Eduardo Rivadavia (aka Ed Rivadavia) was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and by his late teens had already toured the world (and elsewhere), learning four languages on three continents. Having also accepted the holy gospel of rock & roll as his lord and savior, Eduardo became infatuated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and all things heavy, crude, and obnoxious while living in Milan, Italy, during the mid-1980s. At this time, he also made his journalistic debut as sole writer, editor, publisher, and, some would claim, reader of his high school's heavy metal fanzine, earning the scorn of jocks and nerds alike, but uniting the small hardcore music-loving contingent into a frenzied mob that spent countless hours exchanging tapes, talking shop, and getting beat up at concerts. Upon returning home to Brazil, Eduardo resumed a semi-normal existence, sporadically contributing music articles to local papers and magazines while earning his business degree. Finally, after years of obsessive musical fandom and at peace with his distinct lack of musical talent, Eduardo decided the time had come to infiltrate the music industry by the fire escape. He quit his boring corporate job, relocated to America, earned his master's degree while suffering the iniquities of interning for free (anything for rock & roll!), and eventually began working for various record labels, accumulating mountains of records and (seemingly) useless rock trivia in the process. This eventually led him back to writing, and he has regularly contributed articles to multiple websites since 1999, working with many different rock genres but specializing, as always, in his personal hobby: hard rock and heavy metal. To quote from the insightful 'This Is Spinal Tap': "People should be jealous of me...I'm jealous of me...." Eduardo currently resides in Austin, TX, with his wife, two daughters, and far more records, CDs and MP3s than he'll ever have time to listen to.
Eduardo Rivadavia
How Judas Priest Survived the ’80s
Heavy metal has been going strong since the '70s, but if you look purely at the sales figures, the style enjoyed its commercial peak during the '80s.
How Kansas Rebuilt For a Surprise Comeback With ‘Power’
A new decade had humbled the group, which was now divided by both professional and personal differences.
How AC/DC Scored Their First No. 1 With ‘For Those About to Rock’
After 'Back in Black,' this long-germinating LP was more victory lap than breakthrough.
Led Zeppelin Albums Ranked
See how we ranked Led Zeppelin's albums from weakest to strongest.
How Rush Looked Back at a Rise to Stardom on ‘Exit … Stage Left’
This live LP arrived on the heels of their best-selling and arguably definitive studio album, 'Moving Pictures.'
When Billy Idol Updated His Sound on ‘Whiplash Smile’
When this third album arrived, he ranked among the world's most successful and recognizable rock stars.
When Iron Maiden Got Futuristic With ‘Somewhere in Time’
For much of the '80s, they were an unstoppable metal juggernaut. Then this album arrived.
How Triumph Finally Put Everything Together on ‘Allied Forces’
It took what Mike Levine called a potential "career killer" of an album to get to this point.
Triumph Albums Ranked Worst to Best
They claimed a unique spot in the progressive heavy-rock landscape, rising from unheralded upstarts to arena headliners within just a few years.
Van Halen Albums Ranked
See how we rank Van Halen's albums from weakest to strongest.
Why Ratt Reached a Crossroads With ‘Dancing Undercover’
They were facing the first signs that the band's pop-metal utopia would not, in fact, last forever.
How Cinderella Began Their Hair-Metal Fairy Tale With ‘Night Songs’
Cinderella, as much as any band, experienced both sides of a double-edged sword.