Even though all indicators point to STEEL PANTHER being a group of guys from the 80's that never made it big yet continued to soldier on, the band has really only been around since 2000 or so, albeit under a different name. Many members originally were in a VAN HALEN tribute band, which would explain said band's strong influence in STEEL PANTHER's sound. The band gained a lot of publicity when their live shows were frequented by Hollywood stars, who would also join the band onstage.

With the release of Feel the Steel and its preceding video Death To All But Metal, STEEL PANTHER's popularity has exploded overnight. All of the sudden, their songs are being played on USA radio stations that normally play bands like PAPA ROACH; in other words the types of bands that STEEL PANTHER makes fun of in the song Death To All But Metal. With Feel the Steel, STEEL PANTHER pays tribute to almost every 80's hair metal and arena rock stereotype and then takes it to the extreme. All of their lyrics are about sex, drugs, sex, STDs…did I mention sex? Death To All But Metal calls out (by name!!!) numerous mainstream Rock, Pop and hip-hop acts for writing terrible music and is laden with offensive lyrics and homosexual overtones regarding the artists mentioned. Community Property has all the trademarks of an 80's ballad, even with strings and an attempt at heartfelt vocals, but the lyrics are about cheating, with the overall theme of even when I'm cheating on you with someone else, you are still on my mind. It gave me a chuckle the first time. Party All Day takes the keyboard line right out of BON JOVI's Runaway and the talk box straight from the same band's Livin on a Prayer.

It is admirable that STEEL PANTHER are decent musicians and write a few very strong hooks that make the songs instantly catchy. The problem is that this whole album is basically one big tired joke. SPINAL TAP did this joke over 25 years ago, and the goofy lyrics never got in the way of their surprisingly well-written songs. Even acoustic metal band TENACIOUS D, who has made a career out of writing humorous music, still manage to write songs that, while funny, can be appreciated as works of art as well (Kyle Gass is classically trained, after all). This album tries to be as raunchy, racist and sexist as possible; similar to a 9 year old who has learned all the bad words and tries to use them all as much as possible.

Personally, I wasn't really offended by anything on the album (although Fat Girl nearly made me gag), but it seems to be that the real focus is on vulgar lyrics with the music only serving as a backdrop. It would be funnier if they spoofed the lyrics from all realms of metal, such as the frequent mention of parties, sorcerers and Satan, of course. An entire album about STDs and sex is just tedious; I had to force myself to listen through the whole album each time. Oh, and lead singer Michael Starr sounds more like a mix of Adam Gontier of 3 DAYS GRACE and Josh Todd of BUCKCHERRY rather than Joe Elliot and Vince Neil.

I guess I should be glad that a Metal band is making it big, but I can't get over how unfair it is that this band gets the break and bands that should be dominating the charts like ROYAL HUNT and THRESHOLD continue to dwell in relative obscurity. All that this band does is perpetuate the stereotype of Metal being a genre for people of low intelligence and sexist men. 15 minutes is more than this band deserves, but in a few years STEEL PANTHER will take its place right next to TACO and RIGHT SAID FRED.