the album was produced and mixed by david bendeth. lead vocalist hayley williams, explained the album was titled "riot!" because, "for us, the title ‘"riot!"’ literally means an unbridled outburst of emotions. when we were writing, it seemed like our thoughts and emotions were coming out so fast that we couldn't control them. it felt like there was a riot within us. so the album takes our passion to a new level; it’s just all raw energy." williams also commented on the band's evolution with the album, stating "i think our intention for the first record would have been for it to be everything that "riot!" is, but there wasn’t any time to make that record back then."