CHEAP TRICK

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CHEAP TRICK (1977)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Mandocello, The Ballad Of TV Violence, He's A Whore.  LOW POINTS: Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace.

From the beginning, Cheap Trick had a brilliant idea in their heads to take Beatles-style vocal melodies (even using a Lennon-esque nasal approach in the singing) and give them a really exciting hard rock edge.  Not only that, but they combined that with an almost comic, but suitably twisted, lyrical approach, making for quite a cool sound that, to my knowledge, hadn't been fully exploited before.  Especially since there's a lot of personality within this approach, which is just fine by me.  Plus, they had a bank accountant looking guy behind the drums, and a guitarist with eight necks on his axe!  How cool is that?  And hey, these freaks immediately established themselves as pretty damn good songwriters here - maybe this first outing isn't as excellent melody-wise as the following two albums, as some of those hooks are occasionally obscured by the heaviness, but it's also a pretty consistent affair for the most part.

Another thing that's noticeable here is that the production quality is less slick and commercial sounding than the followups, which I suppose might make this album a fairly ideal place for the edgier hard rock/metal fans to start their Trick collection off with (well, either that one or Budokan).  Not that there isn't some degree of crowd-pleasing stuff, especially the somewhat goofy but wildly entertaining Gary Glitter/T. Rex styled opener "Elo Kiddies" or the often unmemorable "Daddy Should Have Stayed In High School" (which I only put in this category because of the midtempo pop song structure and the 'it's about to break into "Do You Feel Like I Do" at any moment' vocal melody - it's a song about pedophiles, after all!), but still, there's rockers in "He's A Whore" and "Hot Love" that rip your face off and stick in your head to a degree that you can't really find on, say, In Color, so that's pretty cool.  And the exaggerated vocal delivery from Robin Zander is something on pretty much all of them.

Foor all their hard edge and bizarre lyrics, though, their main influence obviously still remains the Beatles (duh).  They even go as far to directly quote them in "Taxman, Mr. Thief", whose actual verse and chorus melodies are far removed from "Taxman" (and strong in their own right), but the way they integrate the 'taxmaaaaan, Mr. Heat' passage into the chorus in a completely different context is pretty cool, and it's got a pretty ominous riff, too.  The pleasant 'lost a friend to suicide' pop number "Oh, Candy" to me also sounds like either Lennon or McCartney could have penned that melody, and it really has quite an affecting flow to it, too, as does the desperate soul-ish ballad "Cry, Cry".  Maybe these aren't unbelievably jawdropping songs, but they have very good melodies anyway, and Trick do their idols proud here.

The two best songs here, though, come at the very end - the ballad "Mandocello" sounds very unlike anything else on here, as it's a mostly atmospheric, dreamy tune embellished nicely with acoustic guitar, keyboards and gorgeous singing/lyrics, but the vocal hooks are just as great as, or even better than, the others, and it's my personal favorite.  In addition, the closing "The Ballad Of T.V. Violence" has intriguing serial killer-inspired lyrics, fabulous vocal/guitar riff interplay in the verses, and absolutely breathtaking screams of 'I WAS A LONELY BOOOYYYYY'.  What a rush to end the album on.  Not that it's quite a masterpiece, though - the overall sound can be a bit uniform, there aren't really any standout mindblowing classics here, and "Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace" completely escapes me.  Plus, In Color and Heaven Tonight strike me as more focused and catchy.  But that doesn't mean this one isn't really worth your time as well.

OVERALL RATING: 8

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IN COLOR (1977)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Southern Girls, Clock Strikes Ten, Big Eyes, You're All Talk.  LOW POINTS: I Want You To Want Me.

Well, there may not be too many changes here from the debut, but the ones that are present are for the better, if you ask me.  Sure, the heaviness of Cheap Trick may be sacrificed a bit for a smoother, more commercial production, but you know what?  I think the balance between pop and metal elements becomes even better here, and the melodies are more consistently strong, which is the important thing.  Plus, there's a bit more variety - music hall-influenced pop sendups, the usual hard rock/metal, funky workouts, glam-styled stuff.  Maybe it's a bit too concise at only 32 minutes long (following in The Beatles' footsteps even more, eh?), but I can forgive that, since Trick were touring on a pretty much constant basis in 1977, and as a result of that, it's certainly understandable that they might not have as much material for this effort.  But this ain't no sophomore slump, you understand.

This is such an excellent album that even the song most blatantly written as a filler of space is convincing - it's so obvious that the 1:40 introduction "Hello There" was conceived just so they could have an opening tune for their live show, and it's incredibly dumb in its' 'are you ready to rock...' premise and its' one-chord driving riff, but it's also so much fun!  And from then on, In Color takes on a pretty immaculate flow, following up with the absolutely menacing tune "Big Eyes", whose main doomy riff and 'biiiiiiiiig eyeeees....' chorus alone propels it to greatness, with the vocal screaming in the more 'rock and roll' influenced verses being more icing on the cake.  Then there's the despair-filled ballad "Downed", with its' bleak, spiraling guitar line that opens things up, and the equally hopeless 'suicide note' lyrics, that kind of throw me off a bit while listening.  Hmm... wait a minute - what kind of lightweight, commercial album is this?

Oh, I know - a lightweight, commercial album that has the studio version of "I Want You To Want Me" on it.  Personally, I consider this song, live or studio, to be extremely overrated - what is it about this wimpy music hall tune that makes it stand out at all over everything else?  It might have turned out somewhat better on At Budokan (it's the version here that became the band's biggest hit, of course), because it's faster and more rockin' there, but still the melody and lyrics are far too repetitively corny for my liking.  It's not really a bad song, but it certainly pales in comparison to the others here, in my opinion.  At least the side closing rocker "You're All Talk" uses that nagging repetitiveness to good effect, because it has such an awesome tight funk riff to go along with those 'please don't gooooo, please don't gooo away from me...' bursts, as well as fantastic rumbling bass and another great, great vocal delivery, from the adrenaline rush verses to the 'YOU'RE ALL TALK!' screams later on.

Like the debut, the second side here again contains a somewhat more awesome stretch of music than the first (not that the first isn't pretty cool as well).  It starts out with another fun tune in "Oh, Caroline", which is equal parts hilarious (with its' falsetto-turning-into-screaming vocal in the chorus)  and catchy (with another fine Beatles-esque vocal melody).  Then it veers off into the furious energy of "Clock Strikes Ten", which is like an explosive late 70's update of 50's rock 'n' roll, done with one hell of an infectious hook over the standard R&R tempo, considerable charisma, and even a clock chime-imitating middle section!  Even better is my personal favorite song on here, the glorious "Southern Girls" (a species who are immortalized in the lyrics).  The main attraction to this one for me is the absolutely fantastic cheerful melody they came up with here, with rolling piano placed perfectly underneath it.  It's like an upbeat pop paradise, and it rocks too, what with the guitars providing an extra heaviness to it!

The last two songs aren't really as fabulous as those, but they still successfully continue the 'most upbeat stretch of the album' vibe to great effect.  "Come On, Come On" has another great chiming guitar opening and amusing 'yeah yeah, yeah yeah' glam rock style backing vocals during the refrain - a nice 2-1/2 minute breather there.  And finally, the closer "So Good To See You" basically lives up to its' title, with a nice, heartfelt charm found in its' melody, harmonizing and vocals for a great taste in your mouth as the album ends.  What a strong collection of songs it is - maybe the sound is still a bit too samey, the short length a bit unfulfilling, and "I Want You To Want Me" a bit too lame for it to get a 9, but hey, the melodies and personality still rule the day, and it's still one of their strongest efforts ever - some even consider it to be the peak of the Trick experience.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5

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HEAVEN TONIGHT (1978)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Surrender, How Are You, Heaven Tonight, Auf Wiedersehen, Takin' Me Back.  LOW POINTS: High Roller.

I really don't like using reviewing cliches to describe the sound of albums, but here goes: Heaven Tonight is probably one of the ultimate representations of the genre they call 'power pop' out there, a culmination of what the band was leading up to on the two previous records. Probably not the best one (since I would never claim something like that without hearing too much of this stuff), but what a combination this record has anyway - if done the wrong way, the band's fusion of heavy metal, a really weird sense of humor, and of course, really commercial and slick late 70's production here (courtesy of Tom Werman) could easily be an absolute disaster in the hands of less talented bands.  But these guys absolutely do so well at it, especially since the melodies here are of absolute prime quality.  Cheap Trick keep throwing extremely catchy, incredibly energetic and timeless power pop gem after another at the listener, all with a sense of considerable presence in doing so.  In other words, this is some great stuff.

This is in so small part due to the album beginning with one of the best songs ever written (and I just don't throw that honor around randomly) in "Surrender", which has a complete balance between all aspects of the Trick sound - the main melody (especially that totally uplifting 'Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright...' refrain) will most likely stick in your brain for all eternity, the energy and vocal conviction is at a high, and the lyrics concerning the parents of a young kid who are actually more 'hip' than he is, are extremely well written for the whole mood of it.  I also love the musical ideas they throw in there to keep it exciting, like the subtle synth use, the great guitar break coming right after the chorus ends, plus the key change right towards the end of the song.  A shattering classic that nothing else on the rest of the album can possibly live up to.

But of course, that doesn't mean you should just turn the album off right afterwards.  If so, you'd be missing out on quite good gems like the melodically dynamic piano pop of "Top Of The World" (which sounds so right in following "Surrender" as the opener as a nice little snappy song), the nostalgic "On The Radio", with its' nice 'play my favorite song...' lyrical slant and slightly annoying, but strangely effective, nasal-like vocals in the refrain.  And how can you forget the totally crazy "Auf Wiedersehen", probably the central example of the band's sense of humor here?  Maybe it's not as melodically awesome as the others, but it's definitely the most intense number here by far, and that factor helps it to leave an immense impression  It borrows the lyrics from some guy's "All Around The Watchtower" (in the 'there are many here among us...' portion) and puts them in a really exaggerated, almost creepy, context.  Add a dose of powerful riffing and screaming outbursts at the end of the song (the whole thing ends with 'suicide!  suicide!  suicide!'), and it becomes a classic.

Even the more straightforward stuff like "Takin' Me Back" and "Stiff Competition" is quite inspired - were they any less energetic and memorable, than I'd probably just dismiss them as overly standard, but not here.  The former's initial refrain ('you're takin' me baaack... I remember it well..') is one of the most unforgettable melodies here, and I love the song's weird, almost robotic use of synths during its' nearly as catchy verses and slick sound during its' great ending (where they throw in another powerful key change).  I'm not gonna be bashing the latter track either, as that somewhat excellent adrenalized riff and great burst of vocal melody ('stiiiiiiiiiiiff competition...') makes it.  And I'm sure their high powered version of The Move's "California Man" has been mostly identified with Cheap Trick by now, since it's given the same rockin' power as the others.

As for the rest of the songs, the only one that I can call weak would be "High Roller", which does have a decent groove, but not much of a decent melody at all, and a Cheap Trick song without melody might as well be on The Doctor or something like that.  The other two, though, are pretty much the usual quality for the album: one of them, the title track, is the biggest departure from the sound here (a dark, epic-style ballad whose slow tempo and doomy guitar riff over the repeating 'would you like to go to heaven tonight?' line make for something almost spectacular). But the other, the closing "How Are You" is essentially a rewrite of an earlier well-known song ("I Want You To Want Me") that's one of those cases where I think the sequel kills the original.  "I Want You..." was too novelty-ish, annoying and repetitive, while this is just an extremely catchy and quirky piano groove with an irresistible refrain and verse melody.  I can't think of a better way to close a near-classic like this one, that's for sure.  Nice album - go buy this one now if you have any interest in the power pop style whatsoever.

OVERALL RATING: 9

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AT BUDOKAN (THE COMPLETE CONCERT) (1998)

(reviewed by Kevin Baker)

I want YOU to want ME!!!!!!!!! Woo-bloodyfrigginshootamonkey-hoo! I cannot believe how absolutely awesome this bad boy is. OK, I'm pulling yer leg---I CAN believe how good it is. Cheap Trick = great power-pop, and they absolutely ruled live for at least two nights of their career. They probably ruled on many other nights, but those other nights can go play with themselves - all I care about is how absolutely fab the 2 nights in late April, 1978 were for the dudes in Tokyo.  Did I mention that one of my school's substitute teachers met the band? Apparently, he's convinced one of the bandmembers wanted to....uh, well nevermind. At any rate, At Budokan just rules my gluteus maximus.  Not literally. I prefer to keep cds off it. But from a figurative point of view.....ok, I'm ranting. I should probably, as a well-respected (HA!) member of the web reviewing community defend my belief that this album is killer diller. Where shall I start?

I'll start with Southern Girls. Oh. My. Stars. How the bloody (insert word of choice) did they do THIS??? I mean, I adore the studio version of the song anyways, but sweet mama....this has got to be one of my favorite live cuts of any song by anyone ever. From the dopey spoken intro to the stolen guitar phrase from The Train Kept A Rollin' to Robin Zander's FAB vox to the cruncheavy guitar to the hooks of the song.....man, oh man. WHAT A SONG!!!! Suffice to say, that one's my favorite. However, everything else is good---dang good---too. I mean, we have the ultra-famous version of I Want You To Want Me. That one needs no introduction; you've probably heard it many times. But that's ok. I'll introduce you. Mr. Reader, this is I Want You To Want Me. I Want You To Want Me, this is one of the folks who reads my reviews. I'll leave you to alone; maybe y'all can share a drink.............elapsed time-----15 minutes.

I see you two hit it off. Well, what else is worth talking about? Howz about California Man? That one just cooks---a great party song! Ok, all of the 2nd disc rules supreme. All of disc 1 rules, too.  Now, the definite winners on disc 1 are the really hard n heavy Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace, Big Eyes, Surrender, and Auf Wiedersehen. Perhaps you've heard/heard of them??? Good! Then I won't waste more space describing them. To sum up, this is an entire concert's worth of great power pop. It's catchy, it's loud, it rocks, it cooks, it rules. Get this. Now. I said now, you lazy $*^$*%^$%!  Pardon my wingdings. Or should I say my numeric keys with the shift held downs. Ha. Ha.

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

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