Narita

* JP Cover
 Recorded
 Genre
 Length
 Label
 Producer
 Previous
***Rock City***
***Fire Down Under***

*This article is about the 1979 Riot album. For the 1985 band, see Narita (band).*
***Narita*** is the second studio album by Riot and is the second album of the band's original lineup. It was released exclusively in Japan in June 1979. It was not until October 5, 1979 when the album was officially released in the United States.

## History

After the release of the band's debut studio album and their Southern touring dates, the band was struggling to keep going and was at verge of breaking up. In 1979, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was rising into power, and British DJ Neal Kay had began helping the band get attention in the UK. With new attention, Riot and managers Billy Arnell, Steve Loeb began to take action by starting to record their next studio album. *Narita* was recorded in early 1979 at Big Apple Recording Studio, New York City. At the beginning of recording, the band ended up replacing Lou A. Kouvaris with guitarist and roadie Rick Ventura. The band would have a successful tour with Sammy Hagar and would be picked up by Capitol Records to release *Narita*, mainly to keep them touring with the rocker. Capital immediately dropped Riot once they were finished supporting Hagar. Arnell and Loeb would promote the band further, by having as many radio stations as possible play the band's songs from *Narita*. With more attention than ever, Capitol Records would pick up the band once more for their biggest album, *Fire Down Under*.

## Information

### Cover

*Narita*'s cover artwork features the band's seal-faced mascot Tior once again, this time standing on a battlefield as a red-skinned sumo wrestler, still wielding his axe. He is seen standing on many bones, which presumably belong to his victims. Above Tior is a large fighter jet plane, the band's original logo and the album's title in both English and Japanese. In the distance is Mt. Fuji and flaming building and some trees are seen behind Tior's axe. The sky is light blue and has lavender-colored clouds, and the sun is nudged between Tior and the plane and is behind some clouds.

Similar to Riot's other two albums of the original lineup, *Narita*'s cover was often seen as strange and would throw off many listeners.

## Reception

Like *Rock City*, *Narita* failed to reach the Billboard 200. However, many fans deem it better than the band's first album. It currently has favorable reviews from AllMusic and Billboard.

## Track Listing

1. "Waiting for the Taking" (5:01)
2. "49er" (4:36)
3. "Kick Down the Wall" (4:32)
4. "Born to Be Wild" (2:47)
5. "Narita" (4:38)
6. "Here We Come Again" (5:58)
7. "Do It Up" (3:44)
8. "Hot for Love" (5:00)
9. "White Rock" (2:33)
10. "Road Racin'" (4:32)

## Personnel

* Guy Speranza – vocals
* Mark Reale – guitar
* Rick Ventura – guitar
* Jimmy Iommi – bass guitar
* Peter Bitelli – drums

## Trivia

* *Narita* was the first Riot album to feature guitarist Rick Ventura, who would continue to play for the band up until 1984.
* Narita was the name of a short-lived Riot offshoot band founded by Mark Reale. They would record a three-track demo in 1985, which included an early version of the song "Thundersteel."
* A live version "Road Racin'" from a concert in August of 1980 was included on the Polydor compilation album *Castle Donnington: Monsters of Rock*.
	+ Additionally, "Road Racin'" was covered by the American metal band Night Demon on their 2015 album *Curse of the Damned*. It appears on the CD digipak version from Century Media and the 12" vinyl version from SPV/Steamhammer.
* Both "Narita" and "Road Racin'" appear in the 2009 video game Brütal Legend.

## References

This is a list of references for **Narita**. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

1. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/narita-mw0000319358
2. ↑ https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1980/BB-1980-08-02.pdf
3. ↑ https://www.ukrockfestivals.com/donington-1980.html

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