The distinguished gentlemen of Urge Overkill are rock stars. If you don't believe it, just ask them. They've been shouting it from the rooftops ever since they released Jesus Urge Superstar, their first full-length LP, in 1989. Six years later, they're issuing their fifth long-playing declaration of their celebrity: It's called Exit the Dragon, and it's an exceptional follow-up to Urgè's 1991 album Supersonic Storybook. Problem is, the band has already made a superior follow-up to Storybook. Titled Saturation, it bests either of those albums. By all means, check it out.

On Saturation, Urge outgrew their early stance – thrift-store kids posing as well-tailored rock gods – and became a band that deserved stardom for reasons other than the fact that the suits fit. With Exit the Dragon, Urge Overkill are still all dressed up, but they're not really going anywhere. Even the suavest act on the planet needs good songs: Just ask Bryan Ferry, Buster Poindexter or Urge's beloved Cheap Trick.

Not that Dragon is a complete loss – not by a long shot. In fact, guitarist Eddie "King" Roeser, half of the uncontrollable Urge songwriting team, turns in his most compelling batch of songs here. "Honesty Files" and "Jaywalkin'" are both tuneful and menacing in the manner of "Stull," the extraordinary title track to Urge's 1992 EP. Only this time around, Roeser has the good sense to add a subversively catchy chorus to his moodiest songs. The same holds true on more upbeat offerings like "This Is No Place" and "Take Me." For the first time, Roeser has managed to find the voice and song construction to consistently sell his darkest visions.

What spoils Exit the Dragon is that Nash Kato – ordinarily Roeser's better half – adds no bombastic fun to balance his partner's brooding. In the past, Roeser's songs worked within the context of the band's albums because Kato could be counted on for Urge Overkill's signature: triumphant rock anthems. This time around, however, he not only fails to deliver a faux classic like "Sister Havana" or "Positive Bleeding," he just plain doesn't deliver. "Need Some Air" kicks off with rock-radio bravado only to segue into a chorus that sounds lifted from a Broadway musical – gleeful group shouts and all. "Somebody Else's Body" and "Monopoly" are simply cute. Rock gods want cute songs about as much as they want full-price drinks or blind dates with girls with great personalities.

Adding to Exit the Dragon's dolor is "The Mistake," a prophetically titled tale of life on the road that makes it clear that Urge are no longer content to belt out songs about imaginary vacations, movie heroes and soap-opera stars. Now they want to be Jackson Browne. Written by drummer Blackie Onassis – who added the infectious synth nugget "Dropout" to Saturation – "The Mistake" even contains the mantra "beware the overdose." If only someone had warned him to beware the bad rock cliché.

Until Saturation, Urge Overkill albums had always been inconsistent affairs, ranging from Hot Chocolate covers to songs about the Flintstones or the drummer's birthday. It's part of Urge's ironic charm; they've always been admired as much for their occasional brilliance as for their overall self-indulgent audacity. In that context, Exit the Dragon is a good record. Roeser's songwriting prowess has emerged, and Kato still has the ability to redeem himself once in a while – most notably on "View of the Rain" and the second half of "Last Night/Tomorrow," a shared composition that's the record's strongest moment. Sometimes, however, merely being good doesn't quite cut it.

The strength of Urge Overkill has always been their underlying belief in rock as a larger-than-life force. They don't spill their guts in confessional lyrics or reinvent musical forms with dizzying displays of technical proficiency. They design songs meant to be played in American-made convertibles that are traveling well over the prescribed speed limit. On Exit the Dragon, Urge connect about half the time. Sure, most bands would be thrilled to be batting .500, but the point is that Urge Overkill are much better than most bands. If they want to remain the deities they perceive themselves to be, they need to prove it in their songwriting. Even rock gods should know the clothes don't make the band. (RS 716)

CHRIS MUNDY