''Fire Down Under'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal band

Riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property target ...

, released in 1981, it's the last album to feature original vocalist

Guy Speranza Guy Speranza (March 12, 1956 – November 8, 2003) was an American singer best known as New York City-based metal band Riot's original frontman from 1975 to 1981. He played at the first Monsters of Rock festival in 1980 and sang on their first t ...

. The song "Flashbacks" is dedicated to Neal Kay, a British DJ who supported heavy metal in the UK during the

new wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...

. The album was re-issued on CD in 1997 by the German-based High Vaultage label, utilizing a new, controversial remix by former Riot producer Steve Loeb, and in 1999 by

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distr ...

in the U.S., this time featuring the original Elektra mix. The latest re-issue came in 2014 courtesy of Varese Sarabande. All three versions contain various bonus tracks recorded for the original

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

version of ''Fire Down Under'' which the band were unhappy with. Capitol dropped the band for being "too heavy" after hearing the final version subsequently released by

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between th ...

Track listing

Personnel

Band members

- vocals *

Mark Reale Mark Reale (June 7, 1955 – January 25, 2012) was an American guitarist who was the sole consistent and founding member of the heavy metal band Riot (now known as Riot V). Biography Reale was born in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1955. He g ...

- guitar * Rick Ventura - guitar * Kip Leming - bass * Sandy Slavin - drums

Production

*Steve Loeb, Billy Arnell - producers *Rod Hui - engineer, mixing *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other ...

- mastering

Cover versions and appearances

*The song "Swords and Tequila" is featured in the video game ''

Brütal Legend ''Brütal Legend'' is an action-adventure video game with real-time strategy game elements created by Double Fine and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released during October 2009 in North America, E ...

''. *The song "Swords and Tequila" received a cover by band "Salvación"

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control Riot V albums 1981 albums Elektra Records albums