All You Can Eat

All You Can Eat is the third album, into which Steel Panther crammed 1980s glam metal's outsized choruses, shred guitar and playfulness without restraint. Released in 2014. The sleeve parodies Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper — the tomfoolery extends well beyond the music. The advance single was “Party Like Tomorrow Is the End of the World.” Three years on from the last record, there's not a trace of hesitation in the approach. The lyrics and staging may be comic, but the playing is unexpectedly serious, and the edge of the riffs and solos holds the album up. It runs hard from the opener “Pussywhipped,” and on songs like “The Burden of Being Wonderful” they demonstrate that they can genuinely write a ballad as formal beauty. The appeal is that this isn't nostalgia — it reconstructs the era's form as present-day entertainment. The lyrics still choose their listener, but this is flashy, funny, and enjoyable as a guitar album too. Satchel's ability is far above the level this kind of band requires.