QUIET RIOT – Quiet Riot II [No Remorse Records remastered] (2022) HQ *Full / Exclusive*

QUIET RIOT’s discography is a very particular case, because the band’s first two albums, their self-titled debut from 1977 and “Quiet Riot II” from 1978, were only released in Japan.
For the western world, the first album was “Metal health” from 1983, already with another formation, which was a commercial success with hits like “Cum on feel the noize”. But before there were also those works, which are important for the history of Quiet Riot and where the impressive talent of Randy Rhoads was first exposed to the world.
”Quiet Riot I & II” never were officially released on CD, and specialized label No Remorse Records had been working closely on the reissues for years, exchanging many emails and conversations with Frankie Banali, who believed that these albums are very important in Quiet Riot’s legacy as they paved the way for the band’s reformation and world-wide success.
Banali’s passing in August 2020 put things on hold for a while, but No Remorse has finalized the final details with Banali’s estate, and long-awaited reissues of early Quiet Riot albums are finally available remastered, properly silver pressed.
Now we have here ”Quiet Riot II” in all its sonic glory.

Quiet Riot is a phenomenon with a long history. The first incarnation of the band dates back to 1975, when the Quiet Riot name was born, with the line-up of guitarist Randy Rhoads, vocalist Kevin DuBrow, bassist Kelly Garni, and drummer Drew Forsyth.
Despite local popularity in Los Angeles, California, they failed to secure a record deal in the United States, but managed to release an EP, now a collectors item. The first two albums, Quiet Riot I and Quiet Riot II, were originally released in Japan, only on vinyl.

”Quiet Riot II” is nothing shy of a continuation of the very first album, as the songs structure, style, line-up, and overall sound and production is basically the same. It’s just as if they decided to churn out nine more very good tracks to top off their underground career before ‘Metal Health’ would take over the metal scene.

A main difference that this album has against ‘QR I’ is the fact that the pace is slowed down a noticeable amount. While the predecessor took a fast and fun kind of approach, these songs are rather more melodic, commercial glammy sounding. They are also significantly longer, which allows for more guitar work by Randy Rhoads.
All of the tracks make for an enjoyable listen, just like the first one, and are just as underrated.

Let’s talk about a famous one, “Slick Black Cadillac”. As many know, this appears as track four on the next album, but that was actually a re-recording. Here, it’s not as amplified, but it’s more laid back and the vocal work is more melodic. Not to mention that the chorus sounds better, and they add a little intro to this one. This one is one of my favorite tracks, as well as “Eye For An Eye” as it carries a very steady beat and displays great riffage and vocal work.
“Inside You” is also pretty good, and if you listen closely, the main riff sounds like “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. “Afterglow (Of Your Love)” is a fun Small Faces cover and other highlights include “Trouble”, and “We’ve Got the Magic”. By this second album, Quiet Riot had gotten better at writing melodies.

Something else that this record seemed to incorporate a little more is the gang vocals. Those were hardly used before, but on here it was introduced a little more. As most know, Quiet Riot would eventually use this as a signature sound of theirs. This was where it was tampered with some more and was heavily used more years down the road.
The overall sound on ”Quiet Riot II” should vanish from the band’s career and they would never release anything like this one again.

Following the release of this second album, Randy Rhoads joined Ozzy Osbourne’s band and Quiet Riot ended. Although the worldwide mega-hit Quiet Riot is technically a different band than these tracks, Kevin DuBrow’s roots in his budding musical awakening, as well as Randy Rhoads, one of the world’s most talented guitarists, can be traced here.

When Frankie Banali and Rudy Sarzo, who played together before this in bands in Florida and Illinois, would go on to form an entirely new band with Kevin DuBrow and Carlos Cavazo, they created a sound that kick-started the pop-metal era.
‘Metal Health’ also includes a new version of the song “Slick Black Cadillac”, originally released here on Quiet Riot II, but with the huge success of Metal Health, the early days became a thing of the past. Still, fans and collectors for years clamored for those albums to be widely reissued at last.
That time has come… (contributors get the album today)

Only at 0dayrox

01 – Slick Black Cadillac
02 – You Drive Me Crazy
03 – Afterglow (Of Your Love)
04 – Eye For An Eye
05 – Trouble
06 – Killer Girls
07 – Face To Face
08 – Inside You
09 – We’ve Got The Magic

Kevin DuBrow – lead vocals
Randy Rhoads – lead & rhythm guitars
Kelly Garni – bass, backing vocals (uncredited)
Rudy Sarzo – bass (credited, but does not play on album)
Drew Forsyth – drums, percussion
The Killer Bees – backing vocals

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