The 1970's really begin with this album and The Stooges FUN HOUSE, in the sense that they really bring the "pop" 60's to an end -- chronologially, musically, ideologically -- without an ounce of sentimentality.
Try and find an original vinyl pressing. CBS's super-chintzy CD issue of this detracts mightily from the experience. Absence of the "0:00" track, as Jim notes, but it also uses different cover art and the mastering is terrible.
Ah, that drum machine on "Family Affair" makes that performance even more menacing... as if the lyrics weren't already chilling and hard to take on their own. Contrast this with Shuggie Otis' INSPIRATION INFORMATION, which embraces many of the sounds of RIOT but puts them to utterly different, if still cracked, ends.