This is one of the greatest rock and roll bands I have ever heard. They are the most unpretentious, straight ahead and yet very talented group of rock musicians I have ever seen or heard in my 20-plus years of listening to rock music. Their melodic sound is equally awesome on such killer rockers as "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" and "(You Can Still) Rock In America" as it is on such ballads as the famous "Sister Christian" and the equally-as-good "Sentimental Street" and "Goodbye". I could rave about each and every song on this disk. If you are a fan of Night Ranger and '80s melodic rock, you know exactly what I mean. But what about the song selection?

That too is just about perfect. Every top 40 song is here. Every rock radio track is here. A couple of extra Night Ranger staples are thrown in. Every album to this point in their career is represented, even the latter two which didn't spawn the big hits their three amazing predecessors did.

For me, this collection still isn't enough. Each and every album represented on this collection has awesome tunes that aren't included here. But for "radio fans" of the band, this collection is about perfect. It truly is a great summary of one of the best bands I have ever listened to.

Here is the question: What exactly IS Night Ranger? Are they Glam-Rockers? Heavy Metal? Pop/Rock? No matter what YOU think they are, just remember to put the word, 'successful' in front of whatever definition you give them, because selling millions of albums MEANS something in the recording business. The debate will rage for a long time about Night Ranger being 'too pop' but I think if you judged these guys based upon musical talent and the sheer likability of their tunes ALONE, folks would forget entirely the silly debate and enjoy what these guys did best.

Who could hear 'You Can Still Rock In America' or 'Sing Me Away' and doubt their talent as rock & rollers? Or take a listen to 'Sister Christian' (I am STILL curious as to what Motorin' means from the lyrics...) or 'Sentimental Street' and assume that power ballad's were beyond their ability...no Night Ranger went beyond the typical definition of what bands usually were in the 80's. These are of course the big radio songs that made Night Ranger popular, however several other stand-out songs propel this greatest hits package to above-average status...like: 'Rumour's In The Air' (one of my personal fav's) and although the movie was huge, the title track from 'The Secret of My Success' never made it nearly as big, but should have. These guys are also great performers on stage. If you ever saw one of their concerts, you'd know what I mean.

I must confess that I was one of the naysayers about this group until my boss at the radio station assigned me to attend the Night Ranger Concert and officiate all of our backstage pass winners instead of going to the Van Halen concert that I REALLY wanted to go to...well I was rather upset and feeling bitter against my boss AND the band...but it didn't take long for these boys to win me over (and I consider myself pretty picky). Not only were they VERY nice, but they could actually perform really WELL. VERY impressive, and I've seen a LOT of concerts, too. Are they as good as Pink Floyd? Not by a long shot...but they were better than the night I saw Van Halen and David Lee Roth was drunk off his hind-quarters. All I'm saying is if you are a Night Ranger fan, you are gonna love this CD, if you aren't, then pass it by and grab something else...I for one am happy to add this one to my personal collection.

-DJ Jazzy Jeff

Night Ranger seemed to me to be one of those bands that just kept missing the brass ring. Musically, they had the chops--bear in mind that guitarist Brad Gillis played with Ozzy Osbourne before Night Ranger, and Ozzy has pretty good taste in guitarists--but their songs were just a little too generic. However, they did excel at ballads, long before the Warrants and the Firehouses of the world did. "Sister Christian" is perhaps the best known, but "Sentimental Street" and particularly the beautifully arranged "Goodbye" are a cut above the norm, and drummer Kelly Keagy's rough-edged vocals complement them perfectly. Overall, a decent package of a band that never could decide if they wanted to be rock or pop, and sometimes tried to hard to be both.

To represent one of the greatest 80s rock bands. You Can Still Rock In America still rings in my ear. Excellent anthem for great American rock. Sing Me Away is my personal #1 favorite. When You Close Your Eyes ties with Rock In America at my #2 favorite. Sister Christian ,their biggest hit so far ,went to #5 in Billboard single chart in 1984. Eddie's Coming Out Tonight and Rumors In The Air were for Japanese bonus tracks but glad to find newer edition added those because I love them!! 12 tracks were not enough to get to know them. Besides you must not forget that they produced two more great albums, not included in this compilation, Neverland and Seven which are essential rock releases of 90s.

There are no new songs on this album, so if you are a die hard fan, you can probably skip this album, since you'll have all the songs anyway on the other albums. However, it's a good collection of songs, and if you're not sure if you want to buy all 5 of the 80s Night Ranger albums, than this one is a good place to start.