STEEL PANTHER – ON THE PROWL

74%

Are you up for more misogynistic, immature, comedic Filth?  How about wicked 80’s influenced soloing and riffs?  Spandex? Getting high? Reminiscing about the old days?

I am.

Michael Starr

Steel Panther are back with a new 6th album called On the Prowl, and you can just bet they have not tarnished their reputation at all with this one.  I mean, what do you expect?  Can you imagine them serious? To elaborate, these guys are just explicitly singing out loud (and specifically), what those 80’s bands wanted to say.  Nowadays, everything is full go,  with little censorship like we had back in the PMRC days of the 80’s (thanks Dee Snyder).   They get no slack at all from the #metoo or woke era either.   Will it soon be time again with censorship with the world being more conservative leaning these days?

Spyder on bass

This quartet had a lineup change since 2019’s Heavy Metal Rules with addition of new bassist Joe “Spyder” Lester who took over the task from the ever popular Lexxi Foxx.  The rest of the panthers are Satchel (guitar), Stix (drums) and vocalist Michael Starr who round out the rest of the band.

Lets review a little of each song from the newest 13 track opus called,  On the Prowl:

Never Too Late (To Get Some Pussy Tonight) – This one starts off sounding like “I’ll Wait” from Van Halen’s 1984 album with a “woooo” from Michael Starr.  Ironically, they are not “waiting” in this song with a hard driving guitar riff and lyrics that you know what the vulgar objective is.  Satchel has a blazing guitar solo on this near the end.  Best song on the album, definite party song you would expect from these guys.

Friends with Benefits – Man oh man, this is the Satchel show on this song.   This sounds like Ratt playing with Dokken’s guitarist George Lynch.  Michaels vocals are just the same as previous albums, and that’s good.  He still has the pipes.

On Your Instagram – Oh barf? Really? Instagram has to be mentioned here?  Well I guess its a sign of the times.  Back then in the 80s you might get “in the backseat of my Chevrolet..”  This song turned me off.  But this is what we get with 80’s scissored with the 2020’s I guess.

Put My Money Where Your Mouth is – I thought this song would be dirtier, but not really, very little vulgar lyric content in this one compared to most on here.

1987 – This is the Steel Panther history lesson on what it was like back in metal back 1987.   Generation X will totally relate to this slower one.

Teleporter – This one falls flat to me, definitely filler.  Nice guitar riffs but not alot of effort in the rest of the song.

Is My Dick Enough – Why do I think Greta Van Fleet on this start of this one?  Maybe is a Zeppelin riff?  This bluesy one seems a touch too slow for the lyrics and is missing some party to it.

Magical Vagina – Sounds like Coldplay singing Steel Panther songs…fast forward

All That and More – Stix with the pounding drums at the start, with Michael talking about his penis.  Play this song while posting dick pics?   Some raunchy solo work on this with Satchel again.   This is the “cockiest” song on the album.

One Pump Chump – Ok this is a better pace that would work great live, with some sing along.   Seems odd that we get a song how great his penis is, then we get to this one where he climaxes extraordinarily prematurely.  Hilarious song placement and lyric content you expect from these cats.

Pornstar – You can bet this song will be used live for them to bring a girl on stage to sing with.   I think this is the best ballad on the album.  This one follows the typical ballad blue print that they follow from past ballads they’ve done.

Aint Dead Yet – Don’t like it.  Too sad and depressing for Steel Panther!  I fast forwarded for a cool part or when it explodes but that doesn’t happen.  

Sleeping on the Rolloway – This album ends with a straight forward Aerosmith-like type song.  Definitely need to play this one live as this one definitely rocked. 

This is a actually not too bad of an album.  I like 5 of the 13 songs, is that a good percentage though?  Is it better than the last album Heavy Metal Rules?  Not sure, but it’s definitely not their best, like Balls Out (2011) which I think is the measuring stick.  One thing I do hear less of on this album are drug references like their older songs like “I Like Drugs” or “Let’s Get High tonight”.   Is it much the same Steel Panther we are used to hearing, definitely yes.  However, there was a few spots I always fast forwarded through that didn’t make me laugh or appeal to me.

Satchel is such a killer guitar player, and so are Spyder and Stix with their musicianship on this one. The album has some hooky vibes to it, with the typical Steel Panther writing formula.  Lyrically, some of it can get tiresome at times but like I said, this is Steel Panther not the Foo Fighters.   Could the album be slimmed down to say 10 songs rather than 13?  I think it could’ve been.  Soundwise, the production was well done and will sound great cranked in your truck.  They definitely have a few songs here that will go off great live and I am looking forward to see how they sound in that sort of environment.

Rating
Good 74%

Release Date:  February 24 2023

Produced by: Steel Panther

Track Listing:

1. Never Too Late (To Get Some Pussy Tonight)
2. Friends With Benefits    
3. On Your Instagram
4. Put My Money Where Your Mouth is
5. 1987
6. Teleporter
7. Is My Dick Enough
8. Magical Vagina    
9. All That And More
10. One Pump Chump  
11. Pornstar    
12. Ain’t Dead Yet
13. Sleeping On The Rollaway

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