GOLDEN EARRING : PRISONER OF THE NIGHT

1. Long Blond Animal
2. No For An Aswer
3. My Town
4. Prisoner Of The Night
5. I Don't Wanna Be Nobody Else
6. Cut 'Em Down To Size
7. Will & Mercy
8. Come In Outerspace
9. Going Crazy Again

Label : Polydor

Release Date : September 1980

Length : 36:48

Review (Wikipedia) : Prisoner of the Night is een muziekalbum van Golden Earring uit oktober 1980. Prisoner of the Night is het laatste studioalbum van Golden Earring voordat de bandleden besloten ermee te stoppen. Na de minder succesvolle elpees Grab It for a Second (1978) en No Promises...No Debts (1979) zette ook dit album weinig exemplaren om. Long Blond Animal was de eerste single en ondanks de klassieke status die het nummer in later jaren verwierf, moest Golden Earring destijds genoegen nemen met een kleine hit. De opvolger No for an Answer kwam zelfs niet verder dan de tipparade. Prisoner of the Night sluit amper aan bij de tijdgeest van rond 1980, toen disco en (in mindere mate) new wave de hitlijsten domineerden. Op de elpee van Golden Earring hoor je niets van dit terug. Alleen de voor die tijd karakteristieke klinische, futuristische synthesizertonen in de intro van Going Crazy Again doen vermoeden dat Prisoner of the Night uit 1980 stamt. En die klanken kwamen nog uitgerekend van een halve buitenstaander: Robert Jan Stips. De flop van het album lijkt daarmee verklaard. Hierna probeerde de Haagse rockgroep het nog eenmaal met Twilight Zone (Golden Earring) en dat bleek onverwacht een gouden greep. De groep bevond zich toen echter al in een heel andere fase van hun carrière.

Review (AllMusic) : Although the band has put out several fine albums over the years, Golden Earring has not always had an easy time staying consistent from album to album. This 1980 effort is one of the rare instances in the Golden Earring catalog in which the group takes a good album, No Promises...No Debts, and actually improves on it. Like the aforementioned album, Prisoner of the Night presents a collection of songs that combine pop hooks and hard rock muscle in a radio-friendly way. However, Golden Earring improves on this style instead of recycling it: The guitar riffs hit harder, the hooks are catchier, and the arrangements are more willing to toss an occasional left turn at the listener while still managing to keep the songs lean and exciting. Good examples include "No for an Answer," which combines a muscular array of guitar riffs and a frenetic hard rock tempo with a killer singalong chorus, and "My Town," an amped-up slice of driving power pop that is worthy of Cheap Trick. However, the finest of the rockers is "Long Blond Animal," which combines a stomping beat, a circular guitar riff, and another infectious chorus to create a blood-pumping rocker that is as catchy as it is invigorating. Some of the other songs don't quite hit the manic highs of these standout tracks, but everything is well-arranged and features unexpected twists that keeps things fresh (i.e., the new wave synthesizer riff that pops up out of nowhere midway through the power ballad "Will and Mercy"). The end result is one of the finest albums of Golden Earring's career. It's a required listen for the group's fans and an album that is likely to win over any pop/rock devotee who gives it a spin.