Need to talk about Riot.

Tony Moore is my fave. Not saying the others are bad, but the music they were singing over sounds so pedestrian based on my initial listen.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Tony Moore is my fave. Not saying the others are bad, but the music they were singing over sounds so pedestrian based on my initial listen.

Are you referring to the albums before Moore or after?

S.D. wrote:

Are you referring to the albums before Moore or after?

Both.

I really only like their early albums, where they walked the tightrope between hard rock/metal. Of course I was a fan during that time so hearing them when they initially came out probably changes my perception of that era.

Thundersteel fits into a style that does nothing for me any longer.

Any opinions? Is the new guy any good? I never thought Riot would go on without Mark Reale...

RIOT would like to thank all of our fans for their undying patience, love and support as we go through a difficult transitional period for the band.
As all of you know, we lost our inspirational leader, founder and brother Mark Reale last year after a long battle with Crohn’s disease. In Mark’s honor and with the blessing of his father, Tony Reale, we have decided to continue to carry the torch for our fallen comrade.
There has been a lot of speculation and opinions concerning what the band should do next. We understand the apprehensions held by many, but out of respect for Mark and our legion of fans we have decided to continue to bring you the RIOT music you’ve come to know, love and appreciate throughout the years. We promise to continue on in this same great tradition. We couldn’t move forward without your support.
We also would like to thank the many singers who tried-out to be a vocalist with RIOT as we worked to replace the great Tony Moore, who has decided to step away from the music business. He has settled down with his wife, Ann and a great job. We thank Tony for joining us on a reunion record and a few dates for our fans and we wish him and his wife nothing but the best; Never Surrender Tony!
Thank you vocalist extraordinaires Tony Harnell, Bryan Harrington, Sean Peck, Daniel Heiman, Joey Belladonna, Chandler Mogel and a host of others for believing, singing and chatting with us and helping us out.
We would like to introduce an amazing vocalist and human being who will help us rebuild this metal juggernaut and step in and fill some big shoes while sharing the same vision as the rest of us. He has the experience to take over the
reigns and front one of metal’s pioneering bands with an amazing vocal range and stage presence. He is a great songwriter to boot! Please put your hands together and welcome to the stage … Todd Michael Hall.
You might know Todd from Jack Starr’s Burning Starr and Reverence. If you do know him you know this guy can sing! We went through many talented vocal submissions, but in the end, metal aficionado and guru Bart Gabriel, who happens to work with the great Burning Starr knew what we were looking for and bestowed upon us this great gift in a vocalist.
Todd is the fifth in series of great RIOT frontmen. Phase One: Guy Speranza; Phase Two: Rhett Forrester; Phase Three: Tony Moore, Phase Four: Mike DiMeo and now Phase Five: Todd Michael Hall!
With a few European RIOT V (Mark Reale Tribute) dates being booked for early 2014 and a new album in the works for a summer 2014 release, RIOT V is inspired as never before and still at the top of its game. The new CD promises to be a true successor to the legacy of “Thundersteel,” “Privilege of Power” and “Immortal Soul.”
Mark Reale and the RIOT legacy will forever shine on and as long as the people demand it we will keep coming back with great music for years to come.
Thank you and lots of love for your faith and undying support throughout the years and for your future support. Please welcome Todd Michael Hall to RIOT V.
Bilde: RIOT would like to thank all of our fans for their undying patience, love and support as we go through a difficult transitional period for the band.
As all of you know, we lost our inspirational leader, founder and brother Mark Reale last year after a long battle with Crohn’s disease. In Mark’s honor and with the blessing of his father, Tony Reale, we have decided to continue to carry the torch for our fallen comrade.
There has been a lot of speculation and opinions concerning what the band should do next. We understand the apprehensions held by many, but out of respect for Mark and our legion of fans we have decided to continue to bring you the RIOT music you’ve come to know, love and appreciate throughout the years. We promise to continue on in this same great tradition. We couldn’t move forward without your support.
We also would like to thank the many singers who tried-out to be a vocalist with RIOT as we worked to replace the great Tony Moore, who has decided to step away from the music business. He has settled down with his wife, Ann and a great job. We thank Tony for joining us on a reunion record and a few dates for our fans and we wish him and his wife nothing but the best; Never Surrender Tony!
Thank you vocalist extraordinaires Tony Harnell, Bryan Harrington, Sean Peck, Daniel Heiman, Joey Belladonna, Chandler Mogel and a host of others for believing, singing and chatting with us and helping us out.
We would like to introduce an amazing vocalist and human being who will help us rebuild this metal juggernaut and step in and fill some big shoes while sharing the same vision as the rest of us. He has the experience to take over the
reigns and front one of metal’s pioneering bands with an amazing vocal range and stage presence. He is a great songwriter to boot! Please put your hands together and welcome to the stage … Todd Michael Hall.
You might know Todd from Jack Starr’s Burning Starr and Reverence. If you do know him you know this guy can sing! We went through many talented vocal submissions, but in the end, metal aficionado and guru Bart Gabriel, who happens to work with the great Burning Starr knew what we were looking for and bestowed upon us this great gift in a vocalist.
Todd is the fifth in series of great RIOT frontmen. Phase One: Guy Speranza; Phase Two: Rhett Forrester; Phase Three: Tony Moore, Phase Four: Mike DiMeo and now Phase Five: Todd Michael Hall!
With a few European RIOT V (Mark Reale Tribute) dates being booked for early 2014 and a new album in the works for a summer 2014 release, RIOT V is inspired as never before and still at the top of its game. The new CD promises to be a true successor to the legacy of “Thundersteel,” “Privilege of Power” and “Immortal Soul.”
Mark Reale and the RIOT legacy will forever shine on and as long as the people demand it we will keep coming back with great music for years to come.
Thank you and lots of love for your faith and undying support throughout the years and for your future support. Please welcome Todd Michael Hall to RIOT V.

He's awesome! Sounds a lot like Tony Moore in his prime (at least on the old Thundersteel-era song they re-recorded).

Boy, since Mark was the one who carried this on for so many years it feels odd. I'd almost prefer if they called it something else.

They are... They added a V :-D

I have the Reverence album with this new guy singing, and it does nothing for me. He is a good singer, and the clips they posted hae me fooled that Tony was still singing. But it is one thing to be a good singer, and a unique one.Tony Moore had a unique style and phrasing that is now lost for Riot.

Exactly right. I went back and listened to the stuff he did with Burning Starr and he was uber-generic.

Tony had a melodic and lyrical style.

Todd is a great singer, liked everything from Harlet and Burning Starr he sang on. Don't care that much for traditional metal anymore, but Jack Starr sure can deliver. That said, I'm much more concerned with Riot's ability to write quality music rather than Todd's set of pipes.

Outside of listenin to Fire Down Under, as well as Rhett's Gone With the Wind, on Spotify a lot, I am still not insanely familiar with Riot.

I remember there was always a CD or two at Tower back in the day, and they almost got purchased a lot, but something else always won out.

Guy Speranza rules, and then the Rhett Forester albums are okay.
I liked the Thundersteel, and Privilege of Power LP's when they were out , but after a few years, they just lost whatever was interesting about them for me , but never the early albums.

Continuing RIOT without Reale ? Weird.
I will have to re-read the info, to see if there are any band members from the records I like in the lineup again.
Since I have not liked/cared about, anything new they released after Born In America, it doesn't bother me. It isn't the real RIOT.

I would have never expected Riot to carry on without Mark Reale. I've never heard this new guy sing and it's a shame about Moore leaving (he was great) but it will be interesting to see what the band can come up with.

I enjoy all the singers even during the Deep Purple years with Dimeo.

bass63 wrote:

After Guy & Rhett they lost me. Pure garbage after that.  

You think Thundersteel is pure garbage?  

(shrugs)
The only Riot albums I've ever heard are Thundersteel and Fire Down Under. I like'em both fine but for whatever reason I've never felt particularly compelled to seek out much else.

Fat Freddy wrote:

(shrugs)
The only Riot albums I've ever heard are Thundersteel and Fire Down Under. I like'em both fine but for whatever reason I've never felt particularly compelled to seek out much else.

Same here. I only have 2 Riot albums as well (Thundersteel and, uh, um, another one) and while I like 'em well enough, I never felt the need to dig any deeper.

While I thinks it's weird that they would keep the name after the founder died, it makes little difference to me. If they want to carry on the name, go for it.

My fave singers are TONY MOORE and Mike DiMeo. Just now i read that RIOT is going on with Tony Moore under the name of RIOT V. What do you guys think of that?

Riot:  

Guy Sperenza / Rhett Forrester
Mark Reale
Rick Ventura
Kip Leming
Sandy Slavin

If none of the above are involved (and many are dead now anyway) then it's NOT Riot.  Period.  Choose another equally generic name and move on.  It's not like the name "Riot" is going to open any doors outside of maybe Japan anyway.

They could've called themselves THUNDERSTEEL although I am not sure it matters.

Why do people give a massive shit about band names? It is just a name.

snooloui wrote:

Why do people give a massive shit about band names? It is just a name.

I usually don't. But in this particular case we're talking about a band WITHOUT A SINGLE ORIGINAL MEMBER LEFT, that's just too much for me to stomach.

S.D. wrote:

snooloui wrote:

Why do people give a massive shit about band names? It is just a name.

I usually don't.  But in this particular case we're talking about a band WITHOUT A SINGLE ORIGINAL MEMBER LEFT, that's just too much for me to stomach.

Like NAPALM DEATH?

Looks like they feel the same way themselves....

RIOT V - (A TRIBUTE TO MARK REALE) - LIVE IN EUROPE
Introducing new vocalist TODD MICHAEL HALL!
07-02-2014 Brescia, Italy
08-02-2014 Wurzburg, Germany / Metal Assault Festival
09-02-2014 Athens, Greece