Don’t Let Up by Night Ranger (Frontiers Music Srl)

Don’t Let Up by Night Ranger (Frontiers Music Srl)

Night Ranger just may be best known for their 80’s smash hits Sister Christian and Don’t Tell Me You Love Me, but this present day and age certainly finds a classic band at their very height of their creative energies. A fantastic live CD/DVD set was unleashed recently entitled 35 Years And A Night In Chicago and within an instant Night Ranger has returned with a brand spanking new collection of hard rock and roll anthems. Don’t Let Up is Night Ranger’s 12th magnum opus, jam-packed to the brim with timeless songs that could reverberate all over the radio airwaves. For the many fans who have keeping up with Night Ranger as of late, Jack Blades and Company has presented the world with solid current releases such as Somewhere In California (2011) and High Road (2014) – and now with the unveiling of Don’t Let Up, Night Ranger has revved up what is arguable the very best album of a brilliant and high speed career. Fans who swear by the standard favorites such as Dawn Patrol and Midnight Madness are in for a colossal treat when encountering the 11 raging cuts Don’t Let Up has to offer the world at large.

Don’t Let Up begins with the dynamic Somehow Someway, instantly catapulting longtime fans into the stratosphere with a wondrously memorable should-be hit single. Running Out Of Time contains a raging sense of urgency that will tingle the senses as the lyrics proclaim “they say I’m the Jedi of fools.” Truth then envelopes your world with its introspective sentiments and intensive melodies sweeping into the heart of the matter while “standing alone in the doorway of life.” Day And Night is sure to ripping with dirty grooves that will make you want to raise your fist in the air and wildly shake it all over. And then the glorious title track Don’t Let Up arrives –a song that compares extremely well with the timeless Night Ranger classics the die hard fans all know and love.

The bar room and honky tonk sounds of (I Won’t Be Your) Fool Again channels all that is rebellious in good old fashion rock and roll – complete with a Mick Jagger/Rolling Stones-like swagger rendering this one a standout. Say What You Want rips and roars through your speakers with an all-out ferocity. We Can Work It Out is Night Ranger at their Americana best, showing another side to their vast and ambitious sound. Comfort Me once again displays Night Ranger’s knack for delivering an instantly memorable song. Then it’s time to meet up with and experience the “stone cold lover” known as Jamie, a song destined to tantalize and bewitch all whom encounter its rambunctious refrains. And closing on Don’t Let Up on a reflective note is Nothing Left Of Yesterday, leaving the listener on a spiraling yet thoroughly contemplative note.

In this modern day, the Night Ranger lineup is rapturous vibrant, featuring the powerhouse participation of Jack Blades on lead / backing vocals and bass guitar, Kelly Keagy on drums, percussion and lead / backing vocals, Brad Gillis on lead and rhythm guitars, Eric Levy on keyboards, and Keri Kelli on lead and rhythm guitars. Don’t Let Up by Night Ranger is sure to enrapture the listener with its bad ass rock and roll goodness. Expect to see this exhilarating collection of tunes to show up on quite a few Top Ten Lists when 2017 spins to its wild and unpredictable conclusion!

(Review by Ken Morton)

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