Steel Panther : " Heavy Metal Rules" .

Not the first time I have reviewed these guys before, so you might know how i feel about the kind of music they are parodying. The lyrics are clever , but I need good songs as well. They delivered that on their last album. This one is a little more dialed in, but there are moments where they kick ass for cock rock. "Let's Get High Tonight" being one of those. By "Always be a Ho" the lyrics are silly but their song writing manages to compensate. To be called "Heavy Metal Rules"  "I am Not Your Bitch" is the first more metal song. The bulk of their sound like hard rock heavily influenced by Van Halen and lyrically Faster Pussycat. There is a really awesome riff leading into the solo. "Fuck Everybody" is funny lyrically, but the lyrics are cumbersome, which seems to be a trend for this album.

There is a bluesy hint to the title track. There is a little more of a metal touch to the verse riff than they normally use. There is a darker tension to the riff leading into the guitar solo. They are definitely using a formula to write with , but the riffs leading into the solos are seem to be golden. The riff to "Sneaky Little Bitch " reminds me of "Dancing Days". Considering this band it is Led Zeppelin through a filter of Whitesnake. The choruses have been underwhelming , but it is dialed in for this song. Normally this kind of party rock , would be too happy for me. The power balls "Gods Of Pussy" needed some fine tuning lyrically as it is heavy handed and something I would have taken more seriously when I was 15.  Once again the charisma of their songs makes this work even with these silly lyrics. .

I had to listen to the ballad " I Ain't Buying What You Are Selling". . It's alright, a decent song that doesn't really go above and beyond. This album is really well produced. They are once again doing a great job of capturing the feel of 80s hair rock. I will give this album a 9, mainly due to how good they are at what they do even if this is not the band's most inspired effort. Perhaps in time this will not grow on me and it might only be an 8.5, but that is my initial reaction to this one.