Balls Out

Updated on Nov 28, 2023

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Recorded August 2010—May 2011 Producer Jay Ruston		Label Universal Republic
Released October 28, 2011 (2011-10-28) Genre Glam metal, heavy metal, comedy rock Length 47:37 54:55 (with bonus tracks)

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

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.

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

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

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.

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".

Commercial

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

Critical

Balls Out has received generally positive reviews from critics alike. Metacritic has given the album a score of 68, based on four reviews. 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."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." 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."

Track listing

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

Personnel

Michael Starr – lead vocals, backing vocals

Satchel – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, backing vocals

Lexxi Foxxx – bass guitar, backing vocals

Stix Zadinia – drums, percussion, (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

Balls Out Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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