You have to admire a band that is continuously releasing new material today.  “Don’t Let Up” is the third release by Night Ranger (NR) since 2011.  Whereas many bands of their generation no longer see the necessity to go through the expense of recording an album of new songs, the veteran Californian rock band scratches that itch every few years and I’m happy they do.

Like many bands, Night Ranger has gone through several phases of their career.  Phase one being the classic NR albums beginning with debut “Dawn Patrol” through 1988’s “Man In Motion”, after which they disbanded (vocalist/bassist Jack Blades went to Damn Yankees and vocalist/drummer Kelly Keagy and guitarist Brad Gillis continued NR as a trio with Gary Moon).  Reformed with the classic lineup in 1997, the next few albums , starting with 1997’s “Neverland” through to 2007’s “Hole In The Sun” constituted a more “Experimental” phase 2.  Parting ways with original guitarist Jeff Watson after that album somehow seemed to bring back the classic NR sound for 2011’s “Somewhere In California” and 2014’s “High Road” both of which are highlights in the band’s discovery. Current band members are Blades, Keagy and Gillis plus keyboardist Eric Levy and new guitarist Keri Kelli.

As the album title suggests “Don’t Let Up” does just that.  Lead track ‘Somehow Someway’ begins with soaring guitars and the album doesn’t slow up until the final note of ‘Nothing Left of Yesterday’. This is a guitar album, what keys there are, and there seem to be very few, are playing second fiddle. ‘Somehow Someway’ falls into the classic NR sound, guitar driven and a Blades-led vocal with a monster chorus. The song could easily have fit on the previous two albums, or ‘Man In Motion’.    ‘Running Out Of Time’ continues the pace and format.  Similar to the previous track (and other’s on the album), the chorus is more of a ‘gang of four’ group chant.  That’s a slight issue with the album as a whole.  What I’m missing are the melodic choruses of previous albums.

‘Truth’ slows down the pace a bit, but not to power ballad status.  ‘Day and Night’ brings the pace back up and Kelly Keagy gives his first lead vocal of the album.  Both Keagy and Blades are in excellent form vocally on this album.  In fact known for his slower sung songs, Keagy sounds excellent on ‘Day and Night’.  Again, the gang chorus is the only real letdown of the song.

Title track ‘Don’t Let Up’ follows and sounds like a sister song to ‘Somehow Someway’.  That’s one of the drawbacks of the album, many of the songs sound VERY similar.  Granted it’s easy to pick out a NR song in general but there isn’t a lot of variation of the song structure here.  The album is produced by Night Ranger themselves so there is no outside assistance or filter this time around. Sometimes that works out well but sometimes a band needs that third party opinion.  Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s just not as good as the last two.

‘We Can Work It Out’ , no not the song by The Beatles, slows the tempo down a bit and shows Blades and Keagy singing lead together something reminiscent of Kansas back in the 70s.  The album ends with the hard rocking ‘Jamie’ and finishes with ‘Nothing Left Of Yesterday’, one of the strongest tracks that starts off with a bright acoustic section and blends in the electric guitars during the chorus.

Overall “Don’t Let Up” is a decent effort but one that may be overlooked when looking at Night Ranger’s complete discovery.  Even so, there is something to be said for a band still creating good new music over three decades into their career.

website:  http://www.nightranger.com