u2018Party Like Tomorrow Is The End Of The World\u2019 is more like the Steel Panther we\u2019ve come to know and love over the years. It\u2019s a gloriously goofy glam rock anthem introduced by way of Starr\u2019s velvety cry of \u201cHave sex\u201d amid a struttin\u2019 guitar and steady drum plod. In a sense, it\u2019s just Poison \/ M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce<\/a> \/ Kiss \/ Van Halen et al rolled into one as Starr yells, \u201cThe end of the world is coming, what the hell are we gonna do?\u201d<\/em> It\u2019s the usual lyrical naivety to appeal to the goofball masses, and it\u2019s the kind of metal you don\u2019t really need to think too much about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a hole in the wall where you put your cock and balls,\u201d yells Starr with \u2018Gloryhole\u2019, a raunchy, punchy number which has little effect on the brain. Like literally every other Steel Panther song before, it rocks pretty hard, but does lack the infectious nature of a majority of the party anthems which featured on the debut opus. \u2018Bukakke Tears\u2019 sighs into motion like one of those late night radio rock tracks; think Whitesnake circa \u2018Is This Love\u2019 (1987) as the track builds and simmers. This is where Steel Panther shine, with their ability to provide a shimmering rhythm caressed by a hilarious lyric. Stranger still when one attends their gigs to see thousands of grown men singing such absurd and sexual lyrics to one another!<\/p>\n

\u2018Gangbang At The Old Folks Home\u2019 \u2013 one of the album\u2019s beefiest tracks \u2013 features a killer solo from Vivian Campbell (Def Leppard), while \u2018Ten Strikes You\u2019re Out\u2019 is pure Van Halen in its jaunty behaviour. \u2018The Burden Of Being Wonderful\u2019 is the expected hair metal ballad of pumping synths, steady strings and Starr\u2019s lustful swagger of \u201cWhy, in a world of ugly faces, should I be allowed to be so hot?\u201d<\/em>, meanwhile. It\u2019s the sort of track we just knew was coming, yet found ourselves tapping along to immediately. <\/p>\n

\u2018Fucking My Heart In The Ass\u2019, \u2018B.V.S.\u2019 and \u2018You\u2019re Beautiful When You Don\u2019t Talk\u2019 are rather standard fare as again the joke begins to wear off, but the last two tracks on the album are perkier. \u2018If I Was King\u2019 has a playful Cr\u00fce-type jig about it and closer \u2018She\u2019s On The Rag\u2019 \u2013 with its cosmic plod \u2013 is quick to commentate on the menstruation cycle of women over a sprightly guitar and powerhouse drum.<\/p>\n

Of course, once All You Can Eat<\/em> has run out of smut and the cheesy layers have dripped to the floor, we\u2019re still left with a solid rock album that boasts enough quality musicianship to keep the fans happy and the detractors disgruntled.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEEL PANTHERAll You Can Eat Open E Music (2014)Rating: 7.5\/10 I was getting concerned that the Steel Panther joke was wearing a bit thin. Mind you, I don\u2019t really see how these guys can win. If they attempt to play serious yet tongue-in-cheek metal, then they\u2019ll probably be accused of \u201cselling out\u201d. If they resort […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[376],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-steel-panther"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18342"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18353,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18342\/revisions\/18353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}