Riot
Narita

If I had to make a list of bands that contributed to the shaping of a genre but never had a great following or promotion, it would be quite an impressive list. Exciter, Annihilator, Savatage, Blue Oyster Cult, the first ones that come to mind. But another important group that comes to mind is definitely the Riot, and no, I'm not talking about Quiet Riot, another band often mistakenly confused due to the similarity of the names. Riot was a group founded by singer Mark Reale, a voice far too underrated, and guitarist Peter Bitelli in 1975, and two years later, in 1977, their debut "Rock City" came out, proving to be an excellent album that winked at those heavy metal sounds that would later achieve success in the first half of the '80s. If we want, we can define "Rock City" as a Hard 'N Heavy album, but not in the same vein as Motorhead; rather, Riot's sound was characterized by greater elegance and a pursuit of melody, yet without neglecting the energy typical of the genre, also thanks to Reale's voice.

Hired for a tour with AC/DC and Molly Hatchet, the Riot seemed to be already on the verge of breaking up before entering the studio for recording the second album. Little interest and low attendance at their concerts were two of the many reasons that seemed to have led the New York band to disband. Having struck a deal with Capital Records, "Narita" was released in 1979, an album that finally gave the band an image worthy of itself, with a sound that finally reflected the group's maturity, a simple and direct heavy metal, without too many frills, a maturity that would emerge even more sharply in the subsequent "Fire Down Under." But let's take it slow.

It's impossible to find a single weak point in this album. If we really want to be picky, the Achilles' heel of this band has always been the album covers featuring a seal, the group's mascot named Johnny, which were mostly unsuitable for the quality of songs the group proposed in each of its albums. Tracks like "49er," where Speranza not only proves to have a great voice but knows how to use it well, the opener "Waiting For The Taking," or even the energetic Titletrack, completely instrumental, only sweep away any doubts we might have had about these guys' talent, who released this masterpiece way back in 1977. To mention other truly splendid songs, it's impossible not to mention "Do It Up," endowed with choruses that almost seem to anticicpate the AOR phenomenon but without falling into the banal, and the cover of "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, where a masterful drum takes command of the rest of the band.

Too much, too much, and still too much, the Riot have been, and still are, underrated, and to think that albums of this caliber should find their rightful place alongside other historic releases, but unfortunately, that is not the case. And to say that with the subsequent "Fire Down Under," Capitol Records refused to release it because it was not considered good enough! Still active years after the release of this gem, the Riot continues to release albums, showing that they have never forgotten their origins, and even though they are followed by few souls, their persistence is far from dying. As the saying goes, few but good.