Greatest Hits

Night Ranger | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 26, 1989)
• Original Release Date: 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B000002PIU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,654 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST of '80s rock, October 15, 2001

By 

Brad (CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

This is one of the greatest rock and roll bands I have ever heard. They are the most unpretentious, straight ahead and yet very talented group of rock musicians I have ever seen or heard in my 20-plus years of listening to rock music. Their melodic sound is equally awesome on such killer rockers as "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" and "(You Can Still) Rock In America" as it is on such ballads as the famous "Sister Christian" and the equally-as-good "Sentimental Street" and "Goodbye". I could rave about each and every song on this disk. If you are a fan of Night Ranger and '80s melodic rock, you know exactly what I mean. But what about the song selection?

That too is just about perfect. Every top 40 song is here. Every rock radio track is here. A couple of extra Night Ranger staples are thrown in. Every album to this point in their career is represented, even the latter two which didn't spawn the big hits their three amazing predecessors did.

For me, this collection still isn't enough. Each and every album represented on this collection has awesome tunes that aren't included here. But for "radio fans" of the band, this collection is about perfect. It truly is a great summary of one of the best bands I have ever listened to.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Take a trip down Sentimental St. w. Night Ranger, June 14, 2005

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Of the hard rock bands of the 80s, Night Ranger did an awesome job without actually being classified as metal. Some of their songs were tinged with the synths that typified 80's music, and along with contemporaries like Loverboy, their biggest hits were power ballads. Yet they did have quite a hard-edge without them going into metal. Case in point was "(You Can Still) Rock In America," their hardest rocking hit with a pulsing and snarling guitar a la Riggs that could've been on the Heavy Metal soundtrack, yet only made it to #51 in 1984. Barely scraping the Top 40 is another hard-edged number, "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" from Dawn Patrol, as is "Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight" from the same album.

"Sing Me Away" from Dawn Patrol (1982) alternated between hard rock guitar in the verses and a chorus tempered by synths. A pleasant enough number that somehow stalled at #54. However, their biggest hit was the power ballad "Sister Christian" of a teenage girl growing up and feeling the pangs of adolescence, from their second album Midnight Madness, which starts out with a gentle piano before the drums transition into the power guitars. This was their second Top 40 hit and only Top 5. "When You Close Your Eyes," also from MM, was more upbeat rock, though with a more poppified rock beat, kind of like Rick Springfield. This reached #14. The rocker "Rumours In The Air," also from MM, is a Loverboy-type number.

However, they had more power ballads, particularly on 7 Wishes, their second biggest album. It stood to reason, considering the success of "Sister Christian." I saw videos from 7 Wishes during my MTV years, so this is where I came in. "Sentimental Street," with its majestic synths opening and steady mid-paced beat, was their second biggest hit, charting at #8. The #19 song "Four In The Morning (I Can't Take It Anymore)" was quicker-paced, with the standard pop backbeat coupled with their usual sound, putting them in the same company as hard-rock tempered by pop groups like Loverboy, Heart, and Journey. And the wistful Auld Lang Syne-type rock ballad "Goodbye" is a magical combination of synths and guitars. Brad Gillis' guitar works its magic at the finale, accompanied by the synths. It seemed appropriate, as it turned out to be their last Top 40 hit, peaking at #17.

The only representative from Big Life, their 1987 album, is "The Secret Of My Success," the title track for the Michael J. Fox movie of the same name. With an uptempo Jan Hammer keyboard backbeat and a more pop/rock sound, it isn't as hard as their earlier oeuvre, but again, with repeated airplay on MTV, I got accustomed to this song, where others might've cringed. It peaked at #64, far below their usual chartings. "Restless Kind" from Man In Motion (1988), reverted to the usual power ballad genre, but by that time, two groups of metal had eclipsed Night Ranger, who had never ventured beyond hard rock, veterans like Def Leppard who exploded with Hysteria and newcomers like Skid Row and Guns N Roses. Needless to say, the song failed to even chart.

Following Night Ranger's breakup, bassist and lead vocalist Jack Blades joined Damn Yankees, where he scored a hit higher than "Sister Christian," namely "High Enough" which hit #3. Brad Gillis, who had been Ozzy's guitarist for the live Speak of the Devil album, tried his hand at a solo career before resurrecting Night Ranger with drummer and lead vocalist Kelly Keaggy.

Despite the absence of "Interstate Love Affair" from the movie Teachers, this collection captures the hard rockers at their best, and is ideal for those of us 80's people wanting a stroll down a Sentimental Street.

"And all this could be such a dream so it seems/I was never much good at goodbye" From Goodbye.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rock mixed with Metal at its best, October 15, 2000

By 

jasenao (Dothan, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greatest Hits (Audio CD)

Before listening to this album, the only songs I knew that were by Night Ranger were "Sister Christian" and "Don't Tell Me You Love Me." I was impressed with the whole album. It has everything any rock 'n roll or metal fan could want out of their music. It has everything from rockin' metal in songs such as "Sister Christian" and "You Can Still Rock In America," to good ballads such as "When You Close Your Eyes" and "Sentimental Street."

The majority of these songs might not be major hits, but they could've been easily because they all sound great. I recommend anybody who likes rock or metal to get this album by Night Ranger.