#mark reale

[metalsongoftheday]

Tuesday, October 1: Riot, "Don't Hold Back"

R.I.P. Mark Reale (1955-2012), Guy Speranza (1956-2003)

Fire Down Under was one of those records that, while beloved by a not insignificant cult of early ‘80s heavy metal/hard rock afficionados, only grew incrementally in stature over the decades.  Similar to the first Montrose record (which at least eventually went Gold), nearly everyone who’s heard Riot’s third full-length loved it, but it hasn’t really picked up newer generations of listeners.  But in 1981, 1999 or 2024, Fire Down Under played like a corker, and numbers like “Don’ t Hold Back” ripped with glorious and unpretentious abandon.  Guy Speranza was the very specific kind of frontman who didn’t have a super dynamic range but sounded totally awesome rocking out, and Mark Reale’s riffing perfectly threaded the needle between classic hard rock and the more energetic strains of metal emerging on the scene.  Most (and best) of all, “Don’t Hold Back” was solely focused on kicking ass and totally lived up to its title.

[metalcultbrigade]

Mark Reale 07/06/1955 - 25/01/2012

[phenomia]

*

[generationclash]

Retronaut Selects: Riot - Born In America (1984)

2013  was the year that Riot took over my life.

It all started one day when my day played “Narita” on our home stereo, and I needed to know who this band was.

I got into all the albums one after another, and something happened after I heard “Born In America”, and I knew it was something special.

It’s an album that I love hearing in full, because it has a great flow to it, and it feels like the album is telling a story and each song is another piece of the puzzle.

Essential Tracks: You Burn In Me, Running From The Law, Devil Woman

Listen Here: Born In America

[preservationofmoments]

[thrashers-confessions]

“If there's one band that I think is extremely underrated, it would be New York's Riot (or Riot V as they're called now). Mark Reale (RIP 1955-2012) wrote some of the tightest riffs ever conceived!“

[metalkilltheking]

1988. Thundersteel

is the sixth album by band Riot, released after coming back from a period of inactivity in the mid-80s. It features a totally different line-up from that of the previous work, with only Reale left as stable member.

Truly one of the great, classic albums of the 80s, and comparable to some of the big names like Priest, Maiden, etc. And even better than alot of the big name releases from the 80s.

Thundersteel is an in-your-face, total heavy metal onslaught. It's not thrash, and definitely not hair or pop metal. It is a true HEAVY METAL record.

Tony Moore   Mark Reale    Don Van Stavern   Bobby Jarzombek

[metalsongoftheday]

Monday, April 21: Riot, "Glory Calling"

R.I.P. Mark Reale (1955-2012)

The Brethren of the Long House was a couple steps too far for Riot: Mark Reale may have reconstituted the band as a power metal outfit on Nightbreaker, going full concept album a couple years later was well beyond the group’s grasp.  But “Glory Calling” worked as a standalone shoot ‘em up headbanger with furious drumming from John Macaluso, stout riffing from Reale and vocals from Mike DiMeo that were squarely metallic while retaining the bluesy edge he brought to Nightbreaker.  There was a certain sense of obligation to the way this iteration of Riot operated, as if playing this fast and heavy wasn’t entirely their preferred approach.  But Reale was a consummate craftsman, and DiMeo found a way to distinguish himself and not sound like every other mid ‘90s power metal singer, so “Glory Calling” worked as one of the stronger American entries of its time.