''Man in Motion'' is the fifth studio album by

Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco, California. The band formed in 1982 and experienced a surge of popularity during the 1980s with the release of several successful albums and hit singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and ...

, released in 1988. This album was the first studio album recorded by Night Ranger after the departure of keyboardist

Alan Fitzgerald Francis Alan Fitzgerald (born July 16, 1949) is an American musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known as the second bassist of Montrose and as keyboardist for Night Ranger. He has also performed with Gamma, and former Montrose bandma ...

, who was replaced by Jesse Bradman.

Background

"Man in Motion" saw a change in the musical direction of the band, focusing on a more guitar driven sound. Unfortunately the change in direction did not result in much radio play and the album became the first

album to fail to achieve gold or platinum status Bassist and singer

Jack Blades Jack Martin Blades (born April 24, 1954) is an American rock musician. He has worked in the bands Rubicon (American band), Rubicon, Night Ranger (as bassist and one of the lead vocalists), and Damn Yankees (band), Damn Yankees (as one of the f ...

would leave the band in 1989 to form rock super group Damn Yankess with

Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American singer and guitarist best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups including Damn Yan ...

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...

and

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

. Jeff Watson also left to join the band Mother's Army. Jack Blades discussed why he left Night Ranger, stating that the members of the band were going in different directions, with everyone writing separate songs and their egos clashing. The band would not release another album until 1995's album ''Feeding Off the Mojo'', which featured Gary Moon of

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, founded by vocalists Chuck Negron, Cory Wells, and Danny Hutton. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup (guitar), and Floyd Sn ...

on bass and vocals.

, Jeff Watson, and

all returned to the band for 1997's album ''Neverland''.

Reception

"Man in Motion" received mixed reviews and its singles were unable to gain much recognition. The first single off the album was "I Did It for Love", which topped out on the Billboard Top 100 at 75. The second single "Reason to Be" reached position 48 in 1989 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. The third single, "Don't Start Thinking (I'm Alone Tonight)", failed to chart at all.

Track listing

All credits adapted from the original release.

Personnel

;Night Ranger *

– bass, lead vocals *

Brad Gillis Bradley Frank Gillis (born June 15, 1957) is an American guitarist most famous for playing with the band Night Ranger. He grew up in Alameda, California. He was in the band Rubicon during the 1970s before Night Ranger. Since forming in 1979, Gi ...

– guitars, vocals * Jeff Watson – guitars *

Kelly Keagy Kelly Dean Keagy (born September 15, 1952) is an American drummer and vocalist, best known for his work with the hard rock band Night Ranger. Keagy sang lead vocals on several of their hits, such as "Sister Christian", "Sing Me Away", and " Se ...

– drums, lead vocals ;Additional musicians *Jesse Bradman – keyboards, vocals *

Alan Pasqua Alan Pasqua (born June 28, 1952) is an American rock and jazz pianist. He studied at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music. His album ''Standards'' with drummer Peter Erskine was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. As a s ...

, Claude Gaudette,

Eric Persing Eric Persing is an American sound designer, professional synthesist, keyboardist, recording artist and music producer based in Los Angeles, California. He is best known as the Founder and Creative Director of the music software and virtual instr ...

– additional keyboards * Joyce Imbesi – keyboards on track 5 *

John Purdell John Purdell (July 8, 1959 – July 10, 2003) was an American keyboardist, songwriter, music engineer, and multi-platinum rock music record producer who is credited on such albums as Ozzy Osbourne's '' No More Tears'' (1991) and Dream Theate ...

– additional keyboards, additional vocals *

Kevin Chalfant Kevin Chalfant is an American singer and a native of Streator, Illinois. He obtained a BMI award for co-writing and singing on one of the most frequently aired rock radio hits of 1992 and 1993, "I've Got a Lot to Learn About Love", by The St ...

– additional vocals *Mark Newman – computer programming ;Production *

Keith Olsen Keith Alan Olsen (May 12, 1945 – March 9, 2020) was an American record producer and sound engineer, who worked with Magnum, Rick Springfield, Fleetwood Mac, Ozzy Osbourne, Grateful Dead, Whitesnake, Pat Benatar, Heart, Santana, Saga, For ...

– producer, engineer and mixing on tracks 1 to 4, 6 to 9, 11 *Brian Foraker – producer, engineer and mixing on tracks 5 and 10 *Jimmy Reitizel – additional arrangements on track 5 *

John Hanlon John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

, Mark Segal – engineers *Ron Da Silva, Squeak Stone – assistant engineers on tracks 5 and 10 *

Greg Fulginiti Gregory Fulginiti (born 1951) is an American recording and mastering engineer. He was nominated for the TEC Awards by '' Mix'' magazine six times, in 1985 and 1987–1991. Career Fulginiti grew up in Wildwood, New Jersey, and graduated from Wi ...

– mastering at

Artisan Sound Recorders Artisan Sound Recorders was one of Southern California's premier disk mastering facilities. It was founded by Robert M. MacLeod Jr. in the 1960s, and acquired by Kent Duncan in 1979 when MacLeod retired. In the early 1990s, it was sold to Jon Lo ...

, Hollywood, California * David Cole – executive producer on track 5 and 10 *

Hugh Syme Hugh Syme is a Canadian Juno Award-winning graphic artist and member of the Premier Artists Collection (PAC), best known for his artwork and cover concepts for rock and metal bands. He is also a musician and has contributed as a keyboard player ...

– art direction, design

Charts

References

{{Night Ranger Night Ranger albums 1988 albums Albums produced by Keith Olsen MCA Records albums Glam metal albums