CD Review: Night Ranger – High Road

CD Review: Night Ranger – High Road
Frontiers Records
All Access Rating: B+

Night Ranger - High Road 2014

Beauty and pathos were found among the ruins of the crumbling, doleful piano littering the coming-of-age power ballad "Sister Christian," Kelly Keagy's touching ode to his younger sibling.

Then, when the song took flight, it soared on wings of big guitars and a shining chorus of cautious hope. Along with it rose Night Ranger's career arc, scaling heights that may have seemed impossible at one time to Jack Blades and company. But, there was a catch.

Increasingly seen as somewhat soft and their All-American image squeaky clean, as Night Ranger's appeal grew among those of more conservative and family-friendly tastes, the memory of hot-blooded hard-rock anthems like "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" began to fade for some. That's the "deal with the devil" bands like Night Ranger made in the '80s, as fans wanting something edgier and darker gradually drifted away.

Of course, diehard followers knew better. Still, ever since then, it seems these good ol' boys of arena-rock bombast have walked a fine line between trying to restore their reputation as a full-throttle, fiery rock band with a signature double-barreled, fiery guitar attack and pleasing those who melt for earnest, heartfelt pop balladry. On their latest record, High Road, they're still to make everybody happy.

And they should be overjoyed at what the Frontiers Records release High Road has in store for them, as crunchy, pulse-pounding, melodic rockers such as "X Generation," "I'm Coming Home" and "Hang On" slam forward with confidence born of past successes and a sense that they damn well know what they're doing, planting a bevy of brilliant hooks in the furrows of each track and the combination of guitarists Brad Gillis and Joel Hoekstra firing off sizzling, screaming leads at will.

And they've penned the ultimate summer driving anthem of 2014 with an exuberant, sunny title track that tastes freedom as Night Ranger hauls ass to the desert to get away from it all, the song a heady, infectious anthem that worships the sun and is an almost perfect pop-rock concoction. Aside from these examples, there's a sense in listening to High Road that Night Ranger hasn't really progressed or improved its formula, as the soul-baring "Don't Live Here Anymore," while sincere and open, seems trite and the somber "Only For You Only" follows the same well-worn trajectory and song structure of "Sister Christian."

Nevertheless, High Road is, at heart, a good, rollicking rock 'n' roll record, one meant to be played loud as the road underneath you rolls by. Get in the car, and take off on Night Ranger's High Road, leaving your cares behind. It'll feel like the '80s never went away.
– Peter Lindblad

Night Ranger taking the 'High Road'

New album from arena-rock veterans due out June 10

Night Ranger 2014
Photo by Grady Brannan

Sister Christian is just a memory for Night Ranger. Now, the arena-rock stalwarts are taking the High Road. 

Just announced today, Night Ranger has confirmed a June 10 North American release date for a new studio album they produced themselves called High Road, to be released via Frontiers Records. 

Of the new album, frontman and bassist Jack Blades, also the band's main songwriter, remarked, "It's almost summer and a great time to take a trip down the High Road! Our new record features classic Night Ranger feel-good, high-energy, kick-ass rock 'n' roll. We can't wait for our fans to hear."

Chiming in, drummer/singer Kelly Keagy, "We're so proud of this new record and excited to get back on the road to bring the new music to our fans."

Click here to check out an EPK on the making of the album.

Night Ranger - High Road 2014

Available in two formats - a standard CD version and a deluxe version that includes two bonus tracks and a DVD on the making of High Road that also features video clips - High Road can be pre-ordered now at Amazon as the standard version here and as the deluxe version here. 

This year, Night Ranger, best known for hits like "Sister Christian," "(You Can Still) Rock in America" and "Don't Tell Me You Love Me," will be touring North America and the rest of the world. 

The band consists of Blades, Keagy, lead and rhythm guitarists Brad Gillis and Joel Hoekstra and keyboardist Eric Levy.

For more information, visit www.nightranger.com and www.frontiers.it

Here's the track listing for High Road:

1. High Road

2. Knock Knock Never Stop

3. Rollin' On

4. Don't Live Here Any More

5. I'm Coming Home

6. X Generation

7. Only For You Only

8. Hang On

9. St. Bartholomew

10. Brothers

11. L.A. No Name

12. The Mountain Song*

*only available on the deluxe edition.

DVD Review: Ozzy Osbourne - Speak of the Devil

DVD Review: Ozzy Osbourne - Speak of the Devil

Eagle Vision

All Access Review: A-

Ozzy Osbourne - Speak of the Devil 2012

Rudy Sarzo writes in the photo-filled booklet that accompanies “Speak of the Devil” of Ozzy’s “fragile mental state” as the “Diary of a Madman” tour soldiered on in the aftermath of Randy Rhoads’ unthinkable death. That old saw about how “the show must go on” meant as much to a distraught Ozzy in his time of mourning as it ever did for any entertainer down through history, and Sarzo, Ozzy’s bassist at the time, shudders to think how the singer would have reacted had his traveling circus been shut down.

Desperate for the warm, sympathetic embrace of thousands of rabid fans, Ozzy and his carnival of the damned rolled into Irvine Meadows, California, on June 12, 1982, after an understandable delay and held a head-banging Irish wake for the virtuoso guitarist, slamming Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” “Children of the Grave” and the encore “Paranoid” to the wall after ripping the throat out of a slew of Ozzy’s solo hits. Now out on DVD, with audio restored and remastered with crystal – perhaps even unnatural – digital clarity, this is more than just a historical document of an electrifying performance from one of metal’s legendary front men. As he pounds his chest during a blazing rendition of “Crazy Train” – with Rhoads’ replacement, the underrated Brad Gillis, hungrily tearing through the song’s familiar riffs and manhandling its scorching leads – or somewhat clumsily executes one of his exuberant frog jumps, Ozzy, clapping away with arms raised, makes a grim reaper-defying gesture here as he drinks in the healing elixir of rock ‘n’ roll, as trite as that sounds. Ozzy is born again, his rebirth a devilishly delightful rock ‘n’ roll spectacle.

And it takes place while he’s surrounded by a really cool medieval castle for a stage and all the smoke, fire and pulsating multi-colored lights that rock ‘n’ roll fantasies are made of – plus a laser-lit bat that flies overhead during Ozzy’s dramatic entrance. Visually, though awfully dark on occasion, “Speak of the Devil” is filmed with professional sensibilities, combining expansive faraway shots and close-ups that often focus on the careening, razor-sharp musicianship and clenched-teeth intensity of Sarzo and Gillis during marauding, energetic romps through “Over the Mountains,” “Steal Away (The Night),” “I Don’t Know,” and “Flying High Again.” When, in a moment of unscripted playfulness, Ozzy bites into Gillis’ head and threatens to bash his skull as he grinds away during a blistering “Suicide Solution” solo, the camera frames the moment artfully, just as it does when Ozzy welcomes Gillis to the band with a big bear hug while the new guy shreds “Mr. Crowley.”

All of Ozzy’s demented, crowd-baiting antics are on display, as the comically ghoulish dwarf mascot “Ronnie” is hung during an otherwise lovely and wistful reading of “Goodbye to Romance.” Later, before launching into “Paranoid,” Ozzy slips on a glove that shoots fireworks out of its fingers. And the staging is absurdly massive and gloriously tone-deaf to fading calls for rock to be less ostentatious. Up high in one of the fortress’s balconies is hooded keyboardist Don Airey, whose regret-tinged piano colors the eco-friendly, peace-loving “Revelation (Mother Earth)” with all-too-human expressions of sadness, while his sinister intro to “Mr. Crowley” is pure horror-movie magic. On the staircase that serves as a drum riser, Tommy Aldridge pounds the night away, throwing the sticks aside and using only his hands in the midst of a frenzied drum solo midway through the show.

Everybody gets their turn in the spotlight on “Speak of the Devil,” and if there were any extras – maybe a featurette on the tour’s outlandish theatricality, perhaps some interviews with Ozzy or any of his band mates to give context to the event (Sarzo’s emotional insider’s perspective in the accompanying booklet shining some light on the inner workings of Ozzy’s crew), or just a smattering of behind-the-scenes footage – this DVD would be absolutely essential. As it is, “Speak of the Devil” is a captivating snapshot of a time when Ozzy was on the verge of going off the rails but somehow managed to keep the train rolling.

-            Peter Lindblad