September 16th, 2022 - Roccapulco City

 

Alright my friends... the Meista here pairing another great album to start off the weekend the right way!  I'm going with the mighty Riot and their debut studio album, "Rock City" along with a fruity and crushable Roccapulco Pineapple Orange Mimosa Wheat Ale from Uinta Brewing Company!   Hell yeah!

Album Info:

• Artist: Riot
• Title: "Rock City"
• Recorded: November 1976 through June 1977 at Big Apple Recording Studio in New York City, New York
• Release date: September 1977 (1st studio album by Riot)
• Record company: Fire Sign Records / Metal Blade Records (re-release)
• Production: Steve Loeb, Billy Arnell, and Richard Alexander
• Album cover art: Steven Weiss
• Personnel: Peter Bitelli (drums), Phil Feit (bass), Jimmy Iommi (bass), Lou Kouvaris (guitars), Mark Reale (guitars), and Guy Speranza (lead vocals)
• Musical style: Heavy metal, hard rock
• Sound: "Rock City" is just so very, very solid... wonderfully straight-forward hard rockin' goodness!  Speranza's amazing vocals on perfectly matched to a tapestry of killer tunes!  The dual guitar work of Reale and Kouvaris is a thing of beauty... intricate, yet unobtrusive playing, rich tones, and killer hooks!  And Bitelli, Feit, and Iommi bring the rhythm hammer down!
• Major themes: Rebellion, violence, power, passion, life and death, rock and roll, self-reliance, etc.
• Tracks:

1. "Desperation"
2. "Warrior"
3. "Rock City"
4. "Overdrive"
5. "Angel"
6. "Tokyo Rose"
7. "Heart Of Fire"
8. "Gypsy Queen"
9. "This Is What I Get"

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Uinta Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://uintabrewing.com/
• Brew: Roccapulco Pineapple Orange Mimosa Wheat Ale
• Style: Wheat Ale / Fruited Ale
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 4.5%
• IBUs: 20
• Ingredients: 2-Row, Pilsner, and Wheat malts with Cascade hops, and pineapple and orange
• Pour: The Roccapulco pours a hazy golden-yellow with a very thin, eggshell white head that dissipates to a thin film with only trace lacing.
• Nose: The nose is fruity, and sweet.  There are aromas of freshly cut pineapple, orange juice and zest, lemon zest, freshly baked wheat bread, crackery biscuit, and sweet caramel.
• Taste: The taste of the Roccapulco follows the nose with lots of fruity, grainy, slightly tart, and zesty flavors.  There are notes of fresh pineapple, orange juice and zest, tangerine, light lemon juice and zest, cracked wheat, and light caramel/toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Light-bodied with good carbonation, the mouthfeel is very crisp, slightly tart, yet smooth with a dry, clean, yet zesty finish.

Overall pairing: The fruity and very crushable and drinkable tastiness of the Roccapulco is perfect for an evening of rocking the hell out to the fiery goodness that is the mighty Riot!  Those bright, fruity flavors are great for the soaring guitars while the malty backbone goes great with the heavy bass and drums as well as the tight musicianship and the hard rock sensibility and inventiveness.  Man, this album is just plain bad-ass rock and roll from start to finish... a real joy to listen to with a frosty brew! 

Cheers!!  Rock on!!

And speaking of Riot, I interviewed the very cool guitarist Rick Ventura recently... you can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jerajizoow.  He joined Riot after the release of "Rock City".