Search - Riot, The Riot :: Archives Volume 2: 1982-1983

Rick Ventura was the second guitar partner in Riot for legendary axeman Mark Reale. Formerly active in a cover band in New Jersey, Rick joined the band in 1978 taking over from Lou Kouvaris. The first Riot album he is playing on was 1979's »Narita«. He comments: "Most of the songs for that album were already written, when I joined, but I contributed to 'Waiting For The Taking'. It wasn't very nice what they did to Lou." It's almost impossible to overestimate the importance of Riot for the evolution of American heavy metal. The New Yorkers built the bridge between the first generation of hard rock and metal bands springing up in the early to mid-1970s (Blue Öyster Cult, Kiss and Van Halen) and the new wave carrying the torch in the late 1970s and early 1980s (led by Canadian proto speed metal merchants Anvil and Exciter). Formed in New York City in 1975, Riot recorded one of the best heavy metal albums of all time: 1981's »Fire Down Under«. However, before this landmark album finally saw the light of day, it took Riot six long years and two studio albums (1977's »Rock City« and »Narita« from 1979) to get the formula right. Although the main protagonists of Riot are no longer with us, singer Guy Speranza died on November 8th 2003 and main man Mark Reale, guitarist and principal songwriter, sadly passed away on January 25th 2012, it's second guitarist Rick Ventura who is still alive (and making music). Rick Ventura was a driving force behind 1981's landmark »Fire Down Under« record. He comments: "No way did we know that »Fire Down Under« would become such a popular album. We just wrote and played what we felt. It wasn't until decades later till it really hit me." Among numerous other rare and unreleased recordings, »Riot Archives Vol.2« contains a song called "Hot Life", which did not make it onto any Riot album, Rick Ventura believes it was written by Mark Reale. In addition to that, the record also features the original auditions for Rhett Forrester, with him singing "Hard Lovin' Man" and "Vigilante Killer" - a real jewel - plus an extraordinary 8-minute version of "Loved By You". Rick Ventura comments: "I know. It's so cool! Just one of those things." Comparing the different eras with Guy Speranza and Rhett Forrester on vocals, Rick Ventura, whose last album with the band was »Born In America« (from 1983), concludes: "Well, certainly the Guy era was decisive, that's what got the fan base. I enjoyed both. Rhett was fun to work with. In the end I left Riot because of frustration, overall direction and management issues. No major label wanted us. It just wasn't the same Riot anymore."