Welcome to another edition of From My Collection. Today, we’re celebrating an album that, as of yesterday, is exactly 40 years old. I’m talking about Riot’s triumphant third album, Fire Down Under. If there was any one album that could be labelled “the perfect metal album”, Fire Down Under would certainly be candidate for such a title. Today’s essay explains why, the importance behind it, and my personal relationship with both Riot and this album.
My love for Riot is well documented. They are, in my opinion, the greatest American metal band of all time. And while there were other American metal bands before them (Sir Lord Baltimore, Bang, Pentagram, etc.), Riot was the first to come out and own it. Similar to how Priest were the first English metal band to do so, Riot was a metal band who not only acknowledged their metalness, but wore it as a badge of honor. So when push came to shove and Capitol Records demanded the band polish their sound, Riot responded the only way they could: With their hardest and heaviest album yet. Fire Down Under was more than just an album; it was a giant metallic middle finger in the face of every smug record executive who dismissed metal and hard rock as a “trend”, all the while riding the cocaine tidal wave known as disco.
I wish I had some cool story about how I discovered Riot. I wish I was one of those denim and leather clad long hairs who bought Fire Down Under in ’81 off the bizarre cover art alone. No, being a 22 year old “zoomer”, my Riot discovery story is a lot less entertaining. When I was 11 years old, I had an iPod Touch that I downloaded music to religiously. I filled it with all my favorites from Priest, Maiden, Metallica, Ozzy, etc. Now back in those days, if you purchased music from the iTunes store, there was something called Apple Genius. This Genius tool would pop up immediately after a purchase and say, “If you like *insert artist I just purchased here*, you’ll also like *x, y, and z*”.
I can’t remember which artist or song I had purchased. I just remember one afternoon being recommended “Outlaw” by Riot. For the low, low price of 99 cents, and my dad’s credit card conveniently set on autopay, I figured why not? Well it was in those 4 minutes and 50 seconds that my life was altered forever. “Outlaw” was by no means the heaviest thing I had heard up until that point. It’s far from the heaviest song on Fire Down Under. What captivated me about this song was that it was so heavy, yet so catchy. I could listen to it 2, 3, 5, 10 times in a row…and I still wouldn’t be sick of it! So that summer when my family took their annual road trip to the Wisconsin Dells, I plugged in my earbuds and filled my head with my favorite hard and heavy bands, as well as my two new favorite songs: “Outlaw” by Riot and “Sign of the Gypsy Queen” by April Wine. Coincidentally, both came out in ’81 and both bands shared the stage at the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival, but I digress.
It was either that vacation or a weekend trip to Lake Geneva later that year when I finally got my hands on a vinyl copy of Fire Down Under. While most kids live for this rare time away from home, I couldn’t wait to be back in my room, volume knob turned to the right, listening to this slab of precious metal. Upon my first listen to Fire Down Under, there was one prevalent thought that stood out in my mind: This album didn’t sound dated at all. In fact, it sounded exactly like what at the time new favorites White Wizzard and Enforcer were trying to do. Over a decade later and this assessment still stands. How is this album 40 years old?
Fire Down Under represents what metal was in 1981 and where metal was headed for the rest of the decade onwards. Joining “Outlaw” in the catchy hard rockers category is “No Lies” and “Feel the Same”. These were the types of tracks that, had Riot been properly backed by their record label and management, got you on FM rock radio alongside Styx and Foreigner. Contrasting these earworms are full speed ragers like the title track and “Run for Your Life”. You know damn well Metallica and Slayer were listening attentively to these no nonsense proto-thrashers. Rounding it all is some good old fashioned heavy metal: “Altar of the King”, “Don’t Hold Back”, and everyone’s favorite party anthem, “Swords and Tequila”.
Unfortunately for the listening public, Fire Down Under was the last anyone heard of this amazing lineup. Singer Guy Speranza left the band not long after the album’s release. I’ve heard an array of reasons why: disillusionment with the band’s management/label, a new marriage, financial woes, even becoming a born again Christian. Truth be told, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a combination of all of these and more. Filling his place was the rocking yet unreliable Rhett Forrester. In a few short years, the classic Riot would be history.
As we all know, founding guitarist Mark Reale would resurrect Riot as a cutting edge power metal band later in the decade. Thundersteel would go on to have just as much of an impact on my life as Fire Down Under, if not greater. That said, one wouldn’t exist without the other. I predict that in another 40 years, Fire Down Under will still “carry me through the fight…and I just don’t mean kickin’ ass”.