The chief reason that I loved Eagles of Death Metal 2004 debut album Peace Love & Death Metal so much is that they didn't take an ounce of themselves seriously. Singer Jesse "The Devil" Hughes and drummer Josh Homme (more famous for his singing and guitar work with Desert Sessions and Queens of the Stone Age) seemingly made their debut in one take; even the stops and starts throughout made the final cut. That kind of production made the album feel fun, loose and from the hip. It was a Rock N' Roll record you didn't have to think about; the only thing you had to contemplate was how hard you wanted to shake your ass.

With a title like Death By Sexy and cover-art that hilariously pays tribute to the awful cover of Loverboy's sophomore album Get Lucky, you'd think that this album would be more of the same. Sadly however, Death By Sexy displays a glossy and overly produced Eagles of Death Metal that feels like they have something to prove.

Death By Sexy starts out strongly enough. First single and album opener "I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)" is a sleazy good time, as are the next two tracks "I Got A Feelin (Just Nineteen)" and "Cherry Cola." "Solid Gold" is also a sure fire winner with Hughes adding acoustic guitar to his repertoire for the first time in Eagles history. The entire flipside however is unfortunately all downhill. The problem with the second half of Death By Sexy is there isn't a single shred of fun to be found. It's a muddled mess that drags on relentlessly without a clue, and you have to wonder what Hughes and Homme were trying to accomplish. Even though the first half is entirely too slick, it still accomplishes its goal of getting the listener to throw their devil horns in the air all for the sake of good rockin'. The second half just inspires you to look elsewhere. Oh well, half of a good Eagles Of Death Metal record is still a better time than most other bands entire catalog. A marginal thumbs up for a somewhat sexy album.