MR

listening to the new Night Ranger, only half way thru and if the 2nd half of the cd is even close to the first half ,Night Ranger fans are going to love this cd. Lots of hooks, lots of classic Night Ranger guitar licks .....sounds great.

It's a classic.

I'm loving it. They sound like 20/30 year olds. Very aggressive, fun, very much their style. It all fits very well and the guitar playing is far better than I thought it would be. I've sort of been a sideline NR fan for a long, long time now after being a huge fan in the 80's. This gives me that feeling I had back then.

Andrew wrote:It's a classic.

The soundbytes I`ve heard sound really good, looking forward to the review, when might that be?

Real rock fan wrote:

Andrew wrote:It's a classic.

The soundbytes I`ve heard sound really good, looking forward to the review, when might that be?

VERY soon....can you re-size your avatar?

http://pitriff.com/news/classic-metal/i ... california


Night Ranger
SOMEWHERE IN CALIFORNIA

Many of you are too young to remember it, but there was a time when traditional rock music dominated the radio, and the songs were just good. I'm talking about the early to mid 80s timeframe. Back in those days, it was possible to listen to a radio station all day long without hearing a song that made you want to gouge your ears out. So many bands, regardless of if their music stood the test of time or not now, would come on the radio and just have you rockin' out. You had your Journey, Foreigner, Styx, REO Speedwagon and the like all releasing the best music of their careers. Bands like Loverboy had significant time at the top, and even bands that went on to totally suck, like Starship, put out some really good music as they transitioned from a stoner band to a horrible pop entity. That period of the 80s was the period where the dirty hard rock of the 70s (think Zeppelin) was synthesized a bit and made accessible for all. One band that profited greatly from that era was Night Ranger. When they came out, they were as close to a metal band as a band could be without truly going to that level. Had DAWN PATROL come out a year later, they certainly would have been roped into the hair metal genre as it was so much heavier than bands like Autograph who proudly began that genre with below average music.

Unlike all of those mentioned above except for Loverboy, Night Ranger didn't have a long shelf life. Sure, they survived, and yes, they did put out some great music after their prime...but ultimately, their span consisted of DAWN PATROL, MIDNIGHT MADNESS and SEVEN WISHES. After that, they had multiple variations of the band and experimented stylistically with varying levels of non-success. For me, I thought it was over with 2008's dismal HOLE IN THE SUN; an album that found Night Ranger discovering grunge a decade after the rest of the world did.

So, we now have SOMEWHERE IN CALIFORNIA; a surprisingly solid throwback album to the era of Night Ranger before they cashed in at the expense of their integrity (the exact moment - the song "Secret Of My Success" from the wretched movie of the same name). Three of the four "main" members of the original band are here, with Jeff Watson replaced by guitarist Joel Hoekstra and Fitz Fitzgerald being replaced by keyboardist Eric Levy. What Night Ranger has done here is uptuned from the previous record and once again written songs with big hooks, a lot of arena-sounding guitars, and a hint of keyboard to keep the songs from being soft metal anthems. For the most part, it's working here. Songs like "Follow Your Heart" are anthemic, much like you would remember a song like "Sing Me Away" to be. The vocal harmonies between singers Kelly Keagy and Jack Blades are as strong now as when they first came out, and the songwriting is surprisingly good. What's nice about this release is that, much like their classic era, they have interspersed a few ballads with some hard rockers. This is a band that clearly had the same touch that bands like Journey did for creating memorable ballads, as was evidenced by songs like "Goodbye", "Sentimental Street" and "Sister Christian". Hearing new songs like "Time Of Our Lives" makes it clear that the creative gift is still there for ballads.

While writing touching songs is important for this band, clearly it's when they rock that they keep their fans. There's some really good rockers here. "Growing Up In California" and "No Time To Lose Ya" are excellent, steady rockers that feature Hoekstra and fellow guitarist Brad Gillis letting lose some potent leads and rhythms. The thick, slide-like intro of "Live For Today" is some of the best guitar work on the entire album, which fits perfect with this barroom-like mid-tempo rocker. Overall, this album is really solid.

PITRIFF RATING - 85/100 - I didn't really hit on the deficiencies of this release because, overall, this is far more solid than Night Ranger has been in years. It's not perfect, but it's welcomed (especially in the wake of that dreadfully pompous and average Journey album). Night Ranger will never return to headlining mid-sized venues again, but that doesn't mean that they can't still write the kind of music that got them there in the first place. SOMEWHERE IN CALIFORNIA is a damn fine album. Chris Akin

Andrew wrote:

Real rock fan wrote:

Andrew wrote:It's a classic.

The soundbytes I`ve heard sound really good, looking forward to the review, when might that be?

VERY soon....can you re-size your avatar?

Can you?

yulog wrote:listening to the new Night Ranger, only half way thru and if the 2nd half of the cd is even close to the first half ,Night Ranger fans are going to love this cd. Lots of hooks, lots of classic Night Ranger guitar licks .....sounds great.

That's cool to hear. I haven't heard it yet, but was disappointed by the title track/video. The Pitriff review makes me want to pick it up - Dawn Patrol remains a desert island record for me.

Incidentally, the review is also thoughtful - someone must have peed in his wheaties before he wrote the Eclipse review. Not because of the rating itself, but because it was such a half-a$$ed hackjob compared to the NR effort.

This is the best record ANY melodic rock band has written in YEARS. Seriously.

Just finished the 2nd half of this cd and DAMN. This is a great cd "say it with love" is just fantastic. The last song "LA no name" is an acoustic guitar gem , i just love what they did with this instrumental.

I'm telling ya, this record would have been multi-platinum anytime in the '80's. At least they haven't forgotten their signature sound.

Seven Wishes wrote:This is the best record ANY melodic rock band has written in YEARS. Seriously.

It's a good album but I can think of several other albums over the last 10 years or so that I like better.

Me too, but it's ONE of the best I've heard in years. That's all.

Seven Wishes wrote:Me too, but it's ONE of the best I've heard in years. That's all.

Eclipse blows it away.

Rick wrote:

Seven Wishes wrote:Me too, but it's ONE of the best I've heard in years. That's all.

Eclipse blows it away.

They are about equal for me.

Only from a sonic perspective, IMHO.

If Eclipse hadn't wasted innumerable opportunities for rousing, harmony-laden, powerul choruses and a couple of hooks, it WOULD have warranted a 100. I can only go to about 80 or so.

Seven Wishes wrote:Only from a sonic perspective, IMHO.

If Eclipse hadn't wasted innumerable opportunities for rousing, harmony-laden, powerul choruses and a couple of hooks, it WOULD have warranted a 100. I can only go to about 80 or so.

I'm just fucking around. I haven't even heard the new NR record. Going to pick it up though. You're so diplomatic, man. Good on you.

Eclipse just doesn't have anything memorable on it... I don't feel the urge to listen to it at all... the songs have no oomph... no zing... no fun...

Somewhere In California is full of well written songs that I'm finding I actually want to listen to again and again...


Neal got "his" way, and Journey lost theirs...

Is this on iTunes? I'm too lazy to search now. I thought that video Andrew posted a few weeks back was atrocious, but maybe the album's better?

conversationpc wrote:

Seven Wishes wrote:This is the best record ANY melodic rock band has written in YEARS. Seriously.

It's a good album but I can think of several other albums over the last 10 years or so that I like better.

He said years not decades.

slucero wrote:Eclipse just doesn't have anything memorable on it... I don't feel the urge to listen to it at all... the songs have no oomph... no zing... no fun...

Somewhere In California is full of well written songs that I'm finding I actually want to listen to again and again...


Neal got "his" way, and Journey lost theirs...

Zing!

Andrew wrote:

Real rock fan wrote:

Andrew wrote:It's a classic.

The soundbytes I`ve heard sound really good, looking forward to the review, when might that be?

VERY soon....can you re-size your avatar?

I`ve took it off as I don`t know how to resize.

Seven Wishes wrote:This is the best record ANY melodic rock band has written in YEARS. Seriously.

Seriously...what drugs are you taking and more importantly, can you send me some. Seriously, I will PM you mu addy. lately, you are fucking "out there."

Jeezus Yulie! That AV? Disturbing as hell, totally creeps me out.

Andrew wrote:It's a classic.

Here we go again.

Seven Wishes wrote:Only from a sonic perspective, IMHO.

If Eclipse hadn't wasted innumerable opportunities for rousing, harmony-laden, powerul choruses and a couple of hooks, it WOULD have warranted a 100. I can only go to about 80 or so.

I'm still trying to find 20 points to get Eclipse up from a 60, which is the most I could give that piece of rat dung. Worst album from Journey, ever....



However, back to Night Ranger...I'm listening to SIC right now, and I'm halfway through...and I'm blown away. Each song feels like a mid-80s NR song....

strangegrey wrote:

Seven Wishes wrote:Only from a sonic perspective, IMHO.

If Eclipse hadn't wasted innumerable opportunities for rousing, harmony-laden, powerul choruses and a couple of hooks, it WOULD have warranted a 100. I can only go to about 80 or so.

I'm still trying to find 20 points to get Eclipse up from a 60, which is the most I could give that piece of rat dung. Worst album from Journey, ever....


However, back to Night Ranger...I'm listening to SIC right now, and I'm halfway through...and I'm blown away. Each song feels like a mid-80s NR song....

Can't agree with ya, but you won't be surprised. I think your dislike of Arnie boy is ruining Journey music for you. Just close your eyes and
try and see the stay puft marshmellow man when the music plays. Maybe a couple bong hits will help.

steveo777 wrote:Can't agree with ya, but you won't be surprised. I think your dislike of Arnie boy is ruining Journey music for you. Just close your eyes and
try and see the stay puft marshmellow man when the music plays. Maybe a couple bong hits will help.

Look at my recent posts regarding eclipse...you'll see that i think Arnel is the one shining aspect of eclipse. He's not the reason why Eclipse is dogshit....in fact, he's the one factor keeping in from being worse!!! It's the songs....they suck.

This is actually the type of album I envisioned Neal doing when he talked about rocking harder. Lay It On Me had me checking to make sure I hadn't loaded some early Def Leppard.
Not a bad album at all.

strangegrey wrote:

steveo777 wrote:Can't agree with ya, but you won't be surprised. I think your dislike of Arnie boy is ruining Journey music for you. Just close your eyes and
try and see the stay puft marshmellow man when the music plays. Maybe a couple bong hits will help.

Look at my recent posts regarding eclipse...you'll see that i think Arnel is the one shining aspect of eclipse. He's not the reason why Eclipse is dogshit....in fact, he's the one factor keeping in from being worse!!! It's the songs....they suck.

Ok, just read another of your posts.. Your opinion of AP must have changed, as I remember you being one of his detractors in the past.
I was mostly just giving you shit anyways. It's how we roll around here.