This band, NATURAL BORN MACHINE, embodies most of the things I love about Melodic Hard Rock. Alberto Rigoni is an exceptional bass player; solid without being monotonous, and flashy, without being TOO much to appreciate. The remainder of the band are all equally adept with their respective instruments. Guitarist Alessio "Lex" Tricarico (BAD AS), vocalist David Readman (PINK CREAM 69) and drummer Denis "Denzy" Novello (ARDITYON) were all obviously hand-picked by Rigoni to flesh out the lineup. The band was formed in 2019, and "Human" was released on the 3^rd of December 2020.

Jumping into the record, the song "Moonchild" has the feel of a solid opening track. Readman's vocal work has a sound not unlike that of early Graham Bonnett (which you will never hear me complain about), with a David Coverdale-like swagger to it, as well. Musically speaking, the song is an outstanding effort... to a point. After the second chorus, the song has a lead in, with a bit of a rhythmic change, into a guitar solo. Tricarico's playing was very nice; melodic, with some incredible fills (specifically after the first chorus) and amazing riff work, but with the solo, he chooses to play 837 notes (well, maybe not QUITE that many), where eight would have sufficed. I've heard it many times in the past, where a guitarist wishes to blaze a solo; and in most cases, including this one, it is more a detriment to the song than an asset. The songwriting, lyrically, is average at best, also detracting from the overall presentation of the song.

"Machine" picks up nicely from there, with some hard driving bass work through the verses, as well as some nice vocal harmony. Readman is really on his game on this track and the lyrical work here is also considerably better than its predecessor. Tricarico actually slows down his guitar solo in this song, while still retaining some of the flashiness. This song is a marked improvement, to my ears, and left me wondering why it couldn't have sufficed as the opener. The remainder of the record is spotty, starting with the third track, "Won't Be Friends", and its abysmal writing, both musically and lyrically speaking, and continuing on to the end of the album. One bright spot of note is the song "Reborn", which has an early RAINBOW feel about it.

There are some great moments to be had here, but they are too few and far between. These guys have chops, in bunches; and one day, they will kill it. Just not quite yet.