Joe Bataan - Riot! (Remastered 2024) (2024) [Hi-Res]

Review by Tony Wilds

Riot! is misnamed. Bataan seems to be milking the success of his two previous albums, but the cow is about empty. Generally lackluster material is not helped by sludgy arrangements and grating horns; two tracks are ruined by a "machine gun" percussion noise that sounds like a stuck optical disc. "My Cloud" is the only song that lives up to the billing of Latin and soul, and it pales in comparison with Bataan's other works. The title track, "It's a Good Feeling (Riot)," is the Fania equivalent of bubblegum. "Hype" would've been a better title for this gratuitous, mediocre album.