but nothing is as perversely distinctive either. The music is ridiculously uniform: as a public service, the LP has been banded so one can tell where one song ends and another begins. The lyrics, most of them by bass player Jack Blades, either aim for the lowest common denominator ("I say fast/She say slow") or make no sense ("Do you sleep at all/When you sleep?"). By homogenizing heavy metal and heavy ballads, Night Ranger can make a good living. But that's about all it can do. (RS 455)

JIMMY GUTERMAN