Rock City

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**None**
***Narita***

***Rock City*** is the debut studio album by Riot and is the first album of the band's original lineup. It was released in 1977.

## History

During 1976, Riot initially recorded a four-track demo and requested Fire Sign Records producers Billy Arnell and Steve Loeb to include the songs in a proposed compilation album. Although the offer was declined, the band was signed by the label company and allowed to begin recording their debut album, which started in November 1976. Both Arnell and Loeb produced and recorded the album. Once recording was finished in June of 1977, the album was released the same year under Fire Sign Records. The album would not receive much attention until radio DJ Joe Anthony, known for playing songs of new rock bands, began playing songs of the album. This allowed the band to get enough attention to have support slots with AC/DC and Molly Hatchet at Southern touring dates.

## Information

### Cover

The album's cover depicts the first appearance of the band's seal-faced mascot, Tior, who is seen with purple skin and wielding an axe. Behind him is a yellow man with a red bruise on his face, lying on the ground and appears to have been killed. In the distance is a massive flame-infused explosion, which has ingulfed an entire mountain. Right of the flames is the band's original logo, the album's title, blue sky with white clouds, and a city faded in the distance.

Like the succeeding two albums of the original lineup, *Rock City*'s cover was often deemed bizarre and would throw many listeners off.

### Songs

Being Riot's debut, *Rock City* has a primitive, late 1970's, heavy rock sound. The opening track, "Desperation," is the shortest song on the album, with a simple guitar riff and quirky structuring. "Warrior," the second track, is an early power metal song, with lyrics about war, fast riffing, and an upbeat chorus. The title track, "Overdrive," "Angel," "Tokyo Rose," "Heart of Fire" and "Gypsy Queen" are all straightforward heavy metal. The final track, "This Is What I Get," was the band's attempt at a hit single.

## Reception

Though the album failed to reach the Billboard 200, it is generally well received amongst rock and metal fans. It currently holds four stars on both AllMusic and Record Mirror.

## Track Listing

1. "Desperation" (2:43)
2. "Warrior" (3:27)
3. "Rock City" (3:29)
4. "Overdrive" (4:12)
5. "Angel" (3:37)
6. "Tokyo Rose" (4:20)
7. "Heart of Fire" (3:00)
8. "Gypsy Queen" (3:56)
9. "This Is What I Get" (4:09)

## Personnel

* Guy Speranza – vocals
* Mark Reale – guitar
* Lou A. Kouvaris – guitar
* Phil Feit – bass guitar (1, 3, 5)
* Jimmy Iommi – bass guitar (2, 4, 6-9)
* Peter Bitelli – drums

## Trivia

* *Rock City* remains Riot's only album to feature their original bassist, Phil Feit, with him only writing and preforming in three songs. Jimmy Iommi would record as the bassist in the remaining songs and would go on to fully replace Feit on the band's succeeding album.

## References

This is a list of references for **Rock City**. 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.themetalvoice.com/post/2017/10/12/riot-talk-rock-city-narita-w-pete-bitelli-lou-kouvaris-part-1-documentary-recap
2. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/rock-city-r16607/review
3. ↑ https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/70s/78/1978-06-17.pdf

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