Riot
Born In America

The legend continues. Riot released their fifth, spectacular studio album in '83 with a title that's quite revealing: "Born in America". The group led by Reale, not satisfied with having already recorded four excellent albums (masterpieces, to tell the truth), also delivers what is their third studio effort in three years, all without losing the fresh compositional and theatrical flair demonstrated since their debut.

As we were saying, a title that says a lot about what will be the album of confirmations: for the lineup (which will remain unchanged for the first time compared to the previous album) and for the band, which churns out a perfect example of early-mid eighties Hard n' Heavy, probably one of the best of this period. "Born in America" is indeed an injection of top-tier American Heavy Metal that will be forcefully shot into your veins, thanks to the usual explosive riffs of the never-too-lauded Mark Reale and the warm, rasping and emotive voice of the late Rhett Forrester.

And so, we find a concentrated dose of primordial American metal in tracks like the earthshaking Heavy Metal Machine (aptly named) or the epic Where Soldiers Rule, opened by that classic gallop in triplets you've heard a million times but never tire of, not to mention the granite and thrilling riffing of Running from the Law, moving on to Devil Woman, a spot-on cover of a '76 track by Cliff Richard and continuing with yet another track with a rampant street attitude titled Gunfighter, also characterized by Reale's hard-rocking textures, in better shape than ever.

Completing the work are what I consider the best songs of the album, namely the title track, You Burn in Me, and Wings of Fire; the first track is a colossal hard rock anthem to the U.S., driven by a classic catchy, well-paced riff and Rhett's rough and raspy tone, while the second (considered by many fans as one of the best tracks of the band's entire career) tells us of a devastating attraction to a woman with open power chords of great impact.

Wings of Fire deserves its own spotlight, arguably the best song of the entire bunch. A guitar arpeggio opens an exciting prelude in which Forrester captivates the listener with his narrative: "[...] The suite of armor shines/Through the ruins of time/I can hear them call [...]". A small pause and then off with the earthquaking verse, a rush of adrenaline that alone is worth the entire album, soaring to great heights with a chorus to sing over and over and over, until the explosive close that leaves only room for great emotions.

I would say there's nothing more to add about this excellent album, except that it is the last studio work concerning the band's Hard n' Heavy period. Following the release of "Born in America", in fact, Riot unfortunately couldn't carve out a deserving slice of the audience; the fan support thus diminished and Reale's group ended up disbanding in a short period of time. Luckily, the guitarist didn't lose heart and a few years later reformed the group in a new Power Metal guise, delivering one of the best albums ever regarding the genre in question.

But that's another story...