Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf is like the football club that always wins more than it loses, and perennially
finishes second or third in its conference–something like Purdue. Sound in the skills but
hardly ever brilliant. Always in contention, but never the champ. Steppenwolf does have a
gifted quarterback in John Kay, whose voice has always seemed to me to be the growl of
the archetypal lead singer. Kay normally writes or cowrites most of the songs; h... More >

These fellows certainly have lost their hip aura, and their bid for the feminist vote here is likely to be undercut by, let's see, titles like "Jaded Strumpet" (nor to mention "For Ladies Only"), the customized Penismobile in the gatefold, and the vagina dentata--denture atop shapely gams--from which the band recoils on the enclosed poster. Too bad, since the title tune does lay out rock and roll misogyny with the kind of dumb, well-meaning insight I've always liked in John Kay. Wish he had come up with a few more dumb, well-crafted hooks as well. (Grade: C+)