Japanese
rock
audiences always seemed to have a thing for melodic
radio bands from the U.S. --
Mr. Big
,
Ratt
, and
Cheap Trick
reigned supreme in the land of the rising sun at various points. Another you could add to the list was
Night Ranger
. When the band came out of retirement and decided to fire up their engines once more, Japanese dates were set in support of their 1997 release,
Neverland
. A year later,
Rock in Japan
was issued, the group's second Japanese live set (preceded eight years earlier by
Live in Japan
). Despite the aforementioned break from the action, the
boys sound as tight as ever, and stick closely to the original versions (no
rap-metal
or
nu-metal
makeovers here). Although a crafty tactic is used by the label -- using '80s era photos of the band, despite the recording being from the late '90s -- long time fans are sure to enjoy
. All the expected favorites are included --
"Sister Christian,"
"Don't Tell Me You Love Me,"
and a piano version of
"Sentimental Street"
-- as well as tracks off
(the title track,
"New York Time,"
etc.). Besides the clothing fashions sported on the aforementioned album cover, if there was any doubt that
was an '80s band, it's confirmed once and for all by
which includes not one, but two unaccompanied guitar solos. A nod to
Nigel Tufnel
and
David St. Hubbins
, perhaps? ~ Greg Prato