7 Wishes is where Night Ranger begins to mature as a band. The song writing improves, the music becomes more complex and moody, but they remain at the bottom of it all a good, simple, fun band. (And for this one, I have liner notes.)

The first track of 7 Wishes (ironically titled "7 Wishes") begins with a heavy drum beat that, according to a 1985 interview with the band, was supposed to evoke a night in Tunisia. (Why I remember this 16 years later is anyone’s guess.) Well, they failed to evoke anything other than a heavy drum, but it was a nice try.

"Faces" (I believe) is the first time Night Ranger delves into a third person story. The singer isn’t an actor in this tale, only an observer. If the music had been a little more haunting this song might have been one of the great rock songs of all time with it’s very strange central character. However, it’s the usual Night Ranger music with unusual lyrics.

"Four In the Morning" returns to that very train-like rhythm pattern. I haven’t noticed anybody else doing this, but Night Ranger does it all the time. And it’s another one of those songs for older teenage girls to moon over. In this one the singer let the good one get away and he knows it. (Awww.)

"I Need a Woman" was universally referred to in my dorm in college as "I Need a Mother." It’s an excellent insight into the mind of the kind of man every woman wants to avoid, but ends up with at one point or another. Think I’m being too harsh? "I need a woman / To wipe away my tears / Keep me warm / And sing me lullabies. / I need a woman / Put away my toys / See a man in a boy / Who’s still growing." Thanks to this song I avoided a couple of bad relationships.

"Sentimental Street" was another big prom song. It’s not a happy song, but it drags on the heart strings.

"This Boy Needs To Rock." You can probably guess what this one sounds like.

"I Will Follow You" is Night Ranger trying to do the Beatles "Yesterday." They really tried on this one and it’s very obvious. Maybe it’s a bit cliched, but the effort put into this song is obvious when you’ve got the Night Ranger catalogue in your CD changer and you’re listening to everything they’ve done. "I see you walking / And my heart begins to pound / Like the sound of distant thunder / As it echoes to the ground." Quite nice really. And the music actually matches up. It has an urgent quality to it. Maybe they were trying to do "You Better Run Little Girl" (also Beatles, a stalking song.)

"Interstate Love Affair." Night Ranger’s members stated on several occasions that they loved to tour. This is an energetic ode to that love. If you listen to it long enough, you begin to hear the sound of tires on pavement in the backbeat.

"Night Machine" leans toward the very gritty, almost depressing side of Night Ranger Motley Crue spent a career trying to achieve this. Night Ranger managed without the help of Maybellene.

"Goodbye" veers firmly back to old Night Ranger. Kelly Keagy sings this very nice, pleasant ballad. If it had been released it would have been played at every prom in America. As is, it just got played to death at every graduation party.

7 Wishes is the beginning of Night Ranger’s middle period. They’ve finally lost that raw, ragged edge from Dawn Patrol. They’ve escaped the overwhelming shadows of The Steve Miller Band, Journey, and Cheap Trick. They still sound very similar, but they are definitely not aping any longer


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: At Work