Riot Live

I've said this a million times: all good metal bands sound better live. Riot is the latest to prove that principle, taking stuff off the first two albums (Rock City and Narita) and cranking them out at full blast, live at Hammersmith.

Pretty much everything worth hearing off the first 2 albums is here, with the exception, in my opinion, of "Here We Come Again" off Narita. How can we do without the flying tigers and whatever else the lyrics are about? Oh well.

What's really remarkable is how some pretty ordinary late-70s rockish songs are turned into total screaming metal masterpieces here. Songs like "Do it Up" and "Kick Down the Walls" are kinda silly on the studio releases, but here they have a power of their own. Furthermore, "Overdrive" and "Road Racin'" are pretty much speed metal.

The best song on here, though, has to be "Warrior". That's been Riot's theme song since the dawn of time, and they totally shred on this version. Guy Speranza sings his ass off, and Mark Reale's guitar is totally killer. A must-have live album.