Stephen
I thought post-departure of Jeff Watson and the disastrous 'Hole In The Sun', Night Ranger is practically finished, but Blades and Keagy proved that they haven't reach the finish line yet. With 'Somewhere In California', the melodic giant within the band was awaken and deliver of what I called "the best album since Man In Motion".
The first single, 'Growin' Up In California', although contained the necessary 80s formula, it didn't appeal me first but after giving it a chance for some several intense spins, I know that Night Ranger is back on track again. 'Bye Bye Baby (Not Tonight)' springs to the air in the classic midtempo fashion of Night Ranger, the verse is bombastic and the chorus is powerful. 'Time of Our Lives' is a piano/acoustic ballad champion, check out the killer solos, a big wow for me! 'No Time To Lose Ya' is a brilliant midtempo gem and so is 'End of The Day', the riffs are excellent and carefully crafted.
By the book, it seems like a flawless album but I still stumbled on some patchy moments, such as 'Follow Your Heart' which put the band in a jazzy attempt but overall the song is just too average. 'Live For Today' is an interesting and risky effort to emulate Enuff Z'Nuff's style but failed to compete with the rest. The rest songs are good, some have wonderful solos, some have weaker choruses, but pretty satisfying at the end.
A brilliant comeback to the core sound but still can't touch the first four albums, if I need to sum up this record in one sentence. More hard rockin' and ironically, with the absent of Watson, the guitar parts are even bolder and thrilling. I hope it's a new era for the band and if they can keep up this speed for the next 3-4 albums ahead, it's about time to shake their 80s era off the top.