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; he also directs the group in most of its undertakings. Ironically, it is Kay, Steppenwolf's strongest component,… Read More
who has most often underlined the group's effectiveness as an unsophisticated but hard-driving rock & roll band. He's never satisfied with a mere collection of good rock tuneshe has to tie them together under some over-all theme. Kay has always been a bit too ambitious for his own goodor the good of Steppenwolf as a whole. That is what derailed a seemingly unstoppable Steppenwolf after two fine straightforward albums in the form of an abominable pseudo-concept album called
Birthday Party. And it was ambition that caused Steppenwolf to exploit the political cliche in
Monster.Well, it's happened again. This time, however, the other four group members are equally responsible, having shared the song-writing duties democratically with the boss. After making a heartening comeback with a surprisingly powerful live album and a spotty but much improved studio recording (Steppenwolf the Seventh), they've decided once again to sacrifice rock & roll for rock & relevance on For Ladies Only. It's another critical setback, made even sadder by the inclusion of a couple of great stinging rock songs, one of which ranks with Steppenwolf's early best.
Good Steppenwolf is usually short Steppenwolf: this is an excellent singles band when it wants to be. Bad Steppenwolf is interminable: when this group makes one of its "major statements," a 15-minute album side can seem endless. So it follows that the monumental moments on For Ladies OnlyMars Bonfire's "Ride with Me" and "Sparkle Eyes," by Kay and George Biondomove swiftly, while the bad partsthe title song and the cruddy "Jaded Strumpet"hang in there tenaciously. "Ride with Me" is the ultimate mythic bike - as - winged - chariot song, just an Bonfire's "Born to Be Wild" was the ultimate mythic biker-as-buccaneer anthem. It's ironic that Steppenwolf, whose memorable work is romantically reactionary (Kay's publisher is Black Leather Music), should make an album about the oppression of women. But never fear, Steppenwolf fansthe boys do it in a gloriously reactionary way.
After listening to the album. I'm still not certain whether the fellows are for or against, but the songs within do little to dispel that feeling of steaming hostility toward women, I must admit that I find myself without the burning desire to find out where Steppenwolf stands in regard to women's libe