ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 322 NIGHT RANGER - BIG LIFE (1987)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Disclaimer: All info that does not reside in my brain is gathered from wikipedia.com (mostly because Jon can't stand it) unless otherwise noted.

Night Ranger has always been one of my favorite bands that emerged from the eighties, really one of my favorite bands all-time.  So I thought I'd feature one of the band's albums for this week's Album of the Week.  This week's pick is Big Life, and it comes from 1987.

• Big Life is Night Ranger's fourth studio album.
• The album was was certified Gold, and to date is the last NR album to do so.
• It was a Top 40 album, topping out at number 28.
• No Top 40 singles, but The Secret of My Success reached number 64.
• That same song was featured in the Michael J. Fox film of the same name.
• Hearts Away was an album closing ballad, the same formula used on the two previous platinum selling albums.

For me, this album is a drop off from the two that preceded it.  It's certainly not bad, but as a group of songs, I don't think they are as good as those on Dawn Patrol, Midnight Madness and 7 Wishes.  The title track was one that I always liked, as was The Secret of My Success.  Hearts Away is another very good ballad sung by Kelly Keagy.  But my favorite song on the album, as well as a top NR song overall, is Rain Comes Crashing Down.

The album is available on Amazon, but the CD is somewhat pricey.  It's going for $21.95 (I got it for just under eight dollars when I bought it in 2010), but you can find the vinyl used for around 3 bucks or the cassette used for 6 bucks.  What do you think about Night Ranger's Big Life?

Tracks:

1. Big Life

2. Color Of Your Smile

3. Love Is Standing Near

4. Rain Comes Crashing Down

5. The Secret Of My Success

6. Carry On

7. Better Let It Go

8. I Know Tonight

9. Hearts Away

[Niels (Mod)]

Nice! 

It's been a while, since I've heard this album.

I was a fan, when it was released, because of 7 Wishes (still my favorite), and it is one of the albums that sounds the most to me like 1987. (Hysteria as the big exception).

At the time, I kind of liked it, but obviously it wasn't as good as 7W.

Big Life is a good opening track. Good solo.

LISN has that pop-rock 1987'ish sound, that was great back then, but not now. Not a bad song, though. NR was definitley one of the better bands for me in the mid-80's. Listening now, it's as I heard this album yesterday, so I've probably heard it millions of times. I don't think I've heard the album since.....the 90's?! Have it been here at CRB before?

I have to continue later on.

[Niels (Mod)]

Heard the whole album the other day. I still think, it's not as good as 7W, but at the time it was an okay album. It bugs me, that you can't listen to this or 7W on either ITunes or Spotify, but listening to this again, I would only get 7W, thats's for sure. Gillis was/is a good guitarist, and could easily had taken Randy Rhoads place for more than the few months, he did replace him. 

[Jon]

For some reason, this is my favorite Night Ranger album from beginning to end.

For one thing, it was their best sounding album. The others sounded muddy, not crisp like this. 

For another thing, the album cover is gloriously bright. I mean, really bright. Their previous albums were muted and dark. Not this one. No way. Brightness rules the day here!

For another reason, I have no idea why I bought this album when it came out other than the fact that it was so darn bright. I wasn't too keen on the previous two albums, there were some good tracks but mostly filler. This one caught on with me right off the bat and I still enjoy it quite a bit. If someone had paid attention, they would have noticed that I listened to this album within the last few months, but that's ok, I'm listening to it again and still enjoying it.

Damn! Ain't that cover BRIGHT???