Decently remastered with a few bonus tracks, but the main attraction is the songwriting and hijinks on Cheap Trick's last really good studio album.
Cheap Trick have always seemed pretty ludicrous to me. In part, I'm sure that the band meant it to be this way. The visual gag that pits the gawky geekiness of guitarist Rick Neilsen and the pudgy accountant chic of drummer Bun E. Carlos against the pouffy prettiness of bassist Tom Petersson and singer Robin Zander has been sustaining the band's stage presence for years. And anybody who shows up with five necks on his guitar isn't exactly going for gravitas.…
Article comments
26 - John Owen
Right on!!
Though if I could conceptualize a band of my own, they'd all be completely shaven bald head to toe and have a guy in a robot suit playing drums. Cheap Trick might be awesome, but they can't compete with a guy in a robot suit.
27 - Joanie
I can't believe that Barger and I are fighting for Cheap Trick's good name. On the same side! There must be something about the band that's true and good and out of this world to get the two of us in complete agreement.
You know, I have what you'd call "memory bands". Bands that I can hear one song from on the radio and I'm immediately transported to some other place and time. Cheap Trick is a "memory band", but they're also so much more.
They tour with Alice Cooper. ALICE FREAKIN' COOPER! They headline biker rallies. BIKERS! There's more to them than meets the eye. And if you listen carefully, there's much more than meets the ear.
Robin Zander (swoooooooon! shhh...it's a secret) was once called the Man of a Thousand Voices. If you listen to how he approaches the vocals on each and every song, there's magic. Rick Nielsen isn't some generic guitarist. He crafts every note, even going so far as to make it seem as though he hasn't. Bun E. and Tom feed the beat and drive the songs to places one could only imagine them going on paper.
Bar band. Bah! You can deny it all you want, John, but bar band does have an insulting ring to it. Still, if that's the worst that you can say, bar bands should consider themselves blessed to be in the same class as Cheap Trick.
28 - Mark Saleski
ok, at vern's suggestion, i went home and dug out that self-titled Cheap Trick cd from 1997.
it's out of print? freaking CRIMINAL! a totally great record. maybe a little darker then some of their other stuff but still lots of signature Cheap Trick sounds including what sounds like Neilsen's GIANT WALL 'O MARSHALLS!
great call Vern Halen.
29 - Vern Halen
Thanks kindly, sir. You obviously are a man of good taste.
30 - Mark Saleski
occasionally, anyway.
31 - Hazardous
I own almost every single Cheap Trick CD there is.
They are in my opinion one of the most underated bands in American music. Sure they've had a few dodgy albums like "The Doctor" but they consistently put out better than average CD's. The Special One was a great CD, one of their best in years. I happen to like a lot of the 80's discs, "Standing on the edge", "Next Position Please" and the awesome "One on One" The Red Aunt Self Titled release also as others mentioned a great disc. As is their last effort "Special One"
Cheap Trick in case you hadn't noticed were on tour with Aerosmith, for the second time in the last 5 years. Why?...because Aerosmith knows Trick are a great band. When you say bar band, in my neck of the woods that is a slight from a musicians point of view. With millions of records sold and countless arena tours over there 30 year career, they are still going strong. With a brand new record "Rockford" coming out June 6th...I can't wait
Why don't they ever release "Reach out and take it" on something.
Sample off the new CD here
http://www.myspace.com/cheaptrick
32 - Andrew dog
Lets look at the album as it is....a bloody great rock album for its time which still sounds great today....that type of Bat out of Hell production makes it a classic. Need you love is haunting, Gonna Raise Hell spawned a new generation of bassplayers while Dream Police caught everyones attention with its catchy hooks.
Not as raw as their debut or as catchy as In Color, Dream Police excites due to it's big sound and rocky style. Throw Voices onto the mix and the album rates an 8 out of 10 just on the backs of the above songs...So crank it up and play air guitar just like its 1979! P.S Saw trick in a pub in australia in 1987 prior to the release of the flame....they went off and it was the most enjoyable gig of theirs I have attended..NO SHAME IN BEING A PUB BAND as long as you can raise hell!
33 - John
"Why don't they ever release "Reach out and take it" on something."
They did. It's on the "Heavy Metal" soundtrack.
John
34 - newsgirl17
Just a few points to make here.
First, yes, The Flame in its studio version was slick and overproduced. But anyone who has ever seen Cheap Trick live can attest -- it is an absolute heartbreaker when Robin Zander wraps his voice around the acoustic guitars. And I don't think the band "hates" the song anymore, because as a true fan-band, they see how much the audience loves to hear them do it. I think there was some resentment because Rick Nielsen didn't write it and it was their first -- and only -- No. 1 hit. But if they hate it, you sure cannot tell when they perform it live.
Second, I can see why people take "bar band" as being derogatory, but the truth is, a Cheap Trick show is a very intimate thing. The band interacts with the fans, and while I've seen them in big venues, too, they really shine in smaller venues. They rock the show. Don't believe me? Go see them. You won't be sorry. I've converted many a friend into Trick fan after single shows.
For those who lament the "Budokan" days of big venues, Nielsen once told me that Cheap Trick was only in that arena-rock situation for a short time, so they are much more used to playing small places. This is a band that started out playing Chicago-area bowling alleys for a buck a ticket, after all.
Third, while some of their stuff in the past few years leaves a cheesy aftertaste, I have to disagree that they know they are cheesy and that's their schtick. If you listen to some of Nielsen's lyrics -- and even some of Zander's and Tom Petersson's, there's often a dark undertone. They often aren't actually saying what they seem to be saying at first glance.
Cheap Trick isn't a joke band or a novelty act, no matter how long they've been relegated to the bargain bins. They've been influential in some of the past two decades' biggest acts. It's just a shame they've hardly been recognized for what they are.
35 - t
keep in mind that music journalism is generally reserved for the bottom tier of writing and generally consists of egocentric drivel that is more reflective of the writer's tastes than the band and/or music in question.
i don't mean that as a slam on the writer of this review, but everyone has an opinion and readers often give too much credence to the opinions of music critics. just because one makes a living doing it doesn't mean they necessarily know what they're talking about.
i give this review a C, simply because the opinions are expressed so matter-of-factly and the writer doesn't seem to have much knowledge of the subject.
36 - Rodney Welch
In other words, he doesn't agree with YOUR dumb ass.
37 - John Owen
BURN!
In truth, I don't make a living doing this at all. My paying writing gigs are on topics far removed from, and far less exciting than, Rockford's favorite sons. This is merely a labor of love and obsession.
I'm really glad that this review has generated so much commentary. From the throne where I sit, it sometimes seems that Cheap Trick are on the verge of being forgotten, a lose-lose situation as far as the world is concerned. I'm happy to see that on the contrary, they have a devoted base of fans who will continue to spread the word and keep the, um, flame, alive.
(Also, as far as I'm concerned, "The Flame" is an AWESOME song. Yeah, it's silly, over the top, and covered with some 80s cheese, but it still was the song that got me into Cheap Trick, and I can't shake loving it.)
38 - andy
could someone please tell me if there's a studio version of 'lookout' on anything.I've always wantrd to put it on a compilation tape without the screaming but with the Dream Police' sound.It's one song that sounds like it still has a sense of humour post-Budokan.
39 - Ninja's Mom
Hey, John...bitter much?
Wait, maybe you're right. It MUST have been a bar band that was asked to perform as the night's special house band with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra for Sgt. Pepper at 40: A Beatles Celebration, selling out a Friday and Saturday night at one of the largest natural amphitheatres in the world. Only a badly malformed cow fetus floating in formaldehyde gets to do that...IF it looks, sounds and performs like CHEAP TRICK!