PRISONER OF THE NIGHT [AKA: LONG BLONDE ANIMAL]

I assume anyone reading this is thinking about getting this album since they are interested in GE. I am a GE fan. I have over 20 of their albums and have been a fan since about 1982. Cut was the their first album I ever heard by them. I have most of their releases from 1970 and on. I do not love every song by GE. In fact there are almost entire albums I cannot listen to (To The Hilt is my least fav album by them). I write this review in 2012. It is not a review of how it fared in 1980 but rather - is it listenable now?

With this mind -- my review. (1 to 5 stars.)

Overall notes. PRISONER OF THE NIGHT is one of my favorite GE albums. I think as a whole the album shows how much they learned in the 70s about making music. They had done all the experimental lead flute, jazzy, prog, extra long stuff and got it out of their system. By 1978 they turned to more AOR rock songs. 1978-1989 is my favorite era of the band. They spent time developing each of these songs. They all have very distinctive grooves and I don't confuse GE with any other band.

The official release had 9 songs as shown above. GE released two B sides with their singles. I have both and are included in this review.

1 - LONG BLOND ANIMAL. Rocker. Okay its 80s GE and AOR is the new direction. I went along for the ride. GE used this song a lot in their live sets. It was a fan favorite. Its a rocking song. The drumming is excellent. Very tight. Barry's singing is excellent. He's in great form and the lyrics work well with this song. 5/5

2 - NO FOR AN ANSWER. Rocker. The lyrics are nothing special but it works. The chorus is rather good and singable. The guitar solo rocks. 4/5

3 - MY TOWN. Rocker. Great song. The boys are singing about the fact that their home town is big city nice. Its got everything every other city has. Dopers, hookers, winos etc.. Its grooves along and for a simple song, its works great. I play it when I want to just rock out. 5./5

4 - PRISONER OF THE NIGHT. Bluesy rock. I get a 70s vibe from this song. Guitar solo is great. Its worth a listen. 4/5

5 - I DONT WANNA BE NOBODY ELSE. Lite Rocker. This song has a nice chorus that gets a little poppy. But it works in the song structure. 4/5

6 - CUT 'EM DOWN TO SIZE. Rocker. In my opinion its just okay. It has an okay groove but the lyrics dont' do anything for me. 3/5

7 - WILL AND MERCY. Rocker. One of my favorites. Everything just gels with this song. Simple love song and George on vocals again. He knows how to hit the high notes which pushes the song above normal. 5/5

8 - COME IN OUTERSPACE. Rocker. The song has the potential to work but it lacks a good lyric. The guitar solos are nice. the basic groove is good. But it never comes together. 2/5

9 - GOING CRAZY AGAIN. Light Rocker. I overlooked this song for years when I owned the LP version of this release. I bought it on CD and allowed it to play to the end. This song really grows on you. It starts slow, sounds kinda spacey keyboards and then this awesome grove comes in and the chorus hits. Wow. I missed out for years with this little pop gem. 5/5

EXTRA B TRACKS. Obviously these were not included on the album since they were considered by the band as being weak or not suitable by the cooperate heads.

10 - TRIPLE TREAT. Light Rocker. Its a song about the singer telling how he got his wife and girlfriend to agree to 3-way sex. I got to give it an extra star just for content. Its got a nice little groove. I found this song on iTunes a few years ago. It was a nice find to hear some 80s GE I hadnt heard before. For song lyrics and groove its 4/5

11 - ANNIE. Light Rocker. This song is a meandering groove. The chorus comes in and its a nice little lyric. I grew to like it but I know the average listener will probably not agree. If you are a big fan and want to be a completest, get it. Its a nice little addition. If your new to GE there is a ton of other songs to get first. 3/5

4 out of 5 stars for this album.

I really like the 3 early 80s GE albums and will play them back to back. Prisoner of the night, Cut, NEWS. No, its not 70s GE. But this is a time capsule of good GE music.

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