With a new album out, I thought I would update Steel Panther’s Artist Spotlight which was originally posted early last year:

Do the following names ring a bell?

• Ralph Saenz
• Russ Parrish
• Travis Haley
• Darren Leader

No, what about these?

• Michael Starr
• Satchel
• Lexxi Foxx
• Stix Zadinia

Yes, I thought those would.  They are Steel Panther.  The greatest Metal, Comedy band of all time!  That is right…Metal and Comedy.  These guys are a tongue-in-cheek version of the 80’s Glam Metal scene.  They are vulgar, repulsive, hilarious and man they can play some serious metal music.  Well, not really serious music as it is comedy, but they can actually play and play well.

Five years ago, I was in Los Angeles and got a chance to go see these guys live at the House of Blues (at least I think it was the House of Blues).  I am not sure how I would describe what I saw, but I know I enjoyed it immensely.  The show was part metal concert, part comedy show and part soft porn.  They never take themselves seriously and are always having a good time.  The audience loved them and women were jumping up on stage and doing pretty much whatever they wanted. It was a little insane.

Michael Starr is the oversexed Lead Singer who wants to screw everyone’s girlfriend in the audience and tells their boyfriends that he plans on doing just that (and sometimes invites the boyfriend along).  Satchel is the badass lead guitarist and Stix Zadinia is the powerful drummer.

The bass player, Lexxi Foxx, to me was the funniest.  His character is an effeminate rock star who can’t seem to decide if he is straight or gay.  He was always checking his hair in a mirror and since he loved to pose with his hair having the wind blown effect, the other members of the band would stand around him and blow on his hair.  You had to be there.

Steel Panther started out in 2000 as a cover band called Metal Skool.  They covered all the 80’s glam bands and parodied the bands they were covering.  They played regularly at the Viper Room and started to gain some notoriety and began showing up in TV commercials and TV shows.  Michael Starr even appeared in the movie ‘Rock Star’ with Mark Wahlberg. They released one album as Metal Skool called ‘Hole Patrol’ and produced the classic song “Big Boobs”.  A couple of the other songs were redone for the Steel Panther debut album.

In 2008, they changed their name to Steel Panther and released their first major label debut in 2009 called ‘Feel the Steel’ which is when I was first introduced to them.  My brother-in-law had mentioned them and told me to check them out.  So I did.  Their first single was “Death To All But Metal”.  Their videos are freaking hilarious and definitely worth watching, but parental guidance is recommended.

Some of their other great songs from that album were “Community Property”, “Stripper Girl”, “Fat Girl (Thar She Blows)” and “The Shocker”.  Also in 2009, they released a parody of VH1’s Behind the Music.  The video had Matt Sorum, Dave Navarro, Jani Lane, Dee Snider and many more musicians.

In 2011, they released their next album which was “Balls Out”. They didn’t change their formula on this one in the slightest.  More sex, more metal, more comedy.  The big songs from this album were “If You Really, Really Love Me”, “17 Girls in a Row”.  I also liked “Just Like Tiger Woods”, “Supersonic Sex Machine” and “Weenie Ride”.

In 2012, they released their first live DVD called ‘British Invasion’ which was filmed at the Brixton Academy in London.  It is a two-hour concert / documentary that chronicles the bands sold-out British Tour.  I haven’t seen this one yet, but plan to one day get a view.  So, I can’t comment on it’s greatness although I am sure it is.

The band’s fourth album, ‘All You Can Eat’, was released in 2014 and gave us a few more classic Steel Panther songs – “Party Like Tomorrow is the End of the World” and “The Burden of Being Wonderful”.  Some other great songs were “Gloryhole” and “Ten Strikes Your Out”.  Again, nothing new here but they don’t need to change anything.  This is what they do best.

Here is the clean version as the explicit version was really explicit…I mean really explicit.

The band released another live album back on February 26th of 2016.  It is a live acoustic album called ‘Live from Lexxi’s Mom’s Garage’. It contains one new song called “That’s When You Came In”.

In 2017, Steel Panther bring yet another album called “Lower the Bar” and man does it do that.  You would think that the whole gimmick has run its course and it has to some degree, but they still find new ways of singing about sex and rock & roll.  The album does have a few gems including “Poontang Boomerang”, “That’s When You Came In” and a cover of “She’s Tight (feat. Robin Zander)”.

They have also done some great cover songs over the years.  Hell, they did start off as a cover band.  Check out the Aldo Nova cover of “Fantasy”, the Journey cover of “Don’t Stop Believin'” and the Backstreet Boy cover of “I Want It That Way”.

Now, if this band offended you in anyway, too bad!!  I don’t care.  It is meant as humor and if you don’t like that kind of humor – don’t listen.  In a world that is too politically correct, you need something that is not.  And these guys certainly are not politically correct.

I applaud the guys for making a damn good living off having a good time and being filthy. I wish I would have thought of it first.  The only problem is I have no talent and would have never been able to pull it off. Go have a little fun and give these guys a listen or check them out if they come to your town.  They tour a lot and they are worth seeing live at least once. It is a surreal experience.

I would love to see these guys do a serious metal album…it would be something!!