19. Steeler Steeler 1983 (Shrapnel)
Glam Metal
A dose of cold steel and dazzling guitar solos.
The Lowdown
The only studio album ever released by Nashville’s Steeler (who soon relocated to Los Angeles) at least until a compilation album was put together by frontman Ron Keel in 2005. Steeler named after a Judas Priest song are by and large mostly remembered as the launchpad for the virtuoso guitar skills of Yngwie Malmsteen, who of course would go onto become one of the pivotal neo-classical guitarists of the decade. He largely garnered this acclaim after the demise of Randy Rhoads as far as American based artists were concerned when it came to neo-classical guitarists. Around this time most US metal bands were usually in awe of the guitar histrionics of guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, but the introduction to US shores of Sweden’s Yngwie Malmsteen would be something of a sensation around 1983 and 1984 period especially with the release in 1984 of
Rising Force. His sensational neo-classical style came straight from the European school of guitarists like Ritchie Blackmore and Uli Jon Roth and he would contrast starkly with purer metal sound delivered by guitarists like Eddie Van Halen. Now one point worth noting before talking about the album content, is that it’s often stated that Yngwie was flown in to finish the album last minute and didn’t have too much to do with its actual composition, which is sometimes proved by the lack of complexity on some of the tracks, leaving band leader Ron Keel as the principal purveyor for the Steeler debut. So with this in mind, Steeler with its floating early roster seems no more than just a put together vehicle that put on some great shows around the LA area in 1983, before its members went off to do other projects. Now normally I might bypass an album of this type, but when it’s as good and solid as the Steeler debut I just had to make an exception. Straight away Steeler go in for a big metal sound a la Y&T which is obvious with its opening cuts “Cold Day in Hell” and “Backstreet Driver” where frontman Ron Keel displays an effective Udo Dirkschneider of Accept gruff vocal style and at times sounds akin to Gene Simmons of Kiss. The strongest tracks are the radio friendly “No Way Out” punctuated by its addictive chorus and its acoustic strummings and it’s a track I really like. Yngwie’s strummings are then taken onto the next level for the acoustic Spanish opening of “Hot on Your Heels” before giving over to his soon to be famous dazzling metal fist-frets and this ends up being the album’s best known track and also one the fastest tracks, along with the pretty ace sounding “On the Rox”. Even the albums’s lesser tracks "Down to the Wire" and "Born to Rock" with their everyday sound are still solid listens and "Seranade" closes out the album nicely. Steeler is both a big yet dense sounding metal album, that’s high on catchy choruses (when used) with effective and punchy if simplistic guitar riffs which are strewn across its tracks. Basically all this combined with the band’s image, makes this album some pretty hot early glam metal listening at the potent end of the spectrum, and the album is pretty hot from beginning to end. If you’re a fan of bands like Accept, Kiss, Dokken, Keel and anything that contains Yngwie Malmsteen then this album is a must listen to piece and can pretty much go toe-to-toe with the other top glam metal releases of the year. It’s simplistic in its song construction, but then again some of the best albums around often are. After the breakup of the band, Ron Keel would go onto form Keel a glam metal outfit before going onto to tinkle with southern rock. Yngwie Malmsteen would have a stint with Graham Bonnet in Alcatrazz who released their debut album
No Parole from Rock ’n’ Roll also in 1983 and this was an album that just missed the top 20 on this year’s list, before embarking on his far more illustrious solo career the following year.
Ron Keel- Guitar/Vocals
Yngwie Malmsteen- Guitar
Rik Fox- Bass
Mark Edwards- Drums
Production- Mike Varney