''Riot Live'' (not to be confused with the 1982 EP of the same name with

Rhett Forrester Rhett Forrester (September 22, 1956 – January 22, 1994) was an American musician best known as the lead singer for New York-based band Riot from 1981 until 1984. Biography Forrester was born on September 22, 1956, in Tucker, Georgia. His m ...

on vocals) is Riot's first full-length live album, recorded in the UK in 1980, but not issued until 1989 on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

in Japan. This is the band's last output with original vocalist

Guy Speranza Guy Speranza (March 12, 1956 – November 8, 2003) was an American singer best known as New York City-based metal band Riot's original frontman from 1975 to 1981. He played at the first Monsters of Rock festival in 1980 and sang on their first t ...

. The album contains a cover of the well known 1950s rock'n'roll classic, "

Train Kept A-Rollin' "Train Kept A-Rollin'" (or "The Train Kept A-Rollin'") is a song first recorded by American jazz and rhythm and blues musician Tiny Bradshaw in 1951. Originally performed in the style of a jump blues, Bradshaw borrowed lyrics from an earlier son ...

", brought to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s by the likes of

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

, and Aerosmith. ''Riot Live'' finally saw an American release in 1993 via

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distr ...

. Although the U.S. re-issue front cover lists the ''

Fire Down Under ''Fire Down Under'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Riot, released in 1981, it's the last album to feature original vocalist Guy Speranza. The song "Flashbacks" is dedicated to Neal Kay, a British DJ who supported heav ...

'' (1981) line-up, no songs from that album are included on ''Riot Live'', most likely because ''Fire Down Under'' had not been released or even recorded yet. Furthermore, the Metal Blade Records Release clearly states that both concerts were recorded Live in England in 1980. The first Japanese release stated part of the recording to be from a Hammersmith Odeon 1981 concert. However, according to the Hammersmith Odeon concert history website, Riot never played the Hammersmith Odeon in 1981, but they played the Hammersmith Odeon on Saturday, April 19, 1980 & Sunday, April 20, 1980 as part of the Tour supporting

Sammy Hagar Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo car ...

. It is therefore more likely that the cover info from the initial Japanese release is incorrect and that the error was corrected with the later U.S. release.

Track listing

* Tracks 1-5 and 7-8 recorded April 19 and/or 20, 1980 at the

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

. * Tracks 6 and 9-14 recorded August 16, 1980 at the

Monsters of Rock Monsters of Rock was an annual hard rock and heavy metal music festival held in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, ...

festival in Donington Park.

Musicians

– vocals *

Mark Reale Mark Reale (June 7, 1955 – January 25, 2012) was an American guitarist who was the sole consistent and founding member of the heavy metal band Riot (now known as Riot V). Biography Reale was born in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1955. He gr ...

– guitar * Rick Ventura – guitar * Kip Leming – bass * Sandy Slavin – drums

References

{{Authority control Riot V albums 1983 live albums Columbia Records live albums Albums recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo