Reviews list for Riot - Fire Down Under (1981)

I don't like this, and I'm having a hard time explaining why This has a very sing-a-long vibe to me with this album. Swords and Tequila has a catchy chorus, but I don't find wanting to listen to it again. Outlaw is the stand out especially after listening again because it has some killer underlying rhythm guitar and solo at the end but there's too much extra noise going on that takes away from the really interesting and fun riffs. I don't feel like it knows what it wants to be. The guitars and drums are a bit too heavy for the pop vibes it gives off. Like a Van Halen trying to be metal which feels disjointed. Don't Bring Me Down is where I really got a heavy Van Halen, and then on Don't Hold Back I get an odd Jerry Was A Race Car Driver by Primus sound. Please tell me it's not just me, but I just can't this album more serious because I keep hearing derivatives too other things in a more "metal" package. Don't Hold Back reminds me of Ace of Spades structurally? Run For Your Life is like a Run To The Hills demo . Every one of these songs just makes me hear something else and I just can't get into them.  Also what is Flashbacks, an unnecessary flash back snippets of their tour? It's like a bad advertisement to come see their show which doesn't work for me. Maybe if I actually came to a show and felt a bit nostalgic but this is just extra fluff. 

All of this is to say that maybe if I heard this first in the 80's on release I could like it more but I feel like my music memory really kills any listening enjoyment of this album. I don't feel like this is a bad album by any means, but I can't give it more than 2 stars because this is a really tough listen for me since I'm constantly just hearing other songs in a less enjoyable manner. 

Fire Down Under is a good time. A damn good time. And Riot will leave you with little choice but to join in on those good times.

There's such a crazy sense of wild, unabashed fun here, the band sounds like they're absolutely having the time of their lives making this, and that's infectious as all hell. Just listen to the whooping in "Run For Your Life", or the disgustingly catchy fret dancing on the title track. The whole album has the feel of a heavy metal version of a party in a rowdy tavern: lively and vibrant, with just the right dose of rough and ready punch.

The first four tracks in particular are totally irresistible: "Swords and Tequila" in its driving chorus, "Fire Down Under" in its breakneck riffing, "Feel the Same" in that smooth, sexy rhythm and sway, and "Outlaw" in just how damn catchy it is. Every one of them works in its own way, and will leave anyone hooked.

If there's any downside, it's that this does leave the album as a whole a bit front-loaded. The rest of the material here is perfectly good, but the best songs are undoubtedly early on.

Riot don't necessarily do anything particularly inventive or ground-breaking here, but they don't need to, because they do what they set out to with such panache. They take the wonder of Rainbow, mix it with the working class hard rocking of Saxon, and give us something brimming with real passion and energy, and well worth a look for any classic metal fans.

Choice cuts: Fire Down Under, Swords & Tequila, Outlaw, Run For Your Life, Feel the Same