Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Steel Panther
Label: Open E Music
Released: 2017
Running time: 39:11
Rating: 4/5
One of the best. Well, one of the most polished, if not the funniest, parodies on the planet, in the galaxy right now. Sure, the album came out almost half a year ago, but this record from the top-tier imitators of the Los Angeles Sunset Strip, glam revivalists Steel Panther, absolutely has to go under the microscope. Even the telling title »Lower the Bar« hints that this could be a record with a mild departure from what you expect from Steel Panther. Anyone who knows the juicy cunning of this band’s poetry will suspect from the title alone that there are some new twists, and they do hold up. Steel Panther simply had to take them, otherwise they’d have started wearing themselves out artistically and boring themselves to death.
»Lower the bar,« or maybe even better, »take it down a notch,« if I can play amateur translator for a second, brings a few musical things Steel Panther haven’t tried yet, but they’re not reinventing the wheel here and still stay loyally in their musical niche. They’ve only widened the range of guitar phrases they draw on when building songs, while strictly making sure the band’s recognizable musical record stays intact. The other thing hits the lyrics. We know how juicy they are and we know what the »Parental Advisory« sticker means in this case. We Europeans couldn’t care less; Americans are (sadly) a different story. Here, too, Steel Panther have toned down their uncompromising sexual appetite, and as the singer said in one interview, they finally started putting partying before women on the new album, since it was exactly the other way around on the earlier ones. But don’t worry. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and the title of the opener alone, Goin’ In the Back Door (»I’m barging in through the back door«), hints that Steel Panther keep on teasing and entertaining by artfully slipping all kinds of sexual perversions into their signature niche of »porn parody.«
The band has once again put together some excellent anthemic songs, bursting with pomp and bombast. It’s incredible that such compositions carry such uncompromisingly sharpened lyrics full of the unbridled imagination of sexual perversions. If we focus on the album’s best moments when it comes to combining infectious chorus melodies with a gradual build-up of atmosphere toward the chorus peak, the standouts are the excellent opener, the aforementioned Goin’ In The Back Door, then the utterly cynical and fun mid-tempo That’s When You Came In, then Wrong Side Of The Tracks, and Wasted Too Much Time. Joining this bunch is the incredibly well-pulled-off cover of the cult Cheap Trick classic She’s Tight right at the end of the album.
True, Steel Panther come across as parodic in their songwriting too, but it’s hard to pin the new riffs directly on »copying« their idols. Harder than on past records, which means the band has more or less hit its goal. They keep the character of a parody while sounding »Steel Panther-y,« and the new tracks are less likely to remind you of the songs of their role-model bands, as was the case on earlier Steel Panther releases. The playing and performance remain phenomenal. Satchel solos like he’s in a trance, his polished combination of hellish speed and unbelievable precision still brilliantly evokes the lessons learned from Uncle Eddie Van Halen, Michael Starr delivers another excellent vocal performance and once again stuns with his vocal range, and the rhythm section keeps up its usual high-octane execution and top-notch dynamics. In short: you listen to »Lower the Bar« with the greatest pleasure, while being irreversibly stunned by how superbly and cleverly the new product has been repackaged yet again. In the production department too. The only problem is being stuck in the mold. In short: when you follow the songs up to about the sixth or seventh track, you get the nagging feeling that you’ve heard all this somewhere before. That’s why Steel Panther tried to reach for some novelties to ward off the danger of burning out, and the most interesting part is that they actually raised their »bar,« as the album title suggests, artistically rather than lowering it. It will be interesting to see how far the band dares to expand its expressive territory and musical record. For now, Steel Panther remain firmly in the saddle of their past achievements. Right where they work best. So »Lower The Bar« delivers exactly what fans of the band wanted.
Steel Panther – Wasted Too Much Time (official video):
Line-up
Michael Starr – vocals
Satchel – guitar, backing vocals
Lexxi Foxx – bass, backing vocals
Stix Zadinia – drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals
Production
Jay Ruston
Tracklist
1. Goin’ in the Backdoor
2. Anything Goes
3. Poontang Boomerang
4. That’s When You Came In
5. Wrong Side Of The Tracks (Out in Beverly Hills)
6. Now the Fun Starts
7. Pussy Ain’t Free
8. Wasted Too Much Time
9. I Got What You Want
10. Walk Of Shame
11. She’s Tight
