Search - Tygers of Pan Tang :: Crazy Nights [Reissue]

A real classic metal album

L. B. Ivarsson | Rock City | 05/05/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Tygers Of Pan Tang were part of the new Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWBHM) but unlike bands such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard, the Tygers never gained real success. "CRAZY NIGHTS" from late 1981 is the band's third album and the second one with the great vocalist Jon Deverill. As you might know, John Sykes (guitar) made his recording debut with Tygers Of Pan Tang but went on to play with Thin Lizzy ("THUNDER AND LIGHTNING") and Whitesnake ("1987") ."CRAZY NIGHTS" is a very good heavy metal album featuring all the classic ingredients. Tygers Of Pan Tang give you groove, speed and melody. Best tracks are "Do it good", "Running out of time", "Love don't stay", "Raised on rock", and "Lonely man". This album is for some strange reason very difficult to get but I strongly advise you to try if you're a metal head of the old school. Highly recommended!"

NWOBHM Classic

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 03/24/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Tygers of Pan Tang was one of the more noteworthy (and yet highly underappreciated) acts from the legendary New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) scene. With their hard charging, melodic style, Tygers of Pan Tang leaned more towards the Diamond Head end of the NWOBHM spectrum. In today's music scene, they probably wouldn't qualify as a "metal" band, but at the time they were a vital part of a scene that helped define the heavy metal sound.



1981's Crazy Nights was the band's third album, and the second to feature both vocalist John Deverill and hotshot guitarist John Sykes. This is a driving hard rock album with plenty of melody and bristling with electricity. It has that denim and leather, pedal to the floor intensity that so characterized the NWOBHM scene. I'm reminded a lot of Diamond Head's material at the time, largely because Deverill's voice is so similar to Sean Harris's. John Sykes, who would leave the band after this album, going on to memorable stints in Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake, was just smokin' on this album. The song Raised on Rock is probably the best example, but really the whole album is riff city.



Crazy Nights is arguably the band's best album, and one that all NWOBHM fans should own. Of course, I could say the same of all of the first four Tygers of Pan Tang albums.



NOTE: The reissue of Crazy Nights includes three bonus tracks. These songs - Slip Away, Stormlands, and Paradise Drive, were the b-sides to the singles that were released from this album. The Tygers back catalog seems to go in and out of print with some regularity. If you can't find this album for a reasonable price at the moment, you may want to give it some time and see if it comes around again.

"

The Tygers' last truly great LP

Tom P. the Underground Navigator | Park Forest, IL USA | 11/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the liner notes to this CD offer, Tygers of Pan Tang were like "a star that burned bright and quick," meaning they weren't around for very long and neither was the do-it-yourself NWOBHM scene that spawned them, but boy did they leave us behind some of the best music heavy metal had to offer.



The Tygers' second LP (and first with new vocalist Jon Deverill and guitarist John Sykes) "Spellbound" was released in April 1981 and a mere five months later the band were back in the studio recording the follow-up "Crazy Nights," released in November '81. "Spellbound" remains a certified NWOBHM masterpiece and it might have seemed like rushing out another album during the same year would have resulted in inferior product, but this is certainly not the case here. While "Spellbound" may remain the defining moment of the band's career, "Crazy Nights" is not far behind and is packed with a veritable blend of raw, tough and great sounding NWOBHM anthems. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.



The band's sound here reflects the tide of the day in England. Along with Saxon and Diamond Head, the Tygers were at the forefront of the NWOBHM with fast, raw, tough and readily head-bangable heavy metal classics. And I would agree with other reviewers that Jon Deverill's vocals recall Sean Harris (Diamond Head) at times, but Deverill deserves his own place in history as one of the best of heavy metal vocalists, with his impassioned and soulful delivery. And the riffs to songs like "Running Out Of Time," "Make A Stand" and bonus B-side track "Paradise Drive" have not lost their power with the passage of time.



That in fact may be the reason for Tygers of Pan Tang's relative obscurity and cult status in the annals of heavy metal. It has been a long time since music like this was made, and it did not help that 1982's "The Cage," though not without its strengths, could be seen as more of an attempt at mainstream hard rock, making "Crazy Nights" the last great Tygers NWOBHM album.



All Tygers of Pan Tang is noteworthy music that deserves to be heard by more, yet at the time of this writing the CDs remain hard to find and expensive here in North America, though they seem to be more readily available in Europe.



The date on my CD says 2006, so it's good to see that this music is still being pressed by someone, especially since there was a time in the '90s when Tygers of Pan Tang CDs were available in Japan only and one had to pay ridiculous import prices on this side of the Atlantic to obtain a copy.



These current releases on Metal Nation are all stellar examples of how to reissue an album, each containing all original artwork and photos from the original releases, bonus B-side tracks taken from the original singles and even a helpful Tygers discography. All well worth the extra money you will likely spend on them.



But whether you can find or afford the CDs or are still jamming out to the original vinyl, the Tygers' early work remains some of the best NWOBHM you are ever likely to hear. Highly recommended."