Riot

A venerable New York City-born heavy metal outfit that found success in the 1980s via their driving blend of arena-ready hard rock and anthemic power metal, Riot's popularity waxed and waned with the changing musical tides over the years, but they maintained a sizeable fan base overseas, especially in Japan, where they remained a huge draw well into the 2010s. Founded in 1976 under the leadership of guitarist/songwriter Mark Reale – the band's sole constant member – Riot is known for their strong melodies and technical acumen, and for the distinctive baby seal face that adorned nearly all of their album covers – the mascot is affectionately referred to as "Johnny." Since becoming active in the late 1970s, Riot has released nearly 20 studio LPs, with highlights arriving via Fire Down Under (1981), Thundersteel (1988), and Immortal Soul (2011). After Reale passed away in 2012, the surviving members began operating under the moniker Riot V…

The classic Riot logo, the face of Johnny on the cover artwork and a four years long wait since 2002's Through the Storm came out. Yet, not much has changed in the Riot headquarters. That's because 2006's Army of One was recorded in 2003. So hold your horses when the straight up power metal of "Army of One" opens the album, or you might be disappointed soon after…

Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot! Live from the Planet compiles concert recordings Setzer made while on the Rockabilly Riot! tour in 2011 and 2012. Included are performances from such diverse locales as Japan, Sweden, Australia, and, of course, the United States…

It's easy to write off There's a Riot Goin' On as one of two things – Sly Stone's disgusted social commentary or the beginning of his slow descent into addiction. It's both of these things, of course, but pigeonholing it as either winds up dismissing the album as a whole, since it is so bloody hard to categorize. What's certain is that Riot is unlike any of Sly & the Family Stone's other albums, stripped of the effervescence that flowed through even such politically aware records as Stand! This is idealism soured, as hope is slowly replaced by cynicism, joy by skepticism, enthusiasm by weariness, sex by pornography, thrills by narcotics…

Sons of Society is the eleventh studio album by American heavy metal band Riot, released in Japan on July 15, 1999 and in the USA on September 7, 1999 with a missing track…

Twenty-five years after their first release, it wouldn't be right to simply dismiss Riot as aging '80s metal hacks. It's true that the music on 2002's Through the Storm is dated and uncomfortably dramatic, but new underground movements (especially in Europe) made this approach to metal hip again in the late '90s…

It's easy to write off There's a Riot Goin' On as one of two things – Sly Stone's disgusted social commentary or the beginning of his slow descent into addiction. It's both of these things, of course, but pigeonholing it as either winds up dismissing the album as a whole, since it is so bloody hard to categorize. What's certain is that Riot is unlike any of Sly & the Family Stone's other albums, stripped of the effervescence that flowed through even such politically aware records as Stand! This is idealism soured, as hope is slowly replaced by cynicism, joy by skepticism, enthusiasm by weariness, sex by pornography, thrills by narcotics…

Unquestionably the best offering from New York's Riot, Fire Down Under is considered by many to be an early-'80s metal classic. After two marginally successful LPs, 1977's Rock City and 1979's Narita, bandleader Mark Reale worked out all the kinks in Riot's membership and musical delivery, and the results are dramatic. The songs are tight and memorable, the guitars are flashy, and the production is aggressive and slick on this 1981 collection…

Quiet Riot s performance at Frontiers Rock festival 2018 marked the band's first-ever concert in Italy and what a hell of a show it was! With the entire club shouting and singing and calling back the band on stage at the end of the show, Quiet Riot literally took no prisoners, offering the crowd a superb selection of their greatest hits plus a very special surprise in Thunderbird, a song from the multi platinum album Metal Health that the band never performed on stage in its entire history…

AFM Records is proud to bring this live concert to the screen (and stereo) of heavy metal fans around the world. Riot (now named Riot V) have been a household name in the scene for over four decades and without a doubt left their mark, inspired countless emerging bands and artists worldwide and are still hungry for more…