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"Fire Down Under" is easily one of the finest metal albums ever recorded. A sadly underrated album and even more underrated band, "FDU" had more in common with british styled metal (a la IRON MAIDEN, SAXON and JUDAS PRIEST) than with what was being done in America at the time (1981). You can check for yourselves at any fine metal websites that this albums always gets high ratings, so I'm not a loner when I give this album a 5/5 rating. From the thunderous first notes of "Swords & Tequila" to the proto-thrash of "Run For Your Life" and the title track, "Fire Down Under" never lets up. It even has what could have been a MAJOR single in "Outlaw", with a chorus so catchy even MOTLEY CRUE would've killed for it. The vocals of Guy Speranza is one of the many aspects RIOT had that stood out from the crowd; a superb singer with a very distinctive style. This was, unfortunately, the last album Speranza did with RIOT. Founding guitarits Mark Reale still plays with a different version of the band, but they will always be remembered for releasing this classic heavy metal album. Other stand out tracks are the epic, "Altar Of The King" and the dreamy "No Lies". There is no filler material here so if you like vintage 80's metal, do yourselves a favor and buy THIS album RIGHT AWAY!!!Read full review
In the summer of 1981 when I first heard Swords and Tequila on the radio, at the same time AC/DC's back and black was riding on top. I was sure Roit was the next big band to take off. Then after picking up Fire down under on cassette I was even more confident they we're going to be big... really big! Songs like Outlaw, Altar of the king, Feel the Same, Swords and Tequila and the unique Flashbacks. Are all scorching, powerful and clean (like stainless steel), with Mark Reale and Rick Ventura's burning harmonies leading the way. One year before Maiden's number of the beast & Priests' Screaming for vengeance hit the streets, to show metal fans what two harmonizing lead guitars can do. With so many unique Rock voices coming from the 80s, Riot's Guy Speranza is one of the best. If you've ever heard Guy belting it out, you know what I mean. Guy is Frakin' awesome for this tight band from NY city, with Sandy Slavin on Drums and Kip Lemming on Bass they created an album that I've been playing over and over for 28 years. I can see me now sitting there in my rocking chair 40 years from now telling my great great grand kids that that isn't good music their playing. Then hand them this cd and say here's some real music. :)Read full review
The lengthly review given by one other pretty much sums it up. There are 2 versions that I own on cd. One by Metal Blade and the other by High Vaultage. Both have different mixes and I would suggest finding them BOTH. Each has bonus material with the High Vaultage release containing a SUPER little diddy called One Step Closer. A short song, but worth every second. Riot never got the acclaim they deserved but on a very RARE occasion I will still hear Swords And Tequilla on broadcast radio. I am 43 years old so I have been rockin' for quite some time and this release STILL ranks in my top 5 overall all time. You don't find many out there that you can enjoy all the way through but this is definately one of them. BUY THIS ONE. It took me years of serching for the cd version of this and now it is handily available so keep a spare copy and play it loud!!!Read full review
I am ashamed to say I didn't know of RIOT until I met Rick Ventura almost 3 years ago, he is the most awesome guitarist and when I started listening to RIOT after knowing I was like wow how did I not know about this sooner. Lisa Polizzi Band dot com
Verified purchase: No
Great classic metal.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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