Night Ranger

There are plenty of good Night Ranger pages out there and I don't see a need to duplicate them. This page will be limited to links to my websites related to band members, some of my own personal thoughts regarding Night Ranger, and pictures of the band of the band live I've taken.

My first Night Ranger concert was June 20, 1997, at Sandstone Amphitheatre with REO Speedwagon headlining. It was an awesome evening. It was then that I realized just how good Night Ranger are, and that is when I became a fan of the band.

My second Night Ranger concert was July 21, 1998 at Roadhouse Ruby's North in Kansas City, MO. This time they were headlining. While the concert was shorter than I would have liked, otherwise it was great. Read about my experience.

I saw Night Ranger live for the third time on July 23, 1999 at Sandstone Amphitheatre as part of the Rock Never Stops tour with Ted Nugent, Quiet Riot and Slaughter. Another great Night Ranger concert. Read about my experience.

I got to see Night Ranger three times in 2000!

The first was June 30 in Las Vegas at Sunset Station Casino. It was Night Ranger and Loverboy. Night Ranger were great, but Loverboy bored me, so I left early. Read about my experience.

I saw them again July 15, this time in St. Louis. Another great Night Ranger concert. It was an open admission show, and I got their several hours early, so I was able to get a spot front and center. In addition to having a great view, I was also able to get some great pictures (see link above). Read about my experience. Pictures

Finally, I got to see them at Spiritfest here in Kansas City, along with Rick Springfield. Read about my experience.

I got to see Night Ranger again in the Summer of 2001, along with Pat Benatar, at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City. Another great show. This time I was way to the right, so I got a good view of Kelly playing drums. Pictures

In 2002 I saw Night Ranger at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Kansas City (formerly Sandstone), in Bonner Springs, KS. It was Foreigner, Bad Company, and Night Ranger, dubbed "Trent Green's Rock and Roll Fantasy". An awesome evening, Tthree great shows from three great bands. Pictures

On the Night Ranger mailing list we've had some interesting debates regarding Feeding Of The Mojo, a Night Ranger album released in 1995 with Kelly Keagy, Brad Gillis, and Gary Moon as band members. Lots of strong feelings on this album. Some folks say, it says Night Ranger, it's Night Ranger. Other folks say it's not "real Night Ranger".

Personally, I feel that whether or not one consider's it "real Night Ranger" the album is significant because it features two members of the original/current Night Ranger lineup. I feel like all the albums featuring Jeff, Jack, Brad, Kelly, or Fitz as band members or solo artists are significant. But still, it's not the same band. I'm a big fan of both Jack Blades and Jeff Watson, and their absense, along with that of Alan Fitzgerald, makes it a very different Night Ranger. Still, that doesn't necesarily mean that they were wrong to call themselves Night Ranger.

What do I think of the album itself? Here's the review I wrote for Amazon.com: This album features a different version of Night Ranger. Guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer/singer Kelly Keagy teamed up with bassist/singer Gary Moon. This album is worth checking out despite the absense of Jack Blades and Jeff Watson. Brad and Kelly are also quite talented and together with Gary Moon they made a very good album. It helps perhaps to think of it not as a Night Ranger album, but rather as an album from 2 of the Night Ranger guys. The one thing I did not like about the album is Gary Moon's vocals. Gary Moon sounds a lot like Cinderella's lead singer, and I really just can't handle his singing style. Which is too bad, because otherwise it's a really good album. But, I recognize that some people don't mind that kind of singing, and if you are one of those people, then this is definitely an album worth getting.

Dawn Patrol: I don't think the songwriting is as strong on this album as on later albums. The singing has improved somewhat too, especially on Neverland. But, I don't think the playing has improved much in the intervening years, just because I don't think there was much room for improvement! They sound great! I give them 100% on execution. I think it's the guitarwork that really makes this album. Well, the guitar work as well as the complete musical arrangements. Rating: 84%

Midnight Madness: A good album. "Rumours In the Air" is the song that turned me on to Jack Blades. Noticing the rest of Night Ranger took 13 years longer. "Sister Chrisian" I used to hate, but now I think it's a great song. Rating: 90.5%

7 Wishes: My least favorite Night Ranger album (not counting Feeding Off The Mojo). When I saw that REO Speedwagon and Night Ranger were going to be at Sandstone (KC area) this is the Night Ranger album I pulled out to listened to. It was another 4 months before I listened to Night Ranger again, other than the concert. I didn't know Midnight Madness and Big Life were much better (The other 2 Night Ranger albums I owned at that time). Like Dawn Patrol, overall this album doesn't have great songs. But unlike Dawn Patrol, it's not redeemed by the guitar, which is what really makes Dawn Patrol a good listen. At least it ends well; I do really like the song "Goodbye". Rating: 82%

Big Life: My favorite of the 80s albums. Lots of good songs, one after another. I mentioned that when I got tickets to see Night Ranger opening for REO Speedwagon, I pulled out 7 Wishes to listen to, didn't like it, and then, other than the concert, didn't listen to Night Ranger again for 4 months. When I did, this is the one I listened to. (I meant to get the Damn Yankees... not sure how I wound up with this instead... but since I had it in my hand, I listened to it.) I thought it was terrific and kept listening to it. Well, until I got Neverland a month later anyway. Rating: 93.3%

Man In Motion: A good album... but it seems to be missing something. Maybe just not enough real good Jack vocals. Actually, this album just seems less Jack than their other stuff (Mojo, of course, excepted). Good, but not really what I look for in a Night Ranger album. I just haven't been able to emotionally connect with it. Rating: 88.6%

Neverland: I had very high expectations for this album. I wasn't on the Night Ranger mailing list yet when Neverland came out, so I missed all the discussion there; however, some folks on the Styx mailing list had very high praise for the album. Plus when I saw Night Ranger in concert I was very impressed. They were terrific. After hearing it so talked up (I hadn't yet heard the less positive comments from some folks on the Night Ranger list) I was expecting an awesome album. I was not at all disappointed. This album lived up to my high expectations for it. Until Seven came out, this was my 2nd favorite all time album, behind Styx's Paradise Theatre. I love the mix of songs on Neverland. I have a limited capacity for really hard stuff and really soft stuff. I like it, but I can only take so much. Bands like Night Ranger who mix it up are wonderful. And this album does it wonderfully. Rating 98.6%

Seven: Wow! I really, liked Neverland. I never imagined they would top it. But they did. Seven is awesome! I really like the guitar sound on this album (Pat McDonald's playing on Mother Mayhem being the exception); a heavy sound which I find quite infectious. You combine that with good songs sung well, and that makes for a darn good album. How does an album merit above 100%? I like it even better than the album that had been my favorite album for 16 years, Styx Paradise Theatre. Rating: 100.4%