Opening with the American anthem "(You Can Still) Rock in America", as an International listener and buyer of the album this song still makes me annoyed even to this day. Yeah, sure, you are Americans who live in America, and can apparently still Rock in America. And the song itself sounds great, a fast rock track with plenty of scope for the guitars to turn their trade. But for those of us who aren't American, it makes it REALLY hard to sing along, because in the long run we aren't rocking in America! In the same way that John Mellencamp's "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A" annoyed the crap out of me when it was plastered over Australian radio for twelve months, this does for the same reason. Yes, it's a petty gripe, but one that non-Americans I'm sure can relate to. I mean, do Americans sing "I come from a land Down Under" with passion? Anyway, enough of this. A good song to open the album with.
"Rumours in the Air" is a softer, slower song than I would have expected in following up this opener. I never really understand what leads some bands to think that jumping between fast and slow songs on a album won't affect the 'listening pleasure' of those that buy the album. Having jumped into the album with a great hard rock number, this holds everything back again.
"Why Does Love Have to Change" follows similar themes, but back at a faster pace, with Jack's dominating vocals searing through over the top of the keyboards and guitars. While the solos again here are terrific, showing off the best that Brad and Jeff had to offer, the song would have been harder had the guitars not been turned down so much in the mix throughout the whole song, Apart from the solos it is the keyboards that dominate most of the melody through the song, which to me is a shame.
The radio-friendly, rock power ballad hit "Sister Christian" is next. This is arguably Night Ranger's biggest single success, but is so far out of my sphere of love of music that it, for me, just stops the album in its tracks. Plenty of people were probably drawn to Night Ranger by this song, and I'd bet many of them would leave disappointed having heard the majority of their other songs, just because they all aren't like "Sister Christian". If you love the rock ballad you will probably love this. When I used to record this from vinyl to cassette, it was one song I would always omit.
After this slow and sullied end to Side One, Side Two kicks into gear straight away with the brilliant "Touch of Madness", easily the best song on the album. A punchy drum beat and guitar riff led by terrific vocals makes this the star of the album. This is the kind of song that, for me, would have made Night Ranger an even more formidable band if they had concentrated on this style. Singles success somewhat disproves this theory, but I know I would like to have heard more songs in this kind of genre. "Passion Play", while still a good song and more than listenable, bring the album back to that almost pop rock kind of style, one that works for Night Ranger through the sheer talent of the band's members. Moving on from this comes "When You Close Your Eyes", which I sort of like despite myself. It's a love song, no doubt, and its success as a single shows that it was certainly written as radio-friendly, but it is catchy, and you can't help yourself but sing through the chorus loudly. "Chippin' Away" continues along in this vein, not really jumping out of second gear, when it could really have been a guitar-driven hard rock song. Instead it is a serviceable song in the mood of this album. It is all concluded with the quiet, silent, acoustically harmony of "Let Him Run", which almost destroys and semblance of the hardness of the band and lets you drift off into a coma. While I would not be a fan of this song wherever it was placed on the Album, making it the last thing you hear before the needle comes off the vinyl seems a really strange decision.
I still like this album quite a bit, though I think it is a step down from their previous release. In a lot of ways this went just a little bit too much in the soft rock direction without actually falling into that category. It's hard to attribute that, with two such brilliant guitarists such as Brad Gillis and Jeff Watson in the band, that it is the keyboards that dominate most of the songs, apart from the small lead breaks both of them get. It's what probably made the band more accessible through the radio market, and held them back from moving into a more fully fledged metal market than hard rock. It also severely ties this album to the 1980's, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it does limit its full potential.
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