Post by Erik Rupp on Jan 20, 2011 0:10:27 GMT -5
Riot was a band that flirted with big time success for about 4 years in the late 70's to the early 80's. Their debut album, Rock City, came out in 1977 on their manager's own Fire Sign records. They were signed to Capitol for their second album, 1979's Narita, and continued to build a strong midwest following thanks to some heavy touring.
Capitol, however, lost interest in the band once their time opening for Sammy Hagar ended (Hagar was a priority act for Capitol, and they felt that a strong opening act would help him sell tickets in Europe). Capitol didn't release the band from their contract, though, they just refused to release their third album. That put the band in quite a jam - unable to get their third album released and unable to get out of their contract they appeared to be done.
But Elektra records came along and after hearing that third album (the legendary Fire Down Under) they offered up enough money to get Riot away from Capitol. Fire Down Under was a moderate success in terms of continuing to build their audience, but it wasn't a hit.
At this time singer Guy Speranza left the band (reportedly due to his then girlfriend/future wife's disdain for Heavy Metal), and the band hired a more dynamic frontman in Rhett Forrester. Forrester gave the band a kick in the ass and their fourth album, Restless Breed, was the biggest seller of their career.
Still, it wasn't a hit. It kept the band on their upward trend in sales, but it didn't crack the top 100 and the band were on thin ice with Elektra. The label released a 6 song E.P. (really, a short live album at 30 minutes), but that failed to generate much momentum. The end of the band seemed near when Elektra declined to release their next album, Born in America. They ended up releasing the album on the independent Quality Records label, and despite some good tour dates (including an opening slot for KISS on several of their Lick It Up tour shows) the album failed to match the sales figures of their two previous albums.
The band fell apart after the tour, and that seemed to finally spell the end of Riot.
Until guitarist Mark Reale put together a new version of Riot in 1987. No one else from the band was involved, and musically it sounded very little like the Riot of just a few years earlier - but this version of the band actually saw some decent sales figures for their, "Comeback," album, Thundersteel.
Over the years Reale has had a revolving door of musicians backing him up, and the band's sound morphed into something like an updated version of the original band.
But from 1979 to 1983 Riot flirted with the big time, putting out major label albums (that received rave reviews in Rock magazines), and going on major arena tours as an opening act.
They still have something of a following today, and Mark Reale may put out an album at any given time.
Here are some of their songs...
and possibly my favorite guitar riff of all time...
Capitol, however, lost interest in the band once their time opening for Sammy Hagar ended (Hagar was a priority act for Capitol, and they felt that a strong opening act would help him sell tickets in Europe). Capitol didn't release the band from their contract, though, they just refused to release their third album. That put the band in quite a jam - unable to get their third album released and unable to get out of their contract they appeared to be done.
But Elektra records came along and after hearing that third album (the legendary Fire Down Under) they offered up enough money to get Riot away from Capitol. Fire Down Under was a moderate success in terms of continuing to build their audience, but it wasn't a hit.
At this time singer Guy Speranza left the band (reportedly due to his then girlfriend/future wife's disdain for Heavy Metal), and the band hired a more dynamic frontman in Rhett Forrester. Forrester gave the band a kick in the ass and their fourth album, Restless Breed, was the biggest seller of their career.
Still, it wasn't a hit. It kept the band on their upward trend in sales, but it didn't crack the top 100 and the band were on thin ice with Elektra. The label released a 6 song E.P. (really, a short live album at 30 minutes), but that failed to generate much momentum. The end of the band seemed near when Elektra declined to release their next album, Born in America. They ended up releasing the album on the independent Quality Records label, and despite some good tour dates (including an opening slot for KISS on several of their Lick It Up tour shows) the album failed to match the sales figures of their two previous albums.
The band fell apart after the tour, and that seemed to finally spell the end of Riot.
Until guitarist Mark Reale put together a new version of Riot in 1987. No one else from the band was involved, and musically it sounded very little like the Riot of just a few years earlier - but this version of the band actually saw some decent sales figures for their, "Comeback," album, Thundersteel.
Over the years Reale has had a revolving door of musicians backing him up, and the band's sound morphed into something like an updated version of the original band.
But from 1979 to 1983 Riot flirted with the big time, putting out major label albums (that received rave reviews in Rock magazines), and going on major arena tours as an opening act.
They still have something of a following today, and Mark Reale may put out an album at any given time.
Here are some of their songs...
and possibly my favorite guitar riff of all time...