Night Ranger To Release New Album
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 04.22.2008
80's rockers putting a Hole In The Sun...
July 1st marks the release of Night Ranger's Hole In The Sun, the band's first studio album in a decade. The record also commemorates Night Ranger's 25th anniversary as a band.
"People will hear this record and recognize our dual blazing guitars and vocals, and big choruses and melodic verses, because that's definitely how you can describe this album," explains singer/bassist Jack Blades of the self-produced new release, the band's eighth studio album, and first for VH1 Classic Records. "It's new Night Ranger, but in a lot of ways it's classic Night Ranger."
"We wanted to sound new, but still keep our roots," says Kelly Keagy of the new release. "We grew up in the 70's, when pop music was really starting to thrive. Sometimes it drove you crazy because the songs were so poppy that you couldn't get them out of your head, but they were still amazing songs. We wanted to portray some of that on this album."
"Brad [Gillis] 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 Ranger will be on the road throughout 2008, including a stop in Pryor, OK on Friday, July 11th to perform as part of Rocklahoma. They'll also be doing various shows with Styx & Boston, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner and Cinderella & Warrant. Current tour dates are below.
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 didn't 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. "We've 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. They're doing their part, so we'll keep doing our part. Rock in America baby!"
Night Ranger Tour Dates
Tue 4/22 Shibuya, Japan Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall
Wed 4/23 Nagoya, Japan Nagoya Aichi Kinro Kaikan
Thu 4/24 Osaka, Japan IMP Hall
Sun 5/11 Oklahoma City, OK Zoo Amphitheatre (REO Speedwagon)
Thu 5/22 Trinidad, CA Cher-Ae Heights Casino
Sun 5/25 St. Louis, MO Soldiers Memorial Park
Sat 6/7 West Wendover, NV Montego Bay Casino & Resort
Sat 6/14 San Juan, PR Anfiteatro Tito Puente
Thu 6/19 Oshkosh, WI Waterfest Concert Series
Fri 6/20 Brookville, IN Bicentennial Celebration
Sat 6/21 Sioux City, IA The Awesome Biker Rally
Sun 6/22 The Woodlands, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion (Styx/Boston)
Sat 6/28 Cheyenne, WY William H. Brimmer Amphitheatre
Wed 7/2 Arlington Heights, IL Frontier Days Festival
Thu 7/3 Hays, KS Frontier Park
Fri 7/4 Glenview, IL Great Lakes Naval Base
Sat 7/5 Kettering, OH Fraze Pavilion at Lincoln Park
Sun 7/6 San Jose, CA Discovery Meadow Park
Fri 7/11 Pryor, OK Rocklahoma
Sat 7/12 Grapevine, TX Glass Cactus at Gaylord Texan
Sat 7/19 Fort Smith, AR Harry E. Kelly Park
Fri 7/25 St. Clair, MI Palmer Park
Sat 7/26 Maquoketa, IA Jackson County Fair Iowa
Sun 7/27 Lake Ozark, MO Horny Toad Entertainment Complex
Sat 8/2 Rifle, CO Garfield County Fair
Sat 8/9 Windsor, ONT. Lakeshore Soccer Park
Sun 8/10 Des Moines, IA Iowa State Fair/Grandstand (Cinderella/Warrant)
Sun 8/17 St. Joseph, MO Trails West Festival
Sat 8/23 Tower, MN Fortune Bay Casino
Sat 8/30 Pittsburgh, PA Heinz Field
Sun 8/31 Sparks, NV John Ascuaga's Nugget - Parkin
Sun 9/28 Jackpot, NV Cactus Petes Casino/Ameristar Amp (Foreigner)
Wed 10/1 Tulsa, OK Tulsa State Fair
