Customer Reviews

Crazy Nights

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tygers Of Pan Tang were part of the new Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWBHM) but unlike bands such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard, the Tygers never gained real success. "CRAZY NIGHTS" from late 1981 is the band's third album and the second one with the great vocalist Jon Deverill. As you might know, John Sykes (guitar) made his recording debut with Tygers Of Pan Tang but went on to play with Thin Lizzy ("THUNDER AND LIGHTNING") and Whitesnake ("1987") .

"CRAZY NIGHTS" is a very good heavy metal album featuring all the classic ingredients. Tygers Of Pan Tang give you groove, speed and melody. Best tracks are "Do it good", "Running out of time", "Love don't stay", "Raised on rock", and "Lonely man". This album is for some strange reason very difficult to get but I strongly advise you to try if you're a metal head of the old school. Highly recommended!

As the liner notes to this CD offer, Tygers of Pan Tang were like "a star that burned bright and quick," meaning they weren't around for very long and neither was the do-it-yourself NWOBHM scene that spawned them, but boy did they leave us behind some of the best music heavy metal had to offer.

The Tygers' second LP (and first with new vocalist Jon Deverill and guitarist John Sykes) "Spellbound" was released in April 1981 and a mere five months later the band were back in the studio recording the follow-up "Crazy Nights," released in November '81. "Spellbound" remains a certified NWOBHM masterpiece and it might have seemed like rushing out another album during the same year would have resulted in inferior product, but this is certainly not the case here. While "Spellbound" may remain the defining moment of the band's career, "Crazy Nights" is not far behind and is packed with a veritable blend of raw, tough and great sounding NWOBHM anthems. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.

The band's sound here reflects the tide of the day in England. Along with Saxon and Diamond Head, the Tygers were at the forefront of the NWOBHM with fast, raw, tough and readily head-bangable heavy metal classics. And I would agree with other reviewers that Jon Deverill's vocals recall Sean Harris (Diamond Head) at times, but Deverill deserves his own place in history as one of the best of heavy metal vocalists, with his impassioned and soulful delivery. And the riffs to songs like "Running Out Of Time," "Make A Stand" and bonus B-side track "Paradise Drive" have not lost their power with the passage of time.

That in fact may be the reason for Tygers of Pan Tang's relative obscurity and cult status in the annals of heavy metal. It has been a long time since music like this was made, and it did not help that 1982's "The Cage," though not without its strengths, could be seen as more of an attempt at mainstream hard rock, making "Crazy Nights" the last great Tygers NWOBHM album.

All Tygers of Pan Tang is noteworthy music that deserves to be heard by more, yet at the time of this writing the CDs remain hard to find and expensive here in North America, though they seem to be more readily available in Europe.

The date on my CD says 2006, so it's good to see that this music is still being pressed by someone, especially since there was a time in the '90s when Tygers of Pan Tang CDs were available in Japan only and one had to pay ridiculous import prices on this side of the Atlantic to obtain a copy.

These current releases on Metal Nation are all stellar examples of how to reissue an album, each containing all original artwork and photos from the original releases, bonus B-side tracks taken from the original singles and even a helpful Tygers discography. All well worth the extra money you will likely spend on them.

But whether you can find or afford the CDs or are still jamming out to the original vinyl, the Tygers' early work remains some of the best NWOBHM you are ever likely to hear. Highly recommended.

Tygers of Pan Tang was one of the more noteworthy (and yet highly underappreciated) acts from the legendary New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) scene. With their hard charging, melodic style, Tygers of Pan Tang leaned more towards the Diamond Head end of the NWOBHM spectrum. In today's music scene, they probably wouldn't qualify as a "metal" band, but at the time they were a vital part of a scene that helped define the heavy metal sound.

1981's Crazy Nights was the band's third album, and the second to feature both vocalist John Deverill and hotshot guitarist John Sykes. This is a driving hard rock album with plenty of melody and bristling with electricity. It has that denim and leather, pedal to the floor intensity that so characterized the NWOBHM scene. I'm reminded a lot of Diamond Head's material at the time, largely because Deverill's voice is so similar to Sean Harris's. John Sykes, who would leave the band after this album, going on to memorable stints in Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake, was just smokin' on this album. The song Raised on Rock is probably the best example, but really the whole album is riff city.

Crazy Nights is arguably the band's best album, and one that all NWOBHM fans should own. Of course, I could say the same of all of the first four Tygers of Pan Tang albums.

NOTE: The reissue of Crazy Nights includes three bonus tracks. These songs - Slip Away, Stormlands, and Paradise Drive, were the b-sides to the singles that were released from this album. The Tygers back catalog seems to go in and out of print with some regularity. If you can't find this album for a reasonable price at the moment, you may want to give it some time and see if it comes around again.

this is an excellent album from what i remember,i got my first tygers album in the early 80`s,i`ve still got wildcat and spellbound on vinyl.haven`t heard this one for many years but i do remember this is the tygers best album,tygers of pan tang never got their due for whatever reasons,but they were right there when metal began it`s climb to the top.buy this, i am.

Crazy Nights is a good album but didnt quite live up to its reviews that Ive read here. I will say that they put out some good music however on Crazy Nights maybe it was because it was rushed the lyrics just seemed lame. If you listen to other music of the same period say Riot and the Rods you get what I mean.

Maybe they deserve some cudos for the time period but they could have been better. Still Im happy to have the Tygers in my collection.

The third Tygers album (second with singer John Deverill and guitar legend John Sykes) breathed new life into the band on their previous outing Spellbound (though some prefer the more direct and raw debut Wild Cat). It managed to balance the old sound with their new more focused and musical attack. The band were rushed back into the studio by MCA to record another album and the rush definetly shows. Although thats not to say it's a bad album (by todays standards its a masterpiece) but in the day when there were over a 100 hard rock/metal bands to compete with, only the fittest survived, and fans demanded the best, therefore there were some people that complained. Most obviously the flat production sound doesnt do much to distinguish the band here, however John's vocals and Sykes guitar work is still great and the performances by Brian Dick, Rocky, and Robb Weir are top notch. While there is a hint of filler present here (Make A Stand, Lonely Man), the album never really gets boring. While songs that on first listen make seem pediestrian (Down And Out, Running Out Of Time), additional listens reveal some mature hard rock compositional skills in these tracks. The highlights however come with the boogie rocker opener Do It Good which recalls AC/DC's best moments. Love Don't Stay is also highly noteworthy, and the best track here has to be Never Satisfied. The slow verse/fast chorus repeat is great and the song cooks. Other more fast anthemic rockers like Raised On Rock, as well as the title track rank among some of the bands finest moments. What makes the album great is that its obvious they had little to work with at the time, and the album never drags though there are spots more inspired than others. In the end, there really isn't any reason not to own this gem. It may not be a classic but it's NWOBHM and its the Tygers Of Pan Tang before 1983, you cant go wrong.