Caught Somewhere in Time
Wasted Years
Sea of Madness
Heaven Can Wait
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Stranger in a Strange Land
Deja-Vu
Alexander the Great
Formed in 1984 by former Steeler vocalist Ron Keel, the buzz about Keel owed as much to the star power of their producer Gene Simmons as to the band’s straight-shooting heavy metal. And, as evidenced by two albums from that period, after their famous mentor had moved on the only way for Keel was down.
The Final Frontier, in 1986, was their second album with Simmons, following The Right To Rock, on which they recorded three of his songs, none of which good enough for Kiss. The title track from The Right To Rock was heroic and daft in equal measure, as were the best songs on The Final Frontier, notably Rock And Roll Animal, with leader Ron Keel singing his balls off.
Co-written with Springsteen, Because The Night was a hit for Patti Smith, but sadly not for Keel. And with Simmons gone, the routine follow-up album – produced by Michael Wagener, titled simply Keel – was the flop that killed the dream.
"When The Final Frontier didn’t go multi-platinum it created problems," Ron Keel told us. "Too many bands were looking and sounding the same and it strangled the life out of the genre."
Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
Other albums released in April 1986
- Turbo - Judas Priest
- Secret Dreams And Forbidden Fire - Bonnie Tyler
- Like A Rock - Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
- Rembrandt Pussyhorse - Butthole Surfers
- Raised on Radio - Journey
- The Other Side of Life - The Moody Blues
- Russian Roulette - Accept
- Tinderbox - Siouxsie and the Banshees
- Cocker - Joe Cocker
- Mistrial - Lou Reed
- Strength In Numbers - 38 Special
What they said...
"The opening (and title) track comes out of its corner swinging, ready for the fray. A join-the-dots blueprint that’s immediately out-punched by the chunky rock charms of Rock’N'Roll Animal … appropriately, Keel’s voice howls and wails as the guitars growl and roar. Guitarist Marc Ferrari proves himself to be a songwriter on the rise, contributing the pumped-up, Autograph-esque Raised On Rock, and the rather good chest-beating ballad, Tears Of Fire. (Get Ready To Rock)
"Much of Keel's material is cliché-ridden mid-'80s pop-metal, with generic jock lyrics and muscular riffs. Even high-profile guest appearances by such stars as Joan Jett and Michael Des Barres on Raised on Rock, Arm And A Leg, and Rock and Roll Animal barely keep things interesting." (AllMusic)
"This is an album so good that even the power ballad sounds good. That's right, you've read this correctly, the power ballad sounds good. Why? 'Cos it's actually got more potential than Every Rose has Its Thorn. It contains a more haunting and quiet atmosphere to it, making it more unique in its own special way. Instead of making the song more glossy and messy, the synthesizers actually elevate the dark and eerie nature of the ballad." (Encyclopaedia Metallum)
What you said...
Brian Carr: I have to go old school for this one since it isn’t available to stream from Apple Music in the US. Which is kind of a travesty as I listen, because Keel’s The Final Frontier is a damned fine hard rock album. Also a travesty because my cassette is in damned poor condition, especially side two, for some reason, proving that although I’m glad to once again own a tape deck, I’ll never be nostalgic for that tremendously flawed musical format.
Doesn’t that echo Keel’s career, though? They sign a label deal with MCA so that people like me can hear their music, but they also sign a deal with MCA, a label that had some real struggles promoting rock acts, at least from my recollection. Despite support from the well connected Gene Simmons and considerable ability in songwriting and performance, Keel never quite broke into the mainstream.
I’m a big fan of eighties hard rock, but I haven’t listened to The Final Frontier in ages, so I was surprised with the memory of how great of a record it is. Their cover of Because The Night is the tune I remember best, but the album opening title track stomps, Just Another Girl provides mainstream hard rock appeal and Tears Of Fire gets the lighters up. There’s more than enough here to make me want to seek out a cleaner copy!
Adam Ranger: Not heard of Keel before. So always good to hear a new band.
I see they are an American band formed in Mid 80s. And listening to this album.. that makes sense. First impressions? Dull and forgettable. So many bands did this type of sound and posturing back in the 80s and Keel to my ears have nothing that stands out. Probably why they were never big on this side of the pond.
My favourite track is Nightfall. It's a pleasant instrumental with out any of that "ready to rock, or raised on rock'n'oll" posturing. Sorry, not one I will revisit.
Philip Qvist: I had never heard of Keel before this week, and if the 80s version of me had heard of them at the time I probably would have bought one of their records, played it for a couple of times, before putting the album on my "Forget About Them" pile.
Clearly a band for the time, but doing nothing worthwhile to stand out from the rest of the mid 80s competition. I see Ron Keel and Marc Ferrari did most of the songwriting heavy lifting and while it isn't an awful album - it's just plain dull. Their cover of Because The Night summarises The Final Frontier to a tee, ie bland and beige.
The best songs were the instrumental Nightfall and No Pain No Gain but this album borders between 4 and a 5. Not one that I would recommend to any casual listener I'm afraid.
John Davidson: I don't remember ever hearing Keel before - maybe they were on MTV but if so they didn't make an impression.
After two rough, throaty opening tracks which explore the harder edges of hair metal, we get a softcore version of Because The Night. Maybe it's because we just reviewed Easter but Keel's version is more Pat Benatar than Patti Smith and I don't mean that in a good way.
They're at their best when they deliver rough'n'ready sing-along choruses where you can punch the air (as on Raised On Rock). But when they lean in on the Bon Jovi influences (as on Just Another Girl) they quickly lose my attention. Worse is yet to come though as Tears Of Fire is as dire a power ballad as the risible title suggests. Fortunately, there's more Scorpions/ Judas Priest than Bon Jovi in No Pain No Gain, so they leave the album on a high.
Gene Simmons does a decent job on production and you can hear a bit of Kiss in the choruses and harmonies when they do the rabble-rousing chant-alongs, but sadly that's only about half the album.
It's worth exploring but not something I'm likely to add to the collection. 6/10
Jamie Laszlo: I'd have to give this one a solid "not good". I used to like their cover of Because The Night, but these days, I think even that's kinda terrible.
Martin Lewis: Not a bad album, their previous album is way better, The Right To Rock. Saw them supporting Dio, have both albums signed.
Chris Elliott: The cover tells you everything you need to know. That isn't a compliment.
Greg Schwepe: Last-minute review and hoping Santa will leave some rockin’ gifts under my tree this year. Keel’s The Final Frontier provides some riffy, screaming 80s metal. And no, had never heard of the band before this week!
The lyrical content seems a little darker and not as much of a “let’s party and get chicks” type vibe. But then again, I was focused more on the guitar riffs and the Axl-like vocals. As I’ve said before, we aren’t saving the rainforest here with the lyrics. Pretty standard 80s fare. But that’s expected and I don’t see that as a bad thing.
The big surprise was the appearance of Because The Night which got reviewed on our Patti Smith album a few weeks ago. “Hmmm….that sounds familiar…hey, that’s….” Not a bad rendition.
Overall, lots of cool guitar solos all over this album, which keeps my attention. In keeping with my 'opening act analogy', if I were to have seen Keel as an opener, I would’ve enjoyed their 30-minute opening slot, but not gone out the next day and bought The Final Frontier. A third-tier metal band that you can bang your head to and turn the volume up, but can’t quite get to the second tier. 7 out of 10 for me on this one.
Dave Hinsley: I've always had a soft spot for this album. Hence my recommendation this week. Raised On Rock (written by the brilliantly named Marc Ferrari) is a great song. Nightfall is a lovely piece of music leading into the bludgeon of No Pain No Gain. Because The Night always stood out as a truly baffling choice and smacks of filler to pad out the album. I blame Gene Simmons for choosing this song.
Interesting fact: Bruce Springsteen co-wrote Because The Night! Less interesting fact: they chose Because The Night and Tears Of Fire as the two singles released from this album! Probably a reflection of the time.
I'm giving this album a solid 6/10 for the solid riffing and because it seems Ron Keel is a really nice guy! Minus points for the toothache inducing saccharine ballads! I hope this was at least an interesting choice, if not a critically acclaimed one!
Gary Claydon: I remember seeing Keel supporting Dio in Leeds. Actually, that's not quite true. They were on, I saw them but in all honestly I remember fuck all about 'em. Which kinda sums Keel up, for me. Run of the mill mid '80s hard rock. Not particularly memorable. Long time since I heard anything by them, so...
Not convinced Gene Simmons did them too many favours production-wise. Unlike previous album, The Right To Rock, Simmons is absent on the writing credits, which is no bad thing and as a result The Final Frontier isn't trying quite as hard in the radio-friendly, pop-metal department. The song writing is still very ordinary though. The 'power ballads' are just plain awful and it's difficult to find anything really positive to say about anybody who can make Because The Night sound as bland as Keel do here. 4/10.
Footnote: Ron Keel was, very briefly, the vocalist in a version of Black Sabbath.
Mike Canoe: I actually saw Keel on The Final Frontier tour at a mid-sized theatre in October 1986. They were opening for Queensrÿche, who were touring behind the jaw-droppingly phenomenal Rage For Order. I remember thinking that this was about as successful as Keel was going to get.
They weren't bad. They just already sounded so dated, especially for a band that had just released their first album two years ago and especially compared to Queensrÿche, whom we didn't yet know to call "progressive metal."
The Final Frontier is at its best when the band keeps it simple, appropriate for an album produced by Gene Simmons of Kiss. The title track, Rock And Roll Animal, Raised On Rock, and No Pain No Gain are all decent headbangers. Keel could have done worse than make an album for teenage dudes made up of ten songs like these four.
And make a worse album they did. It's hard to believe that anybody thought a cover of Patti Smith's Because the Night was a good idea, so strictly enforced were musical boundaries back then. It's also, like most of the album, mediocre. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow and Just Another Girl are 'band on the road' songs, with the latter being oddly spiteful. Arm And A Leg is a song about a boxer in search of a Rocky soundtrack (It was the '80s, after all). Power ballad Tears of Fire is truly terrible.
Things like music/movies/other pop culture tend to get lumped together by decade because it's a convenient way to categorise, not because it makes sense. Pop metal bands from the early eighties sounded a lot different from pop metal bands of the late eighties. Groups like Keel (or Black 'N' Blue or Autograph or Alcatrazz or King Kobra or even one album biggies like Quiet Riot or or Twisted Sister) either broke up or limped through the rest of the decade to successively smaller sales while even poppier metal bands were marketed to get girls to buy the album that had that one power ballad on it. By 1986, Keel were already dinosaur rock.
Final score: 5.66 (27 votes cast, total score 153)
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