Balls Out

Balls Out is the second album, on which Steel Panther sounded 1980s glam metal's grandiose riffs, flashy guitar solos and enormous choruses with thoroughgoing humour. Released in 2011. Comedian Dane Cook and Nickelback's Chad Kroeger are among the guests. The lyrics' extremity draws the attention, but the playing itself is very tight and the songwriting is the real thing. Coming just two years after the debut, the band's momentum hadn't faded at all. Beyond being funny as parody, it has the power to recreate that era's hard rock pleasure head-on. From the opener “In the Future” into “Supersonic Sex Machine,” and “17 Girls in a Row” became a live staple. On ballads like “Why Can't You Trust Me” they follow the 1980s form entirely seriously. Satchel's guitar is fast and smooth, and the gap between that and the low subject matter is itself the engine of the joke. At sixteen tracks it's a generous listen, and the density never drops. A record packed with what makes this band work: flashy, filthy, and oddly excellent all at once.