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Showing posts with label Cheap Trick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cheap Trick. Show all posts

Sunday, 29 March 2026

Cheap Trick - The Greatest Hits (1991)

Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois, in 1973. 
The band's work bridged elements of 1960s guitar pop, 1970s hard rock, and the emerging punk rock sound, and helped set the template for subsequent power pop artists.
The Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by Cheap Trick. It contains many of Cheap Trick's popular songs, as well as a previously unreleased cover version of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour", which according to the liner notes, was an outtake from the Lap of Luxury album. 
There's (obviously) good stuff on here- in their prime (the late 70s and early 80s), Cheap Trick were possibly the best power pop/pop-rock group in the USA, with their only serious competition being the Cars; "I Want You to Want Me," "Surrender," "Dream Police," and "Voices" are all killers.
But the selection is pretty haphazard- there's nothing at all from the band's first two (very good) albums; one of the band's hits ("Ghost Town") is actually MIA; and, frankly, the more-recent stuff just isn't as good- "The Flame" was Cheap Trick's biggest hit (their only #1), but it sucks, and so does its cousin "Can't Stop Fallin' Into Love." 
The only unique track is a cover of "Magical Mystery Tour"- obviously the Beatles were a major influence on the band, but "Magical Mystery Tour" is hardly a standout track, and Cheap Trick's attempt to inject some mystique into it (drawing out the instrumental coda, dropping in a sample from the bridge of "I Am the Walrus") doesn't really work.
Though it peaked at only #174 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, it remained a steady seller, and was certified platinum for one million U.S. shipments seven years after its release.


Tracklist

1. Magical Mystery Tour - 4:08 
    Written-By – Lennon-McCartney
2. Dream Police - 3:50 
3. Don't Be Cruel - 3:07 
4. Tonight It's You - 4:45 
    Mixed By – Tony Platt
    Producer – Jack Douglas
5. She's Tight - 2:58 
    Engineer – Ian Taylor
    Producer – Roy Thomas Baker
6. I Want You To Want Me (Live) - 3:38 
    Mixed By – Gary Ladinsky
7. If You Want My Love - 3:34 
    Engineer – Ian Taylor
    Producer – Roy Thomas Baker
8. Ain't That A Shame (Live) - 5:10 
    Mixed By – Gary Ladinsky
9. Surrender - 4:12 
10. The Flame - 5:36 
11. I Can't Take It - 3:25 
      Producer – Todd Rundgren
12. Can't Stop Fallin' Into Love - 3:45 
      Mixed By – Mike Shipley
13. Voices - 4:18 


Tracks 6 & 8 were recorded live at Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan in April 1978.


Companies, etc.

Credits
Notes
Released:  1991 
Genre:  Hard Rock 
Runtime:  52:35
Label:  Epic 


Friday, 21 November 2025

Cheap Trick - All Washed Up (2025)

All Washed Up is the twenty-first studio album by American rock band Cheap Trick, released on November 14, 2025.

The title of Cheap Trick's 21st album is definitely meant to be tongue in cheek, another bit of self-effacing, yet defiantly independent attitude from a band who shows no sign of slowing down. 
All Washed Up is an impressive mix of high-octane rockers, grinding hard rock, tender ballads, and shimmering pop songs, all delivered with a wink and a kick in the pants. So, it's pretty much business as usual. 
Rick Nielsen is still an absolute best on six strings, the rhythm section of Tom Petersson and Daxx Nielsen is rock solid, and Robin Zander has the same mix of wild abandon and subtle sensitivity that has been the hallmark of the band throughout their long career. 
Indeed, the album plays like a sampler of all the styles they had taken in and conquered along the way. 
Bruising power pop (the title track) bumps up against finely layered Beatle-esque pop ("Bad Blood"); pummeling arena rock ("The Riff That Won't Quit") nestles next to a jangling Tom Petty-ish melancholy number ("A Long Way to Worcester"), and swaggering, somewhat menacing tracks like "Bet It All" are paired with riffy songs that come across like AC/DC at their poppiest ("All Wrong Long.") 
The band unsurprisingly knock the rockers and uptempo pop songs out of the park, Nielsen's oddball way with a hook has never failed him and Zander can put across a song with zing that's undimmed by time. 
What's a bit of a shock is how great they sound on the big, goopy power ballads that one might have thought they would have consigned to the vault. 
They do trot out the huge harmonies, slick layers of glistening guitars and synths, hooks so huge even Diane Warren would be jealous, and sentiments so sweet they could cause tooth decay. 
"The Best Thing" is the most charming of the bunch, a breathless love song built around Zander's heartfelt vocal, an uplifting chord progression, and words that might have even the crustiest grump believing in the possibility of love. 
"Twelve Gates" is another great example of mainstream Cheap Trick, stacking vocal harmonies and guitar jangle all the way up to heaven, while "Love Gone" flips the script to tell a heartbreak story with the same amount of soul, passion, and slickness. 
If Roy Orbison were still on the planet, this would have been a perfect song for him to cover. The only song that seems to come from nowhere is the album ending "Wham Boom Bang," a jolly little knees up full of clarinets, cute guitar licks, and a saucy vocal from Zander. 
The rest of the album is Cheap Trick through and through, every song a reminder of how their past achievements were truly special, while at the same time letting everyone know they are still cranking out songs with all the manic energy, gleeful abandon, and pure pop songcraft they've embraced from the start.


Tracklist

1.  All Washed Up - 3:35
2.  All Wrong Long Gone - 4:08
3.  The Riff That Won't Quit - 2:48
4.  Bet It All - 2:35
5.  The Best Thing - 4:01
6.  Twelve Gates - 3:59
7.  Bad Blood - 4:53
8.  Dancing With the Band - 3:43
9.  Love Gone - 2:54
10.  A Long Way to Worcester - 4:57
11.  Wham Boom Bang - 2:23

All tracks are written by Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson, and Robin W. Zander, except "Twelve Gates" (written with Robin Taylor Zander) and "A Long Way to Worcester" (written with Jerry Dale McFadden and Robert Reynolds).


Cheap Trick

Additional contributors
  • Julian Raymond – production (all tracks), backing vocals (tracks 2, 5, 8–10)
  • Ted Jensen – engineering
  • Howard Willing – engineering
  • Michael W. Rende – engineering
  • Robert Stevenson – engineering
  • Austin Brown – engineering assistance
  • David Paulin – engineering assistance
  • Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
  • Brian Judd – mixing assistance
  • Robin Taylor Zander – backing vocals, guitar
  • Daxx Nielsen – drums
  • Tim Lauer – keyboards
  • Robin-Sailor Zander – backing vocals (5, 10)

Notes
Released:  November 14, 2025 
Recorded:  2024–2025 
Length:  39:56 
Producer:  Cheap Trick · Julian Raymond
Label:  BMG


Saturday, 6 September 2025

Cheap Trick - One On One (1982)

"One on One" is Cheap Trick's sixth studio album, and seventh release in general. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker, it was released in 1982 via Epic Records and was the first Cheap Trick album to feature their new bassist Jon Brant.

Nearly two years after their last LP All Shook Up, Cheap Trick released an album full of brash, simple rockers. 
After original bassist Tom Petersson left the group in 1980, he was replaced by Pete Comita. 
Comita left the group in the early recording stages of One on One and was replaced by Jon Brant. 
Though this was the first album to feature Brant, most of it was recorded without him. Guitarist Rick Nielsen played bass on all but three tracks ("Saturday at Midnight", "If You Want My Love" and "She's Tight"). 
Brant's face is partially obscured on the front cover. The song "If You Want My Love" is one of Nielsen's favorite songs he has recorded with the group.

Tom Petersson left Cheap Trick following the George Martin-produced All Shook Up, and the band was somewhat left in a lurch, recording 1982’s One on One largely without a bassist; eventual replacement Jon Brant is on record and on the cover, but he’s obscured by a picture of Rick Nielsen, possibly because the guitarist handled the bulk of the basslines on the LP. 
In any case, One on One finds Cheap Trick rebounding from Martin with a slick, punchy, AOR record, hemmed in a bit by stiff sequenced rhythms -- you can almost feel Bun E. Carlos straining against the metronome -- but sparkling in its analog synths and pumped-up guitars. No, it’s not as ballsy as Cheap Trick’s best, but its glossy glimmer is appealing, a combination of heavy metal roar and new wave strut, and would be more so if the songs were just a bit tighter. 
Sometimes, Nielsen winds up knocking it out of the park -- the title track grinds nicely, “She’s Tight” is good and sleazy -- but there are several truly odd detours, usually when the group veers too strongly toward the new wave, like on the awkward, clanking “Saturday at Midnight” and the stiff Devo misinterpretation “I Want Be Man." 
These tracks accentuate the album’s 1982 artifact appeal, but ironically, are the things that kept it from being a blockbuster at the time.


Tracklist

1.  I Want You - 3:02
2.  One on One - 3:05
3.  If You Want My Love - 3:36
4.  Oo La La La (Nielsen, Robin Zander) - 3:14
5.  Lookin' Out for Number One - 3:44
6.  She's Tight - 2:58
7.  Time Is Runnin' - 2:19
8.  Saturday at Midnight (Nielsen, Zander) - 2:58
9.  Love's Got a Hold on Me  (Nielsen, Zander, Bun E. Carlos) - 2:35
10.  I Want Be Man - 3:19
11.  Four Letter Word  (Nielsen, Zander) - 3:37

All tracks written by Rick Nielsen, except where noted.


Cheap Trick


Companies, etc.

Credits

Notes
Released:  April 30, 1982
Recorded:  1981–1982 Studio Pierce Arrow Recorders, Evanston, Illinois
Genre:  Arena rock, AOR
Length:  34:27
Producer:  Roy Thomas Baker

Label - Epic

Wednesday, 11 May 2011

Cheap Trick - Sex, America, Cheap Trick (4CD Box Set) (1996)

"Sex, America, Cheap Trick" is a 1996 box set by the rock band Cheap Trick. It includes 17 previously unreleased songs, as well as the band's biggest hits. It is a classic example of a botched box set. Spanning four discs and 64 songs, the box contains nearly all of the group's hit singles and an amazing amount of rarities -- a grand total of 30 outtakes, live tracks, demos, single versions, soundtrack songs, and B-sides. Despite all of the abundance of material, there are still a lot of essential items missing, as well as several odd inclusions. Many of the group's biggest hits and concert staples are present, but Cheap Trick classics like "He's a Whore," "Downed," "Come On, Come On," "Taxman, Mr. Thief," "California Man," and several others are inexplicably absent. Furthermore, the final two discs bog down with slick radio-ready pop, even though they rescue all the highlights from the band's decidedly uneven '80s recordings. Still, the rarities -- particularly single versions of early tracks like "Oh, Candy" and "Southern Girls," demos like "Fan Club," and a ripping live set -- are usually worthy, even if they might have been better showcased on a double-disc rarities set.
Recorded between 1977 and 1995. Includes liner notes by Ira Robbins and Bruce Dickinson.
Digitally remastered by Vic Anesini (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).
This bonus-laden four-disc boxed set is a dream come true for Cheap Trick fans, and catches latecomers up with the best of the power pop juggernaut's work through 1996. It features not only their pop-canon classics ("Surrender," "I Want You to Want Me") but also alternate takes, b-sides, unreleased tracks, and several live performances. Additionally, former TROUSER PRESS editor-in-chief Ira Robbins and producer Bruce Dickinson provide informative liner notes.

Track List:

Disc one
01. "Hello There - 1:40
02. "ELO Kiddies (single version)" - 3:41
03. "Hot Love" - 2:30
04. "Oh, Candy (single version)" - 3:06
05. "Mandocello" - 4:47
06. "Lovin' Money" (previously unreleased) - 4:09
07. "I Want You to Want Me (alternate version)" (previously unreleased) - 2:59
08. "Southern Girls (single version)" - 3:35
09. "So Good to See You" - 3:37
10. "Down on the Bay (live)" (previously unreleased) - 3:33
11. "Mrs. Henry (live)" (previously unreleased) - 9:36
12. "Violins (live)" (previously unreleased) - 6:12
13. "Ballad of TV Violence (live)" - 4:52
14. "You're All Talk (live)" - 3:55
15. "Fan Club (demo)" (previously unreleased) - 1:01

Disc two
01. "Surrender" - 4:14
02. "High Roller (alternate version)" - 3:59
03. "On Top of the World" - 4:06
04. "Auf Wiedersehen" - 3:41
05. "I Want You to Want Me (live)" - 3:43
06. "Clock Strikes Ten (live)" - 3:54
07. "Dream Police" - 3:53
08. "Way of the World" - 3:38
09. "Gonna Raise Hell" - 9:18
10. "Voices" - 4:22
11. "Stop This Game" - 3:57
12. "Just Got Back" - 2:04
13. "Baby Loves to Rock" - 3:17
14. "Everything Works If You Let It (alternate version)" - 3:56
15. "World's Greatest Lover(demo)" - 4:56
16. "Waitin For The Man / Heroin (live)" - 0:47

Disc three
01. "Day Tripper (live) (alternate unedited version)" - 4:17
02. "World's Greatest Lover" - 4:51
03. "I Need Love (demo)" (previously unreleased) - 3:57
04. "I'm the Man" (previously unreleased) (from the movie Rock & Rule) - 2:11
05. "Born to Raise Hell" (previously unreleased) (from the movie Rock & Rule) - 2:45
06. "Ohm Sweet Ohm" (previously unreleased) (from the movie Rock & Rule) - 2:49
07. "She's Tight" - 2:57
08. "Love's Got a Hold on Me" - 2:36
09. "If You Want My Love (alternate extra bridge version)" - 4:26
10. "Lookin' Out for Number One" - 3:42
11. "Don't Make Our Love a Crime (demo)" (previously unreleased) - 3:34
12. "All I Really Want" (B-side) - 2:30
13. "I Can't Take It" - 3:27
14. "Twisted Heart" (previously unreleased) - 4:17
15. "Invaders of the Heart" - 3:58
16. "Y O Y O Y" - 1:35

Disc four
01. "Tonight It's You" - 4:47
02. "Cover Girl" - 3:42
03. "This Time Around" - 4:33
04. "A Place in France" (previously unreleased) - 3:52
05. "Funk #9 (The Doctor demo)" (previously unreleased) - 3:35
06. "Take Me to the Top" - 4:00
07. "Money Is the Route of All Fun" (previously unreleased) - 2:48
08. "Fortune Cookie (demo)" (previously unreleased) - 3:40
09. "You Want It" - 3:40
10. "The Flame" - 5:38
11. "Through the Night" (B-side) - 4:18
12. "Stop That Thief" (previously unreleased in the U.S.) - 3:55
13. "I Know What I Want (live)" (B-side) - 4:44
14. "Had to Make You Mine" - 3:16
15. "I Can't Understand It" - 3:29
16. "Can't Stop Falling Into Love" - 3:49
17. "Come on Christmas" - 2:32

Release Date: August 13, 1996
Recording Date: Dec 1974 - 1995
Label: Epic
Genre: Pop Rock
Playtime: 263:59
producers: Bruce Dickinson, Tom Werman, Jack Douglas, Cheap Trick, George Martin, Roy Thomas Baker

Personnel:
Robin Zander (lead vocals, rhythm guitar)
Rick Nielsen (lead guitar, backing vocals)
Tom Petersson (bass guitar, backing vocals)
Bun E. Carlos (drums, percussion)