Riot are one of the pioneers of American metal, though they never managed to be in the limelight, despite having legions of fans. Even for myself back in the late 70s and early 80s - when I was a true metalhead - I never bought any of their albums. I can remember hearing Narita played in full on the radio in 1979. It may have been just too much for me at the time, I don't recall too many details. To this day I haven't heard it again, though I'm certain a revisit will be rewarding. It wasn't until 1990, when I purchased The Privilege of Power real time, that I finally took the time to listen to Riot again. Different era and different music.
I bring this up on Thundersteel, because this is Riot's most popular and highly rated album, at least in retrospect. In reading the reviews, this is their own Painkiller, for those that know Judas Priest well. The kind of album, that had they released it back in 1983, would have likely taken them to underground stardom. Instead they broke up at the worst time. By 1988 metal had progressed leaps and bounds from the earlier 80s blueprint. So by the time Thundersteel hit the market it was lost among a sea of worthy competition. As noted above, today it's highly revered. Part of that admiration is this is a no muss, no fuss kind of fast heavy metal. I hear it as thrash metal, though others will state it's a heavy variation of speed metal. In this genre, the fanatics' eyes will bug out of their sockets if you wrongly categorize them. Like with a good hamburger, metal albums don't have to be fancy to be great, and that's really what Thundersteel brings. What are those ingredients? Solid riffs, great soloing, a hyper rhythm section, and a histrionic vocalist who can actually sing. No muss, no fuss. :-)
Ownership: CD: CBS Associated. One of those $5 brand new commodity CD buys (2013). Standard issue jewel case release.
8/1/13; 8/5/18; 7/28/22; 4/26/23 (new entry)
No comments:
Post a Comment