NIGHT RANGERs 'Hole in the Sun' is in stores now and in the Internet you can find a new NIGHHT RANGER widget to help celebrate this release! The widget contains the entire 'Hole in the Sun' album. This is NIGHT RANGERs first studio album in a decade and commemorates their 25th anniversary as a band. Also, check DOWNLOADS for a streaming link to the first single 'Youre Gonna Hear From Me'.
NIGHT RANGER widget:
http://www.musicane.com/splash/main/Night+Ranger/Hole+In+The+Sun
About the album:
There are a lot of reasons to celebrate the July 1 release of NIGHT RANGERs 'Hole in the Sun', notably that it marks the bands first studio album in a decade and commemorates the pioneering hard rock outfits 25th anniversary as a band. The best reason, as has been the case throughout NIGHT RANGERs heralded career, is to celebrate the music itself.
People will hear this record and recognize our dual blazing guitars and vocals, and big choruses and melodic verses, because thats definitely how you can describe this album, explains singer/bassist Jack Blades of the self-produced new release, the bands eighth studio album, and first for VH1 Classic Records. Its new NIGHT RANGER, but in a lot of ways its classic NIGHT RANGER.
Guitars grind and swirl through the unrelenting opener Tell Your Vision, delivering a progressively-fueled crush that sets the tone for the eleven new tracks that follow, from Keagys Jim Morrison-like soft parade of vocals atop the blinding guitars of Drama Queen and the blitzing melodic charge of Youre Gonna Hear From Me, through the enduring depths of the piano-driven power ballad There is Life, and back again. 'Hole in the Sun' rings with the vibrancy of vintage NIGHT RANGER, yet echoes with a modern relevance that endures throughout the album.
We wanted to sound new, but still keep our roots, says Keagy of the new release. We grew up in the 70s, when pop music was really starting to thrive. Sometimes it drove you crazy because the songs were so poppy that you couldnt get them out of your head, but they were still amazing songs. We wanted to portray some of that on this album.
While there is definitely a pop glisten to 'Hole in the Sun', theres also a heavy dynamic that plants the band firmly in the millennium. Brad brought in a lot of great ideas, some more modern-sounding things, but we were still able to keep that melodic sense in the songs. We wanted a lot of songs like Drama Queen, great, gritty songs that reestablish our roots in hard rock, continues Keagy.
NIGHT RANGERoriginal members bassist/vocalist Jack Blades, drummer/vocalist Kelly Keagy and guitarist Brad Gillis along with guitarist Joel Hoekstra and keyboardist Christian Cullenwill be on the road throughout 2008, including a stop in Pryor, OK on Friday, July 11 to perform as part of Rocklahoma. Theyll also be doing various shows with Styx & Boston, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner and Cinderella & Warrant.
The band has been touring all over the world the past few months, including a stop at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to perform for the men and women stationed there. For NIGHT RANGER, it was a life changing experience.
As Keagy described, There could not have been a more proud moment in my career then when we stepped foot on Guantanamo Bay to play for the troops there. We all had mixed emotions about going and we didnt really know what they do there. Well we certainly found out, but the world should know that the people that are being held should be there because they are (I believe) the most dangerous people on this Earth. We heard the facts in a briefing given by one of the highest ranking officers on the base. It was amazing! To the men and women that work so very hard to keep us safe from the kinds of things that happened on 911, I salute you.
Going to Guantanamo Bay Cuba to play for the troops is right up there as one of the wildest things NIGHT RANGER has ever done, Blades continues. Weve been all over the world, but never have we sung You Can Still Rock In America in a Communist country with armed Cubans watching us in guard towers just a few clicks away. Everyone was so appreciative of us being there, and seeing them rock out was the greatest. We were given a tour of the detention facilities, got the REAL story first-hand and went face-to-face with the detainees (nice stare-down moment that I shall not soon forget). Saw it all and it made us even more appreciative for what our soldiers, sailors, marines and airman are doing to keep us safe. Theyre doing their part, so well keep doing our part. Rock in America baby!
Says Gillis of the bands current tour plans: We started with our classic backline with the American flag and the NIGHT RANGER logo, and then we built it all up from there bigger lights, bigger sound, bigger everything! Weve got the ramps, the vintage t-shirts, the old-school NIGHT RANGER antics, and its going to be nothing but fun.
NIGHT RANGER has left an indelible mark on the music world thanks to a number of best-selling albumsstarting with their 1982 DAWN PATROL debut–that sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. The bands popularity has been fueled by an impressive string of instantly recognizable hit singles and signature album tracks, including Sister Christian, (You Can Still) Rock In America, When You Close Your Eyes, Sentimental Street, Goodbye and Dont Tell Me You Love Me. Harnessing the frenetic drive of heavy metal to hook-laden rock songs, throwing in a stunning twin lead guitar team, and melodious, radio-friendly power ballads, NIGHT RANGER inspired new descriptive phrases such as melodic metal and metal power pop.
Music is constantly evolving and changing, and people need to keep evolving in life, spirit, soul and everything, or you might as well pack it in, notes Blades. Thats why Im so proud of , NIGHT RANGER and thats why we will continue to evolve. With this new album, were just going to roll with it, have a blast doing it, and keep playing as long as its fun, and as long as people want to come out and hear us play. There are still a lot of people out there that want to get up and sing, motorin and Dont Tell Me You Love Me, You Can Still Rock in America, the list goes on and on
NIGHT RANGER are:
Jack Blades – bass/vocals,
Brad Gillis – guitars,
Kelly Keagy – drums/vocals,
Joel Hoekstra – guitars,
Christian Cullen – keyboards.
For more visit:
http://www.myspace.com/nightranger
http://www.vh1classic.com