''Thundersteel'' is the sixth studio album by the American heavy metal band Riot, released after coming back from a period of inactivity in the mid-1980s. It features a totally different line-up from that of the previous work, with guitarist Mark Reale being the only remaining member. It was re-issued in 2003 by

Collectables Records Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Jerry Greene formed Lost Nite and Crimson record labels. Soul Survivors gained the hit "Expressway to Your Heart" (1967) while on Crimson Records. History It maintains a ca ...

with slightly amended artwork and re-issued on 180g vinyl as a 2-LP set with ''

The Privilege of Power ''The Privilege of Power'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Riot. It was more experimental than their previous work, being an attempt at a concept album and also including a horn section on some of the tracks. "Racing wi ...

'' by SPV on February 25, 2013. The album originally charted at No. 150 on ''Billboard'' 200 The song "Thundersteel" was originally written by

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 ...

and Don Van Stavern for 'Narita', a short-lived project Reale formed with members of

S.A. Slayer S.A. Slayer, originally known as Slayer, was an American heavy metal band formed in San Antonio, Texas, in 1981 by the former Blitzkrieg (not to be confused with the UK band Blitzkrieg) guitar duo Robert "Bob Dog" Catlin and Art Villarreal, ba ...

following the demise of Riot in 1984. A demo released by Narita exists, with "Thundersteel" and two other tracks: "Liar" and "The Feeling Is Gone". The song's cover appears as a bonus track on 2013 album "Possession" by the Polish heavy metal band

Crystal Viper Crystal Viper is a Polish heavy metal band founded in 2003 by singer and guitarist Marta Gabriel. History During their first three years, Crystal Viper was a project featuring Marta Gabriel and other musicians, with whom she recorded numerou ...

. The song "Flight of the Warrior" was covered by the Swedish heavy metal band

HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex- Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when rhythm guitarist Oscar Dronjak quit Ceremo ...

on their 2008 album ''

Masterpieces A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

''. A cover of "Flight of the Warrior" also appears as a bonus track on the 2013 album ''Beneath the Surface'' by German metal band Alpha Tiger who've performed the song live as well.

Album information

The album's sound has been described as

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

; with AllMusic writer Brian O'Neill going into great detail describing what all went into its sound, saying, "The disc takes cues from everything that was metal at the time, combining classic European styles reminiscent of Judas Priest's heavier moments (a premonition for

Painkiller An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

), thrashing guitars and pounding percussion indicative of the then-burgeoning underground

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...

movement (it's got more riffs than Anthrax ever had), and undertones of the hair metal that was riding the charts at the time (especially in appearance) into a cohesive moment of refined ferocity."

Legacy

In 2008, the album's personnel reunited for 2009's Sweden Rock Festival. The album was reissued in Japan on October 7 in 2009. A 30th anniversary version of the album was released in 2018.

Track listing

Personnel

Riot

* Tony Moore – vocals *

– guitars, producer *Don Van Stavern – bass *

Bobby Jarzombek Bobby Jarzombek is an American musician of Polish and German ancestry who is currently the drummer for country music legend George Strait. Bobby also has been a drummer for: vocalist Sebastian Bach, and progressive metal band Fates Warni ...

– drums

Additional musicians

*Mark Edwards ( Steeler, Third Stage Alert, Lion) – drums on tracks 2, 3, 5 & 7.

Production

*Steve Loeb – producer *Rod Hui – producer, engineer, mixing *Nick Sansano – engineer *Chris Shaw, Matt Tritto – assistant engineers *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album '' Future Shock''. Other ...

– mastering

References

{{Authority control Riot V albums 1988 albums Epic Records albums Columbia Records albums