Frankie Banalli is the only member of the current line-up to be considered part of the classic band, and in recent years he has not only been the drummer and manager but on this album, he is also the producer. Bassist Chuck Wright actually played on a couple of tracks from the ‘Metal Health’ album while guitarist Alex Grossi has also been in the band for some 15 years. There has been a rather revolving door of singers in recent years, and although this features James Durbin he has since been replaced by Jizzy Pearl who has returned for his second stint with the band.
The founders of Quiet Riot were Randy Rhoads and Kevin DuBrow, and when DuBrow decided to reform the band in 1982 he asked Rhoads if it was okay to use the name without him. Well, neither of them is there now, and to me, it would be far more honest if the current band stopped playing on a legacy. Even without checking on who had produced it, I would have guessed that it was Banalli as the drums are way too high in the mix, something I also complained about when I reviewed their last live album. For the most part, this is simple straightforward hard rock, with virtually nothing of major interest within. However, there are blues contained in the middle of the album called “Roll On”, and that’s actually not bad!
Quiet Riot was the first hard rock band to ever have a #1 in the States, yet somehow, I can’t see this having any impact whatsoever. They are also now in a position where to tour this they are going to have a singer who was not even involved with the recording. Try as I might, there is little on here to get me excited, and I am sure that when fans go to see them they will be waiting for material from ‘Metal Health’ and ‘Condition Critical’ with some Slade covers thrown in for good measure. Hopefully, there won’t be too much from ‘Hollywood Cowboys’.
4/10 Kev Rowland
