Balls Out

Balls Out is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Steel Panther. It was released on October 28, 2011 on Universal Republic Records.

Balls Out
Studio album by Steel Panther
Released	October 28, 2011
Recorded	August 2010—May 2011
Genre	Glam metal, heavy metal, comedy rock
Length	47:37 54:55 (with bonus tracks)
Label	Universal Republic
Producer	Jay Ruston
Steel Panther chronology
Feel the Steel (2009) Balls Out (2011) All You Can Eat (2014)

Production and release

In an interview in May 2011, guitarist Satchel said that the band had begun recording new material in August 2010, and by May 2011 had completed all fifteen songs planned for the album.[1]

The album was officially announced on 19 July 2011[2] and the title was announced on 22 August.[1] The album is produced by Jay Ruston, who previously worked with the band on their album Feel the Steel.[3]

On 6 September, it was announced that the album's release date had been pushed back from 18 October to 31 October,[4] though it was released in Europe on iTunes on 28 October.[5]

The first singles of the album are "If You Really, Really Love Me" in the United Kingdom and "17 Girls In A Row" in the United States.[6]

Guest appearances on the album are made by Dane Cook on "In the Future" and by Chad Kroeger and Nuno Bettencourt on "It Won't Suck Itself".[3]

The album is indexed (Liste A, only allowed to be sold to adults after request) in Germany by the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien (BPjM) since September 2012.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	68/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[8]
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles	[9]
Kerrang	[7]
Revolver	(4/5)[10]
Rock Sound	[7]
Rockstar Weekly	[11]

Commercial

The album debuted at #41 in Canada,[12] and debuted at #40 on the Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 12,000 copies in the United States.[13]

Critical

Balls Out has received generally positive reviews from critics alike. Metacritic has given the album a score of 68, based on four reviews.[7] Allmusic gave Balls Out a rating of three out of five stars, and said that "[a]s a hair metal album, Balls Out is finely crafted and well produced, evoking the glossy sound of the era, but as a joke, it’s pretty one-note, so either you’re going to get it or it's going to grate on you."[8]Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles gave the album a rating of nine out of ten stars, saying that "[f]rom start to finish, Balls Out is 14 bundles of fun."[9] Canadian music and entertainment website Rockstar Weekly gave the album a perfect 5 stars saying "For those lucky enough to understand the joke, Balls Out is the standout album of the year. It just plain kicks ass."[14]

Track listing

The track listing of Balls Out was announced on 26 August 2011.[6]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"In the Future" (featuring Dane Cook)	1:28
2.	"Supersonic Sex Machine"	3:10
3.	"Just Like Tiger Woods"	3:41
4.	"17 Girls in a Row"	3:41
5.	"If You Really Really Love Me"	2:25
6.	"It Won't Suck Itself" (featuring Chad Kroeger and Nuno Bettencourt)	2:54
7.	"Tomorrow Night"	2:58
8.	"Why Can't You Trust Me"	4:01
9.	"That's What Girls Are For"	3:39
10.	"Gold Digging Whore"	3:55
11.	"I Like Drugs"	4:20
12.	"Critter"	3:38
13.	"Let Me Cum In"	3:30
14.	"Weenie Ride"	4:21
Total length:		47:38

Japanese bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
15.	"Do You Wanna Do Me"	3:18
16.	"Handicapped Slut"	4:01
Total length:		54:56

Personnel

• Michael Starr – lead vocals, backing vocals
• Satchel – guitars, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• Lexxi Foxxx – bass, backing vocals
• Stix Zadinia – drums, (piano on "Weenie Ride"), backing vocals
• Jay Ruston & Steel Panther – production
• Michael Lord – orchestration on "Weenie Ride"
• Jay Ruston – engineering & mixing
• Nick Rucker – additional overdub engineering
• Ara Sarkasian – assistant engineer
• F. Scott Schafer – photography

Guests

• Chad Kroeger (Nickelback) – co-lead vocals on "It Won't Suck Itself"
• Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) – guitar solo on "It Won't Suck Itself"
• Heidi Murphy – female vocals on "It Won't Suck Itself"
• Dane Cook – narration on "In the Future"
• Joe Lester, Matt Nelson, Brett Anderson, Eden Blackman & Jay Ruston – background gang vocals

Recorded at Clear Lake Audio, Burbank, California. Overdubs mixed at TRS West, Sherman Oaks, California.

References

1. "STEEL PANTHER: New Album Title Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
2. "STEEL PANTHER To Release New Album In October". Blabbermouth.net. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
3. "STEEL PANTHER: New Album To Feature Guest Appearances By NICKELBACK, EXTREME Members". Blabbermouth.net. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
4. "Steel Panther announce tracklisting for second album 'Balls Out'". NME. 6 September 2011. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
5. "Balls Out". iTunes. Archived from the original on 1 June 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
6. "STEEL PANTHER: 'Balls Out' Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
7. "Balls Out by Steel Panther". Retrieved 23 December 2017.
8. "Balls Out - Steel Panther - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
9. "STEEL PANTHER Balls Out". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-02. Retrieved 2014-07-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2011-11-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. "Nielsen SoundScan Charts". Jam! Music. Archived from the original on 26 December 2004. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
13. "STEEL PANTHER's 'Balls Out' Cracks U.S. Top 40". Blabbermouth.net. 9 November 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
14. "CD Review: Steel Panther - Balls Out". Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.