BAND – RIOT
ALBUM – FIRE DOWN UNDER
RELEASED – 2-9-1981
REVIEWED BY – JOHN ERIGO

Can you imagine a band submitting an album to a record label and being told it was not going to be released because it was “too heavy”? Well that’s what NY based band RIOT was up against when they submitted one the best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal albums of all time. Yes, Columbia Records told RIOT that the album FIRE DOWN UNDER was too heavy to be released. Amazing to think of that considering what gets released today, right? I have cherished this album from the first time I heard it. A lot of old school metal heads hold this album in the highest regard. It’s really hard to believe that so many people don’t know about it!

Riot was never a household name band, and that’s just a damn shame. I discovered them via a TV Show that used to air late at night on the weekends. For those of us old enough to remember Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert will know what I am talking about. It was like MTV before MTV or even cable TV existed. There was a similar show, that showed rock n roll videos, called ROCK CITY and Riot’s song of the same name was used as the shows theme song. I remember hearing about 30 seconds of it and had to find out who they were. Try doing that without Wikipedia! LOL! This was 1980, no cell phones, no internet. So one day I am in the record store where I found a lot of bands in my early days of headbanging, and was thumbing through the albums and came across an album that caught my eye. Only because it had this strange fuzzy animal/man pictured on it….WTF is this?! I looked for the band name and it said RIOT and the light bulb went off! This must be THAT band and sure enough it was. The fuzzy guy is known as the Mighty Tior(Riot spelt backwards).

So I went on the discover Riot had 2 albums out. ROCK CITY and NARITA. I got both and became an instant fan. So I wrote to the band’s management because the address was on the album. I soon after got a phone call and spoke to the entire band, what a trip for a young kid! Very cool moment and of course, my fandom increased. Early in 1981 they released a new album FIRE DOWN UNDER and it was like magic. The combination of heaviness and melody, great guitar work from the band’s leader MARK REALE(RIP) and the flashy RICK VENTURA. Really strong vocals from the late and great GUY SPERANZA(RIP), and KIP LEMMING(BASS) and SANDY SLAVIN(DRUMS) holding it down, this album was so perfect. It came out when bands were just starting to play heavier in the USA and RIOT captured their intensity on this album like few others could or did. This was the kind of album all of us younger headbangers needed. It wasn’t “too heavy”, it was just right!

Songs like OUTLAW, DON’T BRING ME DOWN, ALTAR OF THE KING, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, damn people, don’t take my word for it…….listen to this album. Imagine the time in history that this album came out. It was a game changer and belongs in every metal fans collection. I really think this album pushed a lot of other bands to step it up a bit. Sadly this was the last album to have Guy Speranza on vocals as he just did not want to be in the rock n roll “business” any more. So go out and get this album, there have been a few re-issues over the years with bonus tracks, so you can find it. This is classic stuff that still sounds fresh to this day – a true HEAVY METAL gem of an album!!!!