The Privilege of Power

The Privilege of Power
Studio album by Riot
Released	1990
Recorded	December 1988 – September 1989
Studio	Greene St. Recording, New York City
Genre	Heavy metal, progressive metal, power metal
Length	57:52
Label	Epic
Producer	Steve Loeb, Vince Perazzo, Rod Hui, Mark Reale
Riot chronology
Riot Live (1989) The Privilege of Power (1990) Riot in Japan – Live!! (1992)

The Privilege of Power is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Riot. It was more experimental than their previous work, being an attempt at a concept album and also including a horn section on some of the tracks.

"Racing with the Devil on a Spanish Highway" is a cover of an Al Di Meola instrumental track from the album Elegant Gypsy (1977). "Killer" is about convicted killer Jeffrey R. MacDonald and features a guest vocal appearance by Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen).

The album was re-issued in 2003 by Collectables Records with slightly amended artwork and re-issued on 180g vinyl as a 2-LP set with Thundersteel by SPV on February 25, 2013. ^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Classic Rock	[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	8/10 [4]
Rock Hard	9.5/10 [5]

In 2005, The Privilege of Power was ranked number 354 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. ^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"On Your Knees"	Tony Moore, Don Van Stavern	6:37
2.	"Metal Soldiers"	Moore, Mark Reale, Van Stavern	6:40
3.	"Runaway"	Moore, Reale	5:11
4.	"Killer"	Moore, Reale, Van Stavern	4:53
5.	"Dance of Death"	Moore, Van Stavern, Reale	7:17
6.	"Storming the Gates of Hell"	Reale	3:43
7.	"Maryanne"	Moore, Reale	4:55
8.	"Little Miss Death"	Eric Mauk, Moore, Reale	4:12
9.	"Black Leather and Glittering Steel"	Moore, Van Stavern	7:07
10.	"Racing with the Devil on a Spanish Highway (Revisited)" (Al Di Meola cover)	Al Di Meola	7:17

Personnel

Band members

• Tony Moore – vocals
• Mark Reale – guitars, producer
• Don Van Stavern – bass
• Bobby Jarzombek – drums

Additional musicians

• Tower of Power horn section: Greg Adams, Emilio Castillio, Steve Kupka, Lee Thornburg, Steve Gross
• Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Dave Bargeron, Ron Cuber, Lawrence Feldman – horn section
• James 'Blood' Ulmer – guitar
• G. E. Smith – guitar
• T. M. Stevens – bass
• Joe Lynn Turner – vocals on "Killer"
• Bob Held – bass on "Little Miss Death"

Production

• Steve Loeb – producer, executive producer
• Vince Perazzo – executive producer
• Rod Hui – producer, engineer, mixing
• Nick Sansano, Chris Shaw, Kirk Yano – engineers
• Dan Wood, Dave Swanson, Jason Vogel, Kenny Almestica, Glenn Zimet – assistant engineers

References

1. "SPV launch an exciting new series of catalogue vinyl releases". Archived from the original on January 1, 2014.
2. Monger, James Christopher. "Riot The Privilege of Power review". AllMusic . Retrieved January 10, 2012.
3. Barton, Geoff (February 2010). "Riot - Thundersteel/The Privilege of Power". Classic Rock . No. 141. p. 93.
4. Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. pp. 365–366. ISBN   978-1-894959-62-9.
5. Stratmann, Holger. "Rock Hard review". issue 36. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
6. Best of Rock & Metal - Die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Rock Hard. 2005. p. 68. ISBN   3-89880-517-4.