Year : 2019
Style : Heavy Metal , Power/Speed Metal
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 110 mb
Bio:
Riot V, formerly known as Riot until 2012, is an American heavy metal band founded in New York City in 1975 by guitarist Mark Reale. Reaching a peak in popularity in the early 80s, the band has continued a long-running successful career.Riot has toured with AC/DC, Molly Hatchet, Sammy Hagar, Kiss, Vandenberg, Black Sabbath and Rush among others.Riot's sound initially started out as straightforward heavy metal, but since their 1988 release Thundersteel their musical direction has been more along the lines of power metal.In 2013, Riot V, a new iteration of the band, was launched by the surviving members, post the passing of founding member and band leader Mark Reale.Riot was formed in 1975 in New York City, New York when Kon-Tiki guitarist Mark Reale and drummer Peter Bitelli recruited bassist Phil Feit and vocalist Guy Speranza. The line up recorded a four-track demo, which they hoped would be included in a proposed compilation of new rock bands. While waiting for the project to get off the ground, they added Steve Costello on keyboards.Reale took the various demos to New York based producers Billy Arnell and Steve Loeb, who also owned Greene Street Recording Studio and the independent label Fire-Sign Records. Arnell & Loeb turned down the compilation proposal but signed Riot. The band added second guitarist Louie Kouvaris, replaced Feit with Jimmy Iommi and recorded its debut album, Rock City. After a promising start and support slots with AC/DC and Molly Hatchet, the band were unable to maintain momentum, and were on the verge of breaking up for good by 1979.In that year however, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal broke mainstream, and the band came to the attention of influential DJ Neal Kay who spread the word about them in Britain. British fans bought imported copies of Rock City which was recorded and produced by Arnell and Loeb and released on their Fire Sign Records. Encouraged, Arnell & Loeb, now Riot's managers, recorded the band's new album Narita. In the course of recording, Kouvaris was replaced by roadie Rick Ventura .Subsequent to a successful support of Sammy Hagar on his US Texas tour, Capitol Records offered Riot a worldwide deal for Narita, mostly to support Hagar. Capitol and Hagar needed a harder, younger edge to associate with him, so Riot was chosen if they agreed to support Hagar on his UK tour. Hagar and Riot had a successful tour, but Riot was dropped by Capitol as soon as they were finished promoting Hagar.Arnell and Loeb spent the remaining Capitol Records advance, while retaining important indie FM radio promotions to promote the last Riot album. Arnell and Loeb put the album on as many radio stations around the country as possible, thus raising the radio profile enough to where Capitol picked up their option for another record, which led to Riot's biggest selling album, Fire Down Under.When the record was completed some months later, Capitol turned the record down calling it "commercially unacceptable" which put the band in contractual limbo. Capitol refused to release the band from contract. A campaign was organized and financed by producers Arnell & Loeb, with fans around the world. Fans picketed the offices of EMI Records, especially in the U.K. Finally, Elektra Records reached an agreement with Capitol Vice President Rupert Perry and immediately released Fire Down Under, which then soared into the Billboard Top 100 chart.Singer Guy Speranza (b. March 12, 1956 – d. November 8, 2003) had difficulty melding his religious convictions with his role in the band and was replaced by Rhett Forrester (b. September 22, 1956 – d. January 22, 1994) for the next album, Restless Breed (1982). Though a striking frontman, any hope of a major breakthrough was sunk by a combination of Forrester's erratic behaviour on the road, a changing of the guard at Elektra, and the 1983 success of Quiet Riot's single "Cum on Feel the Noize". The next album, Born in America, (1983) was self- financed by Steve Loeb and was released on Quality Records, an independent Canadian label. A note on the reverse of the album tried to explain away would-be fans' confusion between Riot and the now No. 1-selling Quiet Riot, but support melted away, leading to the band's disintegration.Reale relocated to San Antonio, Texas, where he recruited former S.A.Slayer members Steve Cooper, Don Van Stavern, and Dave McClain (now with Machine Head) for a short-lived new band called Narita. By 1986, Reale and Van Stavern had made their way out to Los Angeles in an attempt to resurrect Riot along with former members Sandy Slavin and Rhett Forrester. Another vocalist that was tried out was Harry 'The Tyrant' Conklin (Jag Panzer) who was dismissed after losing his voice on the second night of back-to-back gigs due to excess drinking. Eventually, Reale mended fences with producer Steve Loeb and moved back to New York. Drummer Mark Edwards (Steeler, Third Stage Alert) was recruited to complete the new rhythm section along with bassist Don Van Stavern, while Greene Street Studio manager Dave Harrington brought in Tony Moore (real name: Tony Morabito) for vocals. A new Riot was born. Loeb cut a four-track demo at his Greene Street Studio in Soho, NY and along with real estate maven turned rock manager Vince Perazzo brought the band to CBS Associated, who offered the band a worldwide deal. Edwards elected to leave the band as his own L.A.-based group Lion was getting signed to Scotti Brothers. He would be superseded by San Antonio, Texas native Bobby Jarzombek, formerly with Juggernaut, who cut the rest of the drum tracks for what would become the Thundersteel album, released in 1988. It was followed by the more experimental The Privilege of Power (1990), which saw the band augment their state-of-the-art heavy metal sound with horns, courtesy of the Brecker Brothers and Tower of Power. The album also featured a guest vocal appearance by Joe Lynn Turner of Rainbow fame. Second guitarist Mike Flyntz joined the ranks for the band's 1989 Thundersteel tour of Japan where Riot maintained their strongest subsequent following. Bassist Don Van Stavern would quit the band after the US leg of the The Privilege of Power tour and was replaced by fellow Texan Pete Perez (ex-Karion).In 1992, vocalist Tony Moore left the group over disagreements with manager/producer Steve Loeb. Reale recruited newcomer Mike DiMeo, who had played with Howard Stern sidekick Stuttering John Melendez in a local band named Josie Sang, with a view toward making a more hard rock oriented solo album. Eventually, those plans were dropped and the proposed solo effort turned into another Riot album, 1993's Nightbreaker, which featured a remake of the Fire Down Under classic 'Outlaw' as well as covers of Deep Purple's 'Burn' and 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' by Procol Harum. The following LP, the Native American-themed Brethren of the Long House (1996), which saw John Macaluso (TNT, Powermad) briefly take over for Bobby Jarzombek on drums, would mark the final collaboration with long-time associate Steve Loeb who stepped down from the production chair in 1995. All told, Loeb produced or co-produced 13 Riot albums in his 19-year association with Reale and the different configurations of Riot. For the rest of the decade Riot would maintain a remarkably steady line-up for the first time in its history, resulting in a steady output of high quality albums, i.e. Inishmore (1998), Shine On live (1998), and Sons of Society (1999). Jarzombek left again in late 1999, this time to join former Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford in his new venture Halford. Pat McGrath (Prototype, Killing Culture) filled in for Jarzombek on the following European tour before being replaced by veteran skinsman Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult) with whom the band recorded Through the Storm (2002).In 2006, Riot returned with yet another album, Army of One, featuring new addition Frank Gilchriest (Virgin Steele, Gothic Knights) on drums. It would mark the swan song with vocalist Mike DiMeo who had earlier announced his departure in order to concentrate on his work with retro rockers The Lizards after a 12-year run with Riot. DiMeo was succeeded by noted New York area singer Mike Tirelli (Burning Starr, Holy Mother, Messiah's Kiss) whose Riot live debut came in early 2005 at the band's Atarfe Vega Rock Festival appearance in Granada, Spain.Mike Tirelli took over as lead singer for most of 2005 and began touring in the states with the band. Riot with Tirelli also made an appearance in Japan both in 2006 and 2007 after being gone for more than 7 years and then ending there touring in 2007 after an extensive tour through Spain.
Album:
Despite RIOT V’s solid portfolio and tremendous legacy, they ironically remain as one of the less appreciated and most underrated bands from the US. In fact, their debut album “Rock City” back in 1979 gained more appreciation in UK than their hometown (it can be recalled that in that time, NWOBHM rules everything). With their sound formula which features classic Heavy Metal and vintage Power Metal, they extended their popularity to Japan, which obviously is a strong power metal territory. In that same place, they celebrated their 43rd year in the scene and gave the fans a really epic treat that they will cherish forever. And what makes it better is that they can go back to that night of their life by listening to its live recording which they called simply “Live in Japan 2018”.As a Power Metal fan myself, I am so fucking jealous that I wasn’t there that night. Based on the audio recording, it was an epic and bombastic show. They played a total of 23 songs – and those songs are their 23 greatest anthems. It includes the classics “Metal Soldiers”, “Metal Warrior”, “Thundersteel”, “Sign of the Crimson Storm”, and of course, the all-time favorite “Warrior”. Right form the opening moments, it was all-out assault. You can feel the excitement of the crowd growing – and the moment you hear Todd’s very unreal voice, it’s very difficult not to get carried away. I love how the band was filled with so much adrenaline from the beginning until the end, and how the audience responded accordingly with a crazy energy of their own – singing along to choruses and sometimes simply screaming their lungs out in awe. That level of interaction between the band and the crowd is what really makes this recording really fun. You might call me crazy, but for me, live audios are best when listened to with your eyes closed. You’ll feel the ambience of the venue and create an image of the stage performance in your head. Of course, that comes with a perfect production. In this case, it’s exactly like that – perfect. There is perfect balance within the levels of the instruments, and I loved how Don’s bass ablaze like the guitars. His performance really reminded me of Steve Harris. Another great contributor to the epicenes of the performance was their axemen Mike and Nick hitting every note with such flash and great accuracy. Frank’s drumming is simply amazing – the one you’ll pick as an archetype of a thunderous live performance. And of course, the brightest light of them all is undeniably Todd. He is one hell of a singer, and he exhibited his entire repertoire in this show. He hits those insane high notes with relative ease – which really reminds me of King Diamond and Rob Halford.Although the recording is just ten minutes less than two hours, you will never really feel tired listening to every song on the setlist. Instead, you might find yourself headbanging non-stop, with your fist in the air. And like I mentioned, it’s all music and really miniscule banter. And talking about the sound quality – shit, it’s just too outstanding. Remember folks, it was recorded in Japan – so what else shall we expect? The journey will conclude in a very big way with their all-time fan favorite “Warrior”. There is not a moment in the song where the crowd went silent – which is so rewarding if you are the band.What else can I say about this record? It was a memorable performance, the crowd was amazing, and the sound quality is outstanding. Simply epic!
Line-Up:
Don Van Stavern Bass (1986-1990, 2008-present) - See also: Evil United, ex-Narita, ex-S.A. Slayer, Pitbull Daycare, The Devil's Jukebox, ex-Mark Reale Project, ex-Seance
Mike Flyntz Guitars (1989-present) - See also: ex-Faith and Fire
Frank Gilchriest Drums (2003-2007, 2014-present) - See also: Feanor, Liege Lord, ex-Virgin Steele, ex-Holy Mother
Todd Michael Hall Vocals (2013-present) - See also: Harlet, Jack Starr's Burning Starr, Todd Michael Hall, ex-Reverence, ex-Pulling Teeth
Nick Lee Guitars (2014-present) - See also: Moon Tooth, ex-Exemption
Tracklist:
CD1:
01. Armor Of Light
02. Ride Hard Live Free
03. On Your Knees
04. Metal Soldiers
05. Fall From The Sky
06. Wings Are For Angels
07. Land Of The Rising Sun
08. Take Me Back
09. Messiah
10. Angel Eyes
11. Metal Warrior
CD2:
01. Thundersteel
02. Fight Or Fall
03. Sign Of The Crimson Storm
04. Flight Of The Warrior
05. On Wings Of Eagles
06. Johnny's Back
07. Bloodstreets
08. Run For Your Life
09. Buried Alive (Tell Tale Heart)
10. Road Racin'
11. Swords and Tequila
12. Warrior
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