After a few single releases by the young British group NIGHT BY NIGHT and with expectations growing thanks to an almost constant stream of underground information since 2010, the full length debut album, simply named "NxN" will be finally published worldwide on June 9th... I'm lucky enough to share my view today, courtesy on the Promo disc provided in early time, by the record company and the Promotional Agency Sun Hill Production (EUROPE / TNT / H.E.A.T. / RECKLESS LOVE / TALISMAN)...The extracts of preview music that I heard before were indeed promising, maybe I was expecting a little too much... Anyway I was on a hyper eager mode.

After the first energetic cut, the opening track "Time To Escape" (that I already know from their self-titled 2012 single), classy, modern with a hard rocking staccato riffage and a Melodic Metal instinct not far from EDEN'S CURSE's traditional fashion, then the real discovery had started with "Holding Onto Holding On" which as the remaining titles, reveals a more AOR personality with timeless Melodic Rock characteristics and infectious melodies but it still contains and strong heavy guitar presence. "Can't Walk Away" is another step in the traditional sound of DEF LEPPARD or DANGER DANGER with tons of harmonized backing vocals and a pretty good guitar solo intervention.

With the fourth number "Everywhere Tonight" the pace is softer, the Classic AOR keyboard fluff sound is delectable and the spirit of Neil Schon & Co is haunting the last part of the track. The introduction riff with the voicing loop pattern/the obvious synthetized layers of ethereal voices gives a darker sensation, just before leading to a strange chorus, "Siren" is brilliantly displaying a duality that is a refined contemporary way of doing Melodic Rock in 2014... Interesting. "A Thousand Lies" is based on a much more straight ahead dynamic direction, still embellished by those typical multi vocals tricks... It also provides some intense screams but the song is in perfect coherency with the mood of this disc full of young stamina and radio-friendly Melodies. The hot and cold blowing method in the running sequence, is working again with the utterly melodic and the 80's flavored vivacity of "It's Not Faith", the song is heavily loaded with a "woah woah" gimmick in the great Mutt Lange legacy.

"The Moment" is more or less an attempt to sound like DAUGHTRY or SHINEDOWN, with perhaps an additional stream of Hard Rock influences, this track was also included in the single "Time To Escape", not bad but for me it's the weak link in the running order list. I had a hard time with this song at first , but finally "If Only" is now a favorite, showing an interesting development with a surprising swing pattern, a genuine piece of how contemporary / guitar driven Adult Oriented Rock should evolves to something more mature or progressive without slipping into the clichés. The weird begining of "Never Die Again" is quite intriguing with a fine guitar work and a intense voicing theme, the evolution of the song is exciting, turning unexpectedly fast and ultimately very catchy, as always the gang vocal choir is effective, if the hooks are not immediate, they prove to be quite addictive after a few spins !

With a fine Guitar work which is exemplar by its efficacy and its fat tone, plus a good vocalist between Jeff Keith (TESLA) and Ted Poley (D2), the final verdict is positive and my preliminary enthusiasm was worth: the balance between juvenile determination, relative creativity, original structure and AOR orthodoxy is perfect, I only regrets the fact that the album is a bit short, if the music itself isn't revolutionary or phenomenal, the future is bright and promising for NIGHT BY NIGHT, even if this particularly genre the competitors that came from the Nordic regions are fierce contenders.