Night Ranger underwhelm as songwriting falls short on ATBPO

AOR heroes Night Ranger drop the ball on 13th studio album ATBPO

By Paul Elliott
( Classic Rock )
published
Night Ranger: ATBPO
(Image: © Frontiers)

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Night Ranger cut so many great songs in the 80s, not least the power-ballad mega-hit Sister Christian. 

And on three albums from the past 10 years, that old magic has returned in some zinging melodic rock anthems. But the songwriting falls short of their usual high standards. 

Breakout has plenty of twin-guitar sizzle from Brad Gillis and Keri Kelli, and Dance cheekily recycles the big beat from We Will Rock You, but it’s only with the last track on the album that these guys get anywhere close to their best work. 

This is not a bad album per se, but from a band of this calibre, it’s all rather underwhelming.

Paul Elliott
Paul Elliott

Freelance writer for Classic Rock since 2005, Paul Elliott has worked for leading music titles since 1985, including Sounds, Kerrang!, MOJO and Q. He is the author of several books including the first biography of Guns N’ Roses and the autobiography of bodyguard-to-the-stars Danny Francis. He has written liner notes for classic album reissues by artists such as Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy and Kiss, and currently works as content editor for Total Guitar. He lives in Bath - of which David Coverdale recently said: “How very Roman of you!”