Ron Keel
The Right To Rock

Already in 1985, records that bordered on rock and metal and vice versa were being tossed around. Perhaps due to fans' excessive passion, the one I'm about to discuss is still idolized today as if it were an invaluable masterpiece. But one should be a bit more cautious. To borrow a line from Gigi Proietti in "Febbre da Cavallo," the most rustic among all the 80s rock scene rogues (actually, second only to Nitro) are definitely Keel, named after the singer Ron Keel, former leader of the Steeler. They had already released an album the year before, but the one everyone fondly remembers today (less so by me) is this "The Right To Rock," which has a lot of good, but only serves to consign this band to the second lines of hard&heavy. A sort of "catch-all" record, given the varied musical offering (and certainly borrowed from here and there).

Before diving into the album, I would like to conclude my reasoning. I believe that at the time the real stars were others, and when I read reviews online with extremely high ratings, I can only think that this is the typical case where one should peel away appearances and look into the record with seriousness. An anthemic title, a revolutionary piece, and a tough-guy image are not enough to make an album. Naturally, much more is needed, and Keel, awarded only by a very harsh production (Gene Simmons, also a composer of some tracks), had absolutely nothing more.

Album for enthusiasts (I have it), this "The Right To Rock" is truly flashy and I wouldn't know how else to define it. In an era where various bands like Quiet Riot (very similar), Dokken, Kiss, Twisted Sister, and WASP (who came out the year before) had already let us hear everything, this metallic and punisher veneer that Keel had adopted seems quite pretentious. The only merit to attribute to them is precisely the album's title which, in the Reagan-era US where the battle against "bad" inspired hard rock and heavy metal was waged – the response from various formations was always different, from Bon Jovi's indoctrination to the subtle cover of White Lion's Big Game –, boldly claimed the right to make extreme music for those times. For the rest, the offering is edgy to listen to, uncompromising and without ballads, but the quality of the sound does not follow with compositional flair and, above all, if they had been produced worse, it would have become clear – and not cleverly covered up by Simmons, who honestly had a bad vision – the fatigue and slowness of many of the individual tracks. Boring and boastful, already heard and needlessly mixing different styles, from classical to street, from hard rock to heavy metal. Unlike Steeler, here Ron Keel certainly takes center stage, even in the video for the title track. This is a "frontman-centric" band from the name itself, seeming to want to give visibility to him and his musical desires. The rest of the group gets lost without showcasing any particular talent. Nonetheless, the title track is good, and the cover of the Stones' "Let's Spend The Night Together" is also good. Then one navigates through songs constructed to impress but, in my opinion, stop at the surface. Nothing new under the sun.

One of those many bands likely deserving to be categorized as "hair." A word I like as much as Chinese cuisine made in Italy.