Monday, August 28, 2006

#89 - Crazy Nights - Tygers of Pan Tang - Crazy Nights (1981)




I first heard this a long time ago. Probably 1984 or so, from a borrowed record from a friend of a friend. I really liked it and eventually found the record on import, as this NWOBHM outfit probably did not have great distribution in the USA. The band featured John Sykes on guitar, and the riffs here are great. Unfortunately, this was Sykes' second and last album with The Tygers and they soon faded away into obscurity. This album and the one before it are two great NWOBHM releases and are among the finest albums of the movement.

The song highlighted here is the title track from Crazy Nights and while to me it stands out in the crowd, it is only one of many great tracks as there are no real stinkers present on any of the two 1981 Tygers albums.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I maintain that the Tygers 1st four albums (Wild Cat, Spellbound, Crazy Nights, and The Cage) are perfect representations of the NWOBHM. Definitely one of those bands that should have been huge from that era but got screwed by lineup changes, bad management, and bad luck.....just like Diamond Head. Talented as hell though!

'Crazy Nights' is definitely a stand-out track. I remember hearing this for the first time back in 1984 also, a friend of mine had the guy at the record store put the vinyl on so we could sample it. Remember doing that? Sampling a record in a record store? Anyway, my friend always had a ton of money on him (only child vs. my bro, sis & me) and I remember him buying the album and Wild Cat (1980). I was able to listen to both and tape a copy of each on some cheap cassettes.

T-_Bone said...

I really miss those days. The information age has diluted the simple pleasures. Anyway, I agree bad management killed the Tygers. I have The Cage on CD, and the B-Sides are so much better than the album tracks. They were heavy and aggressive, but I am sure they were told by management or the record comapny to be more commercial.