Customer Reviews

Right to Rock

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Keel is one of those exceptionally talented bands that, unfortunately, burned very brightly in the 80's and then all but disappeared. (Although, Ron Keel does have a new band and album, Fair Game.) This album is actually the result of Gene Simmons cleaning up their first record, Lay Down the Law, which rocked, but really needed professional production. Gene reportedly told Ron Keel outright, "You'll need better songs..." The result was The Right to Rock. Gene also produced the follow-up record, The Final Frontier, which in my opinion, showed the true genius of all involved. Each record was outstanding in its own right. I highly recommend this CD, as well as The Final Frontier, when it's re-released on CD. All subsequent releases (I think there were two, but I only purchased one) are not worth buying. These two albums (Right to Rock / Final Frontier) are spectacular. The others immediately show up the loss of Gene Simmons as producer, and their undesirable classification as 1980's flash-in-the-pan rock.

I have bought this album twice on LP format and the long wait for the CD is now over. This album was produced by Gene Simmons and it has his style stamped all over it. In the eighties he worked with Wendy O Williams (W.O.W) and Black 'n' Blue (2nd & 3rd albums) and along with this album they all have a similar Simmons song writing vein and sound running through them except this album by Keel has the needle going into the red bigtime. The sound is enormous and raw with huge layers of guitar riffs, screeching vocals, huge choruses, big rythmn section and blistering solos. If you like the above albums or Kiss at their heaviest such as Creatures/Lick It Up then you will love this offering. Only four stars though because it is only a little over 30 mins long and the last track is a bit of a filler.
P.S. The last track is a remix of the original on LP, sounds even worse.

Originally released in 1985,'The Right...' was the their second album.Decent under appreciated '80's metal band that never did quite get their due success.This would most likely be considered their best effort,at least by the fans.Key tracks would include the title cut,every true metal head's anthem "The Right To Rock","Back To The City",their Stones cover "Let's Spend The Night Together",the ass-kicking "Speed Demon" and "Get Down".Line-up:Ron Keel-vocals,Marc Ferrari&Brian Jay-guitars,Kenny Chaisson-bass and Dwain Miller-drums.Good to listen on a late Saturday night.

This is a good album, taking some songs from the classic Lay down the law album. Lay down the law was less polished, yes, but it rocked much harder than anything Keel ever put out after it.

I remember this album from my teenage years & always hoped it would be brought back. This album rocks & the band is tight, the vocals are limited but the attitude is there! If, you remember great 80's rock, you have to get this one!

Keel will always and have always been a notch above the rest . This album is what metal was all about in the 80's and nobody did it better. I remember buying my copies of their first album " Lay Down the Law " & Ron Keels " Steeler " thru an add in circus magazine . When The Right to Rock came out I was floored ! If you put this cd in your player today you cant help but raise your fist .
They followed that up with possibly their best release "The Final Frontier " that cd is all killer no filler ,a must have . By time they released "Keel" self titled cd and followed it up with " Larger than Live " with guest vocals from Kevin Dubrow The band was nearing the end all to soon . Both of those are also excellent releases . The band released another cd in the mid 90s and now only days away from their new release I am sooooooooooooo stoked ! Get ready February 26th for the realse of the all new cd from the mighty Keel ! " STREETS OF ROCK N ROLL " with four original members this is gonna be a hit right out of the MFing park !
Live Long Live Loud & Raise your Fing Fist to Rock !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought this on vinyl when it was first released, and as I've been on a
bit of a nostalgia trip of late, decided to get the cd.
It holds up very well and Marc Ferrari's shredding guitar on "Back To The
City " is still amazing.
As this is produced by egomaniac businessman Gene Simmons, there are a couple of songs that sound like they were written for Wendy O Williams,
especially " Get Down".
This album was released five months after Keel's independent debut Lay Down The Law, and features three songs re-recorded from that album ; Speed Demon, You're The Victim, and a cover of the Stone's Let's spend The Night Together.
I thoroughly recommend both albums as neither have any filler, and they
perfectly encapsulate the mid 80's LA Metal scene.
Keel reformed last year and plan to do more shows, and Ron Keel will
be coming to England in November as special guest to the excellent
Y & T. His set will be accoustic, but if all goes well, he plans to bring the full band back next year, so go along to these shows and claim
your right to rock.

This was my first Keel album ever, thanks to MuchMusic/MTV playing the video for THE RIGHT TO ROCK (before they both wussed out and went completely mainstream, dropping GOOD music like metal from all rotations), a video that prompted me to track down and find this tune. The song (and the whole album for that matter) still rocks to this day, over 20 years later!

If you were as lucky as I was to find Keel's debut album, LAY DOWN THE LAW, you can hear on it some early alternate versions of a couple of songs from THE RIGHT TO ROCK album (SPEED DEMON ; LET'S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER ; YOU'RE THE VICTIM, I'M THE CRIME - the latter tune differing only in that the lines of the chorus are inverted, effectively making the track title TONIGHT YOU'RE MINE). LAY DOWN THE LAW is unfortunately VERY hard to find due to being out of print. However, the newer renditions on THE RIGHT TO ROCK are much better anyway!

A must for any true 80s metal fan!


WTW

this is not a bad album but im not really reviewing the cd, i just had to tell all you metalheads something funny, i was watching vh1 where are they now about 4 years ago and they showed ron keel, he was sitting on the back of an old pick up truck with a dip of skoal in his mouth and an old hound dog by his side, he had an old acoustic guitar or a banjo with him. this is what he said. keel said those rocking days are gone and now im where i belong, out in the woods with my dog living off the land and now country music is my life. my jaws dropped, this was ron keel not john denver, what happened to the guy, he had buffed up like someone who takes steroids morning noon and night and his accent was as redneck as it gets, the dude has totally changed. it is a shame because the guy used to be a true metallian with rock on his mind, now he is just another jeff foxworthy. what a shame

I had this album in 86 when I was still in high school. I lost it at some point and now I have purchased it again. I like every song on this album except for "easier said than done". The lyrics of that song are weak and the song title is annoyingly repeated over and over again. Overall the album is a great heavy metal album of 80's.