QR III

I had this on vinyl in 1986. I gave the record another shot to see if it would grow on me. I thought it was bad then, I think it is horrendous now. It just goes to show that record companies have no clue what is good or bad or what will sell. How could any label release this dreck?

Songwriting bumped up to 1000 deeper songs and more Experimentation, it was a gutsy move that didn't pan out with record sales but this album is my diamond in the rough. Love the production and the atmospheric theme of the album. Quiet riot at it's finest.

QR III was the begining of the end for QR. Compared to the first 2, this one sounds very cheesy. Only one song caught my attention(no, it wasn't "The Wild And The Young") but "Put Up Or Shut Up" as it does rock. I think QR tried to become mid 80's Whitesnake(Whitsnakes releases in the 2000's are much better. More down to earth hard rock with out those horrible cheesy synthesisers that was so typical of the 80's era.

Unfortunately the third major release from Quiet Riot, though an attempt to re-establish/re-invent itself (the QR III title was meant to indicate a stripped down, back to basics goal), falls far short, and really signaled the band was far past its apex. Don’t get me wrong, Quiet Riot deserves an important slot in hard rock history, having helped launch Randy Rhodes onto his iconic role in Ozzy’s band, and helping to kick a door open that brought hard rock into the mainstream in the 80’s - but unfortunately in their attempt to “grow up” and be a more mature band, the band really lacked any songwriting depth, both musically or lyrically, and apart from Frankie Banali (whom I think is an outstanding and underrated drummer), the other musicians, including Kevin DuBrow on vocals, are just not very strong. This is all too apparent on a track like “Twilight Hotel” - lyrics are comical (though not intended to be), vocals horrendous, song structure something one might expect from a couple of high-schoolers slapping some chord progressions together. Still makes my ears hurt listening to it. The entire album sounds like a band desperate to be taken seriously - which unfortunately is exactly what they were at this point.

Forever Riot

Growing up in the 80s, Quiet Riot was the mysterious LA band that Randy Rhoads had fled from to join Ozzy. They had produced two albums in Japan in the 70s but had never really caught on since, except for Randy's playing, they were not very good at all. After Randy's unfortunate passing, 1983 brings us Metal Health and Quiet Riot is reborn with Carlos Cavazo on guitar and Frankie Banali on drums. Kevin DuBrow is the only original member, since Rudy Sarzo was actually the group's second bass player. Pop metal over produced by Spencer proffer. Not really metal at all. For those of you who consider Quiet Riot metal, hmmmmmm.... Cinderella, Poison, Autograph and so many other bands are waiting for you over there. Pop rock. About as metal as Bon Jovi. Or Keel. Or Europe. Or Dokken. Anyway. Taken for what they were, Quiet Riot made a name for themselves with the surging MTV and hair metal was huge. By the time we get to QR III, the bald patches are showing not only on Kevin's head but on the talen level of the band. Party rock. Barely any substance. In walks keyboards and suddenly this is really bad. Sounds like Ozzy's Ultimate Sin. Bubble gum. The lyrics are cheesy. Cavazo's sound is plastic and weak. Corporate, sell-out, mindless party rock. When taken for what it was and not trying to look too deeply, this album is decent. But it's still Quiet Riot.

This album is the best since Metal Health, but these are the only two sensational albums that Quiet Riot has. Quiet Riot probably had more trouble with all the competition that had came out in 1985. To this day no one really knows that Quiet Riot's Greatest hit is a COVER SONG, C*m on Feel The Noize was an old 60's party song. NOT originally done by QR. I still am a Quiet Riot fan, but they are not fenanimal.

OK first off I should tell you that Quiet Riot was the first group that I really got into when I was 8. When C*m On Feel The Noize came out I was hooked. I purchased my first album,Metal Health, shortly after and wore it out (on cassette, remember those things?). Then Condition Critical came out...loved that one too...in the hindsight of a 34 year old I can now see it's a bit formulaic and tries a bit too hard to cash in on the success of Metal Health...but only a bit it's really not too much of a step down from Metal Health. So then QR III comes out and it was my soundtrack for the summer of '86 going into 6th grade. Maybe it's because I was so young and willing to accept change that I didn't realize the radical departure in sound...the songs/songwriting however were still the same quality that I'd come to expect from Quiet Riot...anthemic, powerful, lyrics with big sing along choruses (it was also slightly sleazy at times but that stuff mostly went over my head at the time). That was the most important ingrediant of QR to me-the songwriting. So yes if all you care about is big guitars then this album, although it has some of those moments, is not the best example of that. But if the songs are what matter to you the most this album delivers just as much as the first two. This is Quiet Riot's last great album lumping it in with the rest of their mediocre ones would be a mistake. Obviously, The Wild and The Young is the standout, in fact in my opinion it might be Quiet Riot's best song ever. But there are also a couple of other true gems in Rise Or Fall, Still Of The Night and Helping Hands, so if you just want to get a couple of songs on this one to test the waters so to speak you might want to consider those. Also I have to give major kudos to iTunes for making this long out of print album available at a decent price. It would also be nice if y'all could put up thier first two albums from Japan with Randy Rhodes on guitar. I'd buy them.

I was a HUGE QR fan as a teen when this album came out. I remember thinking back then, that out of all thier work up to this point, this was the best. Musically AND lyrically. However, when I hear it today, i think it got just a tiny bit over-produced (too many keyboard sounds.. makes it sound a bit cheesey at times). Otherwise, this is STILL the best QR album to date!

It's ironic when a goofy band tries to be be taken seriously. The end result is: They are a goofy band, sounding really goofy.