For Night Ranger, how do you follow-up your biggest hit, “Sister Christian”. Well, you release another ballad and they did it this time with “When You Close Your Eyes” the third single off their 1983 album ‘Midnight Madness’. It was released on July 14, 1984 as a single and it didn’t do as well as “Sister Christian” as it only went to #14 on the Billboard Charts. Only..right! Most bands would kill for that. It did help continue to catapult the album to well over 1 million copes giving them their first and maybe only Platinum album.
The song was written by Jack Blades with the help of Alan Fitzgerald and Brad Gillis. The song came about from Jack noodling around on the piano and he sang the chorus and thought it was great. He had Alan and Brad help but he couldn’t finish it with all the distractions while recording the album. He flew home and sat around the pool and then was inspired by his ex-girlfriend and wondering if she ever still thought about him. That inspiration turned in to a big hit for the band.
My copy is a U.S. Pressing with the B-Side as “Why Does Love Have to Change” which is also off ‘Midnight Madness’. My copy is the Gloversville pressing as it has this little flower symbol in the runout. Plus it only has the Midnight Madness album cover on the back where later pressing have that plus Dawn Patrol. It is pretty good shape and plays great.
A-Side:
“When You Close Your Eyes” is ballad with some great percussion and the keyboards accentuate it’s softness. Jack Blades on vocals and he has such a great, relatable voice that it is easy to connect with it. The song is cheesy, but the hooks are great and the harmonies on the chorus will suck you right in and won’t let go. You will hum the song after it is over. Brad Gillis’ guitar solo strikes the right chords and really paints some great colors for the song. It might not done as well as “Sister Christian” but it isn’t really a lesser song either.
B-SIDE:
“Why Does Love Have To Change” opens with some killer guitar riffs as Brad doesn’t get a lot of credit for his playing. This time you have Kelly Keagy on vocals and dang he can sing as well. The song is a pure melodic rock and has a great driving rhythm. And those guitar parts right before the solo are really cool and then the solo, ain’t no slouch either. With Brad Gillis and Jeff Watson on guitar, you can’t go wrong. Great rocking track.
And there you have it. Another great single in the collection. Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoyed it. We will see you with another one real soon.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 
The B side is better than the A side in my opinion.
And like many bands during this era they kept the branding of the singles as close to the album cover as possible. In this case; identical. Lol.
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Yeah, not much variety in the Singles covers. They had to release a ballad though thanks to the curse of Sister Christian
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I like the picture of a rainbow on the vinyl!
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It is nice!
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Love those songs, and Night Ranger as a whole. Reminds me that I still need to pick up a copy of Dawn Patrol.
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Yes you do! Their best album!!
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Night Ranger sounds like the band everyone tries to sound like when they want to write a cheesy ’80s style song. That said, I inexplicably like them. Some of the dumbest lyrics ever have been penned by them, but the musicianship is top notch and the songs are catchy. I think I’ll listen to Dawn Patrol now, and try not to cringe at the “you can carry on like an ice machine” lyric.
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Dawn Patrol is their best album IMO. A band with some talented players but they don’t quite get the respect they deserve.
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I ended up listening to that one and Midnight Madness last night, because Dawn Patrol really hit the spot. I actually thought Midnight Madness was the stronger record. I thought Dawn Patrol had a few lesser caliber songs on the second side. Still a pretty good pop rock record though.
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Can’t go wrong with either of the first two
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I like Man in Motion too. A lot of guitar madness on that one. Seven Wishes has some good tunes too. Big Life is pretty lightweight.
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Love Man in Motion. Big Life is a little lackluster. Some of their 2000 stuff has also been pretty awesome.
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Big Life has some choice cuts, and some lame ass shit.
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Yes it does.
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Have you done a Night Ranger review series? You should. If only for the two of us.
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No, but I’ve done an album ranking. It will be awhile before I get to them. I already have my next two planned after Soto and Scorpions.
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I’m laughing out loud here…was listening to Midnight Madness for the first time and when this one (when you close your eyes) came on I went..hey, I know this song. Heard it a million times but never knew it was by Night Ranger. Can u imagine?
In my defense Night Ranger never was a big name in Europe.
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