New album by the San Franciscan AOR heroes.
If I'm honest I was a bit nonplussed by 'Hole In The Sun', the previous album by San Franciscan AOR heroes Night Ranger. Even the similarly modern sounding 'Neverland' and 'Seven' had a smattering of classy songs with the trademark twin guitar work of Brad Gillis and Jeff Watson well to the fore, but despite the fact that the four main Rangers were all on board, (bassist/vocalist Jack Blades and drummer/vocalist Kelly Keagy being the others), 'Hole...' seemed to lack any of their recognisable trademarks. Thankfully 'Somewhere In California' sees the equilibrium restored, successfully mixing the fresh and contemporary sound that the band obviously crave, with the classic Night Ranger that the label probably wanted all along. Watson has since left the band, to be replaced by Keagy's Skrap Metal band mate Joel Hoekstra, while keyboardist Eric Levy has replaced Christian Cullen.
Opener 'Growin' Up In California' is very much a statement of intent, being basically a hard rocking modern re-write of '(You Can Still) Rock In America', complete with the same keyboard part and some incendiary playing from Gillis and Hoekstra. It's also a little rawer and rougher round the edges, which gives the impression of a Night Ranger/Damn Yankees crossover, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There are traditional NR tracks in the catchy and melodic 'Bye Bye Baby (Not Tonight)', the upbeat closer 'Say It With Love' and the infectious guitar parts of 'It's Not Over', each one lodging itself in your brain after the first listen, whilst the typical ballad 'Time Of Our Lives' is the only really low-key track on offer.
Elsewhere 'No Time To Lose Ya' and 'Rock 'N' Roll Tonite' are simple guitar-based rockers with hints of UFO and Aerosmith respectively, and 'Live For Today' sounds like Night Ranger meets Enuff Z'Nuff with its psychedelic overtones. Other highlights are 'Follow Your Heart', which despite the pompy bits and flashy guitar arpeggios, is a very accessible song with extended twin guitar solos, and the superbly commercial 'End Of The Day' has concise guitar flurries and great vocal melodies, whilst the contemporary rocker 'Lay It On Me' tempers it's modern instrumentation with a 'Whoa-oh' chorus.
Judged against their latter day output it seems that quite a bit of compromise has gone on with 'Somewhere In California', the album coming across as a mixture of 'Seven Wishes', 'Man In Motion' and 'Seven'. It's one of their most hard rocking albums to date and the melodic vocals of Jack Blades and Kelly Keagy, the flashy guitar work and the infectious choruses all make a very welcome return, but it's to their credit that they seem to have achieved it without losing their contemporary edge. In an age where many bands of their ilk are again making strong albums, Night Ranger have come up with one of the very best.
Phil Ashcroft