Keel - Streets Of Rock'N'Roll (2010) [Japanese KICP1462]

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Keel - Streets Of Rock'N'Roll (2010) [Japanese KICP1462]

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Ron Keel that good ole country boy!!!! WHAT? Well not knowing the man and his feelings at the time Ron and KEEL rocked the eighties with some kick-ass tunes but in the recent years he turned his attention to country music. But rock was in his blood and the reunited KEEL are just about to release two new CD’s. One is a special "The Right to Rock" 25th Anniversary Edition and the other is an all new material CD entitled "Streets Of Rock & Roll". But our focus in this review is on the new "Streets of Rock and Roll" disc. Just listening to the new material I’m not going to tell you this is classic KEEL I’m going to tell you it’s a rejuvenated KEEL and time and musical growth has done KEEL good. Yeah I hear some flashbacks to their heyday but the updated sound will amaze you and there are truly some heavy-hitters on this disc.

The record opens with "Streets Of Rock N Roll" and one thing I notice right off the bat is how good the harmonies are not to mention how guitarist Marc Ferrari goes off in a tantrum giving the song some whoop-ass licks along the way.

Wow! Ron is just magical on the new material as back in the day Ron’s voice was raw but he is like a fine wine and seems to have got better with age. He still has the power to punch the high potent octaves and is amazing enough to dig deep and hit the low notes. The lyrics and music binds past KEEL sounds to the new record. My view is I love the new record; these songs have sounds of the past but brought to a new age. The first three tracks are all heavy hitting rockers with track four "Push & Pull" getting some AOR vibes going. The guitar work by Ferrari is exciting and really sets this KEEL record apart from other releases.

KEEL gets mellow with the sensitive tune called "Does Anybody Believe". The song shows how KEEL has grown and what a class act they are. Just listen to the lyrics and the music on this one, it’s simply amazing…

"No More Lonely Nights" is my favorite track, first because the lyrics are killer but the chorus, vocals and music kicks into high gear and it blows me away. It still has the raw flavor but when Ron and the boys hit those phenomenal harmonies it slashes new boundaries.

"The Devil May Care (But I Don’t)" reminds me a lot of AC/DC. Great riffs, great vocals and "Angus" Ferrari smokes! Fantastic tune…

"Gimme That" has the same feel of one of those golden-era DEF LEPPARD platinum tunes. What a great tune this would be live. This is the kind of stuff that is the heartbeat of ROCK with an arena feel and they come back with an anthem style tune called "Live".

Come on that isn’t Ron singing on "Brothers In Blood". Is he a chameleon? Because we get so many sides of KEEL and by far this is the best KEEL record I’ve ever heard.

This is a hard rockers dream to have a release like this in 2010 and coming from a genuine music fan like Ron Keel (that I can detest to having hung with him at Rocklahoma). The man loves music…

This is one for all music fans to add to your collection.

~ www.rockeyez.com