Featuring ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Brad Gillis and former Montrose keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald, Night Ranger was one of the most popular mainstream hard rock bands of the mid-'80s. The group formed in the early '80s in San Francisco; in addition to Gillis and Fitzgerald, the members included Jack Blades (vocals, bass), Jeff Watson (guitar), and Kelly Keagy (drums). After a few local gigs, promoter Bill Graham managed to get them supporting slots on Judas Priest, Santana, and Doobie Brothers concerts. Night Ranger's first album, Dawn Patrol (1982), reached number 38 on the U.S. charts, yet it was 1983's Midnight Madness that established the band as a commercial force. Featuring the AOR hit "(You Can Still) Rock in America" and the number five single "Sister Christian," the record peaked at number 15 and sold over a million copies. 1985's 7 Wishes was just as successful, reaching number ten on the charts. Night Ranger's audience began to diminish after 1987's Big Life. Fitzgerald left the following year and the band released their last album, Man in Motion, which failed to go gold or spawn any Top 40 singles. Night Ranger broke up the next year. Jack Blades joined the supergroup Damn Yankees, which also featured Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw. A reunited Night Ranger returned in 1998 with Seven.

Dawn Patrol - 1982

Unlike many of their pop-metal contemporaries, Night Ranger's early work has aged quite well, and this excellent 1982 debut is a well-kept secret of the genre. Dripping with hooks and irresistible choruses, "Don't Tell Me You Love Me," "Sing Me Away," and "Young Girl in Love" are simply outstanding songs. Anyone doubting the band's ability to rock out need only listen to the vicious bursts of "Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight" and "Play Rough." And despite offering the mandatory power ballad in "Call My Name" (which is actually quite good), the band rarely allow the album's intensity level to lag. - Ed Rivadavia

01 - (4:27) Don't Tell Me You Love Me
02 - (4:15) Sing Me Away
03 - (4:18) At Night She Sleeps
04 - (3:49) Call My Name
05 - (4:30) Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight
06 - (3:26) Can't Find Me A Thrill
07 - (3:39) Young Girl In Love
08 - (4:21) Play Rough
09 - (3:52) Penny
10 - (4:37) Night Ranger

Midnight Madness - 1983

Night Ranger's second album Midnight Madness may not have been as consistent as their debut, but it did spawn the band's biggest hit, "Sister Christian." While it served as their commercial breakthrough, the infamous power ballad also relegated the group to "one-hit wonder" status while fueling their reputation as being "too soft" for a metal band. But as can be seen by the album's frenetic opener "(You can Still) Rock in America," Night Ranger actually rocked as hard as any of their pop-metal contemporaries, and Midnight Madness offers a number of memorable melodic rockers like "Rumours in the Air," "When You close Your Eyes," and "Why does Love Have to Change" as well. - Ed Rivadavia

1 - (4:18) You Can Still Rock In America
2 - (4:36) Rumours In The Air
3 - (3:52) Why Does Love Have To Change
4 - (5:08) Sister Christian
5 - (5:04) Touch Of Madness
6 - (4:47) Passion Play
7 - (4:19) When You Close Your Eyes
8 - (4:16) Chippin' Away
9 - (3:26) Let Him Run

7 Wishes - 1985

Never understood why the boys dubbed their third record 7 Wishes and not 3 Wishes (maybe cause Shooting Star snagged the idea first); whatever the case, the title track, concerning a magic lamb, burns down one side and up the other. Same goes for heavy smoker "Interstate Love Affair," a tune previewed in Teachers (They just don't write 'em like that anymore). "Four in the Morning" (original title "I Can't Take It No More") contains some of Blades' sharpest whiskey pontificating: "Tonight, tonight, tonight, this boy needs to rock!" At the end you get "Goodbye," a beautiful memory-go-round of bitterness and sweetness. Blades reverts back to a school boy until the dynamic Gillis/Watson duo steps in trading scorching solos like the sun bursting through a hangover: "And all this could be such a dream so it seems/I was never much good at goodbye." Amen. - Doug Stone

01 - (4:56) Seven Wishes
02 - (4:14) Faces
03 - (3:57) Four In The Morning
04 - (4:43) I Need A Woman
05 - (4:16) Sentimental Street
06 - (4:02) This Boy Needs To Rock
07 - (4:17) I Will Follow You
08 - (3:17) Interstate Love Affair
09 - (4:37) Night Machine
10 - (4:21) Goodbye

Big Life - 1987

Night Ranger was riding high on the success of Midnight Madness and Seven Wishes, a pair of albums that actually brought the arena rockers into arenas. They had stardom and they knew they wanted to keep the Big Life - which is exactly why their 1987 follow-up to Seven Wishes sounds so stilted. In many ways, the record's first single encapsulates what was wrong with the album. Functioning as both the lead single and the theme to the Michael J. Fox yuppie comedy, "The Secret of My Success" found Night Ranger turning down the metal in favor of glossy, radio-ready pop hooks that never quite hooked. It's not that Night Ranger were strangers to radio-friendly pop - after all, this is the band that wrote the classic "Sister Christian" - but the formula outweighed the inspiration and melodies this time around. Audiences could sense it, too. Granted, the public's taste was beginning to shift to the harder rock of Guns N' Roses and the alt-rock of U2 and R.E.M., but pop-metal was still the name of the game in 1987, thanks to Def Leppard and Whitesnake. Thing is, Night Ranger didn't have the hooks in either the rocker or ballad department on Big Life, and the respective singles ("The Secret of My Success," "Hearts Away") flopped along with the rest of the album. Though they later rebounded artistically, such a poor performance marked the end of Night Ranger's time as hitmakers. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine

1 - (5:22) Big Life
2 - (4:16) Color Of Your Smile
3 - (4:31) Love Is Standing Near
4 - (6:00) Rain Comes Crashing Down
5 - (4:31) The Secret Of My Success
6 - (4:26) Carry On
7 - (4:46) Better Let It Go
8 - (4:07) I Know Tonight
9 - (5:02) Hearts Away

Man In Motion - 1988

01 - (4:28) Man In Motion
02 - (4:13) Reason To Be
03 - (4:45) Don't Start Thinking (I'm Alone Tonight)
04 - (4:08) Love Shot Me Down
05 - (4:43) Restless Kind
06 - (5:21) Halfway To The Sun
07 - (4:23) Here She Comes Again
08 - (4:15) Right On You
09 - (4:36) Kiss Me Where It Hurts
10 - (4:51) I Did It For Love
11 - (4:42) Woman In Love

Night Ranger's Greatest Hits - 1989

Similar to AOR rockers Styx, Journey, and REO Speedwagon, Night Ranger yielded the same electric guitar wallop via Jeff Watson and Brad Gillis and sported a high-powered lead singer in the likes of Jack Blades. Since their albums only contained a small amount of strong material, Night Ranger's Greatest Hits is the essential one-stop for all of this band's best work. With half of these songs finding their way to Billboard's Top 40, it's evident that Night Ranger did produce some likeable rock & roll. Highlighted by "Sister Christian," the band's one-part-ballad, two-parts-guitar-throttle claim to fame, along with the amusing pretentiousness of "Sentimental Street," this compilation does have its moments. The bouncy rock tempo of "Goodbye" towed along by some skillful electric guitar playing makes this an avid standout. Even the Sammy Hagar-sounding "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" still holds up, as does the glossy melody that maneuvers its way through "When You Close Your Eyes." "Four in the Morning" follows suit with its systematic chords and rollicking chorus, and Blades pulls no punches on "The Secret to My Success" from the movie of the same name. This is truly the only Night Ranger album one will ever need. - Mike DeGagne

01 - (4:17) You Can Still Rock In America
02 - (4:12) Sing Me Away
03 - (4:21) Goodbye
04 - (4:20) When You Close Your Eyes
05 - (5:04) Sister Christian
06 - (4:24) Don't Tell Me You Love Me
07 - (4:13) Sentimental Street
08 - (4:30) The Secret Of My Success
09 - (4:42) Restless Kind
10 - (3:54) Four In The Morning
11 - (4:27) Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight
12 - (4:33) Rumours In The Air

Live In Japan - 1990

Here it is: the Spinal Tap-like, end-of-career live album recorded on that final Japanese tour. Everybody's done it, and Night Ranger certainly doesn't break the mold with this efficient greatest-hits set. By spanning their entire '80s career and containing virtually every major hit ("Sister Christian," "Man in Motion," "Don't tell me You Love Me"), the album proves that this much-maligned group's music has actually aged better than that of many of their peers. The sound is crystal-clear, the backing harmonies flawless, and the overall ambience about as "live"-sounding as a high-tech studio, but then that's the case with most live albums. - Ed Rivadavia

01 - (5:21) Touch Of Madness [Live]
02 - (4:40) When You Close Your Eyes [Live]
03 - (4:18) Man In Motion [Live]
04 - (5:08) Don't Start Thinking [Live]
05 - (3:24) Let Him Run [Live]
06 - (3:00) Goodbye [Live]
07 - (4:21) Reason To Be [Live]
08 - (3:53) Four In The Morning [Live]
09 - (5:22) Sister Christian [Live]
10 - (6:52) Don't Tell Me You Love Me [Live]
11 - (5:32) Halfway To The Sun [Live]
12 - (4:56) You Can Still Rock In America [Live]

Millennium Collection: The Best Of Night Ranger - 2000

The Best of Night Ranger: The Millennium Collection delivers 11 of the group's pop-metal and power-ballad hits, including the Top Ten singles "Sister Christian" and "Sentimental Street" and the Top 20 hits "Goodbye," "Four in the Morning," and "When You Close Your Eyes." Album rock radio staples like "Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight," "(You Can Still) Rock in America," and "I Did it For Love" round out this solid, entertaining collection from one of the '80s most popular hard rock bands. - Heather Phares

01 - (5:06) Sister Christian
02 - (4:26) Don't Tell Me You Love Me
03 - (4:16) Sing Me Away
04 - (4:33) Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight
05 - (4:19) You Can Still Rock In America
06 - (4:19) When You Close Your Eyes
07 - (4:16) Sentimental Street
08 - (3:57) Four In The Morning
09 - (4:24) Goodbye
10 - (4:33) Secret Of My Success
11 - (4:49) I Did It For Love