Cheap Trick: Classic Or Dud

so, yes, classic. as i've said many a time, if i liked the who outside of a small handful of songs, they'd be more like cheap trick. that is to say a vocalist who has more than one gear, a guitarist who knows more than one key, and a drummer who played with baseball bats (no dis towards mr. moon, one of rock's finest). and, of course, they'd be influenced by glam and punk, so in a way, cheap trick are to the who what guns n' roses are to led zeppelin.

search: the first four records and the authorized greatest hits, which has many of their best tunes of the 80s, a decade unkind to many a great 70s act.

:P

OR WOULD IT??????????? (cue extreme zoom and sinister organ)

1) horny adolescence as subject matter

2) Kiss records mentioned in "Surrender," Kiss itself a Rivers Cuomo obsession

3) loud, poppy rock, man

Obviously this is hardly scientific. And as mentioned, one succeeds and the other eats.

What is their best, rockiest track?

I realized that I was seeing double. Then I realized that I must be very drunk.

If so, FAPpage on this email?

....yet you listen to Good Charlotte all the same.

Cheap Trick POX

He's A Whore
She's Tight
Hot Love
Clock Strikes Ten
Surrender
Southern Girls
Dream Police
Ooh La La
Tonight It's You
Taxman, Mr. Thief

1. "Stop This Game" (it's first note is the last note on Sgt.Pepper's, mo'fuckers!)
2. "Dream Police"
3. "Reach Out" (from the Heavy Metal: the Motion Picture soundtrack)
4. "Elo, Kiddies"
5. "Surrender"
6. "If You Want My Love"
7. "I want You to Want Me"
8. "Surrender"
9. "He's a Whore"
10. "Hello There"

Man, I love The Move, but Cheap Trick's version of "California Man" just slays theirs. And it's never too late to arrive at Cheap Trick: the older I get, the more I believe the purty songs with evil subtexts (which would be, like, virtually the entire early Trick catalogue) are about as great as rock and roll ever got.

How about this theory ... maybe the most important member of the band was the bassist?

Josh, do you still hold to this?!

agreed. trick always goes over well with me...except for, you know, the woke up with a monster era and whatnot.

However, I do think the group's debut is in a category all its own. They never really mixed the heavy and the pop in quite the same way.

Exactly, it's all fuckin' amazing jammers, but that debut just has a tad more of that "unnerving" quality -- a bit more tension between the raw and the beauty.

I always liked that myself! That and "Let Go" were the sleepers from Lap of Luxury.

but the first five albums...flawless. yeah, even dream police.

I'll mention here that they at least gave "In Color" another shot with Steve Albini a while back (remains officially unreleased though bittorrentable). It lacks the excellent Move-like bass sound of the first album though.

Kirk Dyer was the road manager for Cheap Trick. He also did the DJ voice on their song "On the Radio"
Renee: "I LOVED this guy. He was like family. This was taken in Connecticut (Hartford ?) In their RV. Kirk just never stopped clowing around. My friend Paula was in hysterics. "

http://www.bostongroupienews.com/BGNphotos/PhotoPage/ReneeDevine/KirkDyer.jpg

also: please do not ignore All Shook Up, so weird and hard-edged

Ill. lawmakers honor Cheap Trick

The Associated Press
Published June 19, 2007, 1:33 PM CDT

It may sound like an April fool's joke, but it's true -- state senators might declare April 1 to be "Cheap Trick Day" in Illinois.

Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford). has introduced a resolution that would set aside every April 1st to honor the band. Cheap Trick began in Rockford and still has strong ties to the state.

The band formed in the mid-70s and became a national success in 1978 with the album "At Budokan." Cheap Trick has sold more than 20 million albums and performed 5,000 concerts.

Guitarist Rick Nielsen got a warm welcome when he visited the state Senate today. He told lawmakers that the band's achievements include not being convicted of a felony within the past ten years.

The Senate has not yet voted on the resolution to establish Cheap Trick Day.

Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press

It's too bad Obama isn't in the Illinois state senate anymore because I need to know where he stands on this important issue.

He told lawmakers that the band's achievements include not being convicted of a felony within the past ten years.

Man I love these guys.

That is a beautiful sentence.

so great

I'd expect this look/color scheme on Corgan and company, not Cheap Trick!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/homepage/hp8-4-07e.jpg

I heard this song in my head at work today over and over and wanted to tear my hair out for not bringing my headphones. It's the only Cheap Trick song I've ever liked, but god I think it's wonderful. It's like a goth, Beatles-y version of Ozzy or something. Though if you only want to hear the music, you have to wade in to the 1 min 3 second mark:
&

Let's play it again.

I've always loved Rick Nielsen's sene of humor. He always looks weird and clownish too.

http://www.trickworld.com/images/A2.jpg

where the hell does he get his clothing? he's always got crazy threads.

Thumbing about in the (soon-to-close) Virgin Megastore a few moments ago and heard "If You Want My Love". Took me right back it did.

Please help me. I'm in love with this band. I've got it really bad.

"EVERY SINGLE NIGHT THEY'RE DRIVING ME INSANE"

I'm serious, I've heard the rest of the album, and I'm totally in love with this band. And "Dream Police" is a like a good horror movie!

I need to talk to someone about this band. I'm losing my mind. I've got one friend who is into them, and I have to wait until tomorrow if he responds to my email.

"If You Want My Love".

I need to talk to someone about this band because I'm losing my mind.

Americans trying to be as good as the best of the Brits! So funny.

Please someone say "Bimble shut up, I will talk about Cheap Trick with you"

I can't do this goddamn Beatles shit. I didn't do anything to deserve this. I'm in love with this band. Please. Someone talk to me about it. Please.

I'm completely in love with this band. They're trying to take on the Beatles, for the love of god. Help. We Americans will always be inferior. So sad.

Bimble is so happy. This band makes me really, really happy.

THEY ARE SO FUXCKING GOTH

No, I'm dying over this band. Please, someone help me. I'm dying over this band. I need to talk to someone who knows them.

I love Cheap Trick. I will talk to you about their first 4 albums, and also Budokan. Also I heard Rockford is pretty good.

Also I heard Rockford is pretty good.

It's not. But their albums all the way up to the late '80s are (The Doctor excepted).

It's not. But their albums all the way up to the late '80s are (The Doctor excepted).

Really? Everything I've heard from their 80s output makes me sick to my stomach. Just awful shit that's just horribly depressing to hear.

And here's what I read about Rockford, which makes me want to check it out!
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hzfoxqtdldde

Erlewine's projecting.

Actually, I don't think there is a Cheap Trick album that's good all the way through. Even the first four are best served by compiling the best tracks off them, IMHO.

I'm playing the first album for the second time now and even happier with it than the first time, except when they get to "Hot Love" things start to seem a bit cliched and samey.

On first listen, their second album "In Color" was an awful disappointment. The first song is really stupid & pointless and sets the tone. I don't even think Albini's production could save that one. The songs just aren't there.

Third one "Heaven Tonight" was much better, but I was also in a better mood when I tried that one.

Still haven't heard Budokan yet but my friend is gonna call me when he gets the DVD in the mail...

Actually what I'm dying to hear now is what came AFTER the Dream Police album. I don't care if people say it's shit, I need to hear that.

So yeah basically I'm losing my mind over this band, still.

The other day I wanted to post about "High Priest of Rhythmic Noise" from the one after Dream Police. It's all about that ozzy goth beatles thing you were talking about.

In Color and In Black and White is full of the songs, listen some more.

Aww. I'm so delighted to find someone to talk about this band with because my other computer broke and I'm having a problem getting email to work on this Windows 98 dialup bitch! *high five* to you, James!

OZZY GOTH BEATLES FOREVER

(that is my new screen name, btw)

There's a record/CD shop near my work. Maybe I can try to find these post-Dream Police albums there tomorrow or Sunday. Now there's an incentive to go to work! Haha.

http://sk1.yt-thm-a01.yimg.com/image/bb2218adbc697f2a

All Shook Up is the one to get. I love everything up to that, and the singles from One on One.

I saw them several years ago. It was great. Wayne Kramer opened up. I was next to a girl from Japan who had traveled to see them. I gave her a yellow pic, because she only caught a white one.

Oh Candy
ELO Kiddies
Downed
Southern Girls
Surrender
Tonight's It's You
She's Tight
Say Goodbye
Heaven Tonight

http://www.connollyco.com/discography/cheap_trick/dream.html

xpost

That looks like a great set, James!

http://www.connollyco.com/discography/cheap_trick/dream.jpg

http://www.rockcity.gr/covers/CT39751.jpg

Okay so I've failed at posting a pic of the album cover. I told you I was on a shitbitch Windows 98 dialup computer. Give me one fucking break right now.

Look, "Gonna Raise Hell" is rock and roll GOTH. That is absolutely goth, no doubt.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_SLs59nEa4X4/SYQdgpsxavI/AAAAAAAAADE/kUtikbSjfzI/s400/let%27s+put+this+picture+up..jpg

they won't let me alone.

Oh god! It's so beautiful I might cry.

I told the dude at the convenience store just now "if you don't have the Beatles in your life, what do you WANT?" as Cheap Trick pounded in my ears.

No, see, I grew up on the Beatles. They were like when I lost my musical virginity, I'm serious. Everything follows from them for me.

So anyway this song "Need Your Love". Is it not a masterpiece not quite befitting some macho rock and roll band from middle America? Jesus christ.

Peter Frampton can suck it, Ted Nugent can suck it next to them. And come to find out Cheap Trick have an album produced by Todd Rundgren that I haven't even heard yet! Oh man, I've got my work cut out for me!

Also, the end of "The House Is Rocking" sounds like fucking Liam Gallagher from Oasis ripped that off, vocally.

The songs just aren't there.

If that's In Color for you, then don't bother with At Budokan: Six or seven out of 1- repeat.

You mentioned Albini when talking about In Color, Bimble. Were you listening to the AWFUL re-recorded version? That's the problem, if you were. Go back and dig on the original.

No actually I don't think I was listening to the Albini version, but I'm curious to hear that at some point. I'll give the album another try today. My friend says we can watch the Budokan DVD together next weekend, probably. I can't wait! Did I say that already? Haha.

I found a cheap CD copy of "All Shook Up" today, I'm excited to hear it! But first, an "In Color" reappraisal:

"Downed" is pretty cool and goth-y, and I think it's kindof cute the way "You're All Talk" sounds so much like Lindsey Buckingham's doing. I also really dig this "ooooh" sound that keeps running in the background during the guitar solo. Reminds me of the way bagpipes always have this one tone in the background that keeps going constantly. Every time I hear the beginning of "Clock Strikes Ten" it reminds me of the beginning of U2's b-side to the Pride (In The Name of Love) 12 inch called "Boomerang II" so I had to pull that out today. The Cheap Trick song isn't all that special, though. "Southern Girls" is an improvement over other songs here, but I still say this is a pretty weak album for them.

yeah but a couple weeks ago you only liked one of their songs so don't make any hasty judgments

Out of the classic first four, In Color is far and away my favorite.

James was right!!!

The other day I wanted to post about "High Priest of Rhythmic Noise" from the one after Dream Police. It's all about that ozzy goth beatles thing you were talking about.

I already said it on last.fm I know, but you were right, "High Priest of Rhythmic Noise" is BAD ASS! That synth machine voice would make Neil Young jealous circa his "Trans" album.

Oh shit, can't get enough of this band. Gotta get the next two albums as soon as I can.

yeah but a couple weeks ago you only liked one of their songs so don't make any hasty judgments

Haha. Okay, point taken.

Related: I always liked this song from Robin's solo album in the 90s:

All Shook Up is really killing me, now. God, there's some fantastic stuff here. "Who D'King" is jaw-dropping, it really is. Not what you'd expect from them at all! Invite the Bow Wow Wow fans and some reggae kids over for that one. I love "Go For The Throat" and "Everything Works", too.

xpost

Hey thanks Johnny! I'll watch it right now after this song I'm playing.

Yeah I read he was folk singer before the band? That's lovely! I like him, I can't help it.

I can't remember the players on Zander's solo album, but I'd be willing to bet Mike Campbell was present. Totally sounds like some of the Tom Petty stuff from the same era.

Yeah, it's a nice song, Johnny! Thanks! :)

Wow, he did a duet with Ann Wilson of Heart that I just missed by a hair. I wonder if it suxxors.

Cheap Trick + me (a history)

My mom went on a date with Rick Nielsen in high school (they met at his dad's music store).

Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson were the special guests at a Posies show I saw in Nashville in 1996. I got back stage and asked Rick if he remembered my mom and he responded "How old are you? Because I'm not your dad." and then slyly lit up a Cheech and Chong sized joint.

oh shit, dude. You can't lay classic stories like that to me all in one go. Shit I just heard something in my apartment hit the floor that I didn't move. Scary. Are there poltergeists around here? I blame you. You have to spoonfeed stories to me that slowly.

Most interesting, though is you say the Posies were in Nashville in 1996. I didn't know the Posies had been around that long. I really need to mention that band to my friend again. He mentioned them to me years ago and I'd like to remind him of them. I'm going to write that down.

The first Posies album came out in 1988, man.

Oh okay, that's good. So they predate Grunge, then. See my friend and I moved here at the same time, so I doubt he's much more in the know about their earlier years than I am.

Anyway, Cheap Trick. Let's talk about it some more. I still don't have the fucking Rundgren album. That will come in time, I guess.

Wow "Take Me I'm Yours" sounds like they're trying to do Roxy Music! I love it!

Wedding Present have a song called that, too. Gonna pull it out right now.

Squeeze do too. Popular sentiment in pop music.

aw shit, but to put them together is fun!!

I'll have to dig up the Squeeze one, too.

Weezer = the new Cheap Trick?

I think this award should go to Fountains of Wayne

Chainsaw Kittens did a pretty killer imitation for a few years.

"Need Your Love" Budokan version!!! OH MY GUCKING FOD

Get the hell out of town! :)

Bimble's happy-o-meter just took a jump in the red.

No that's the song I want on a desert island. One song by Cheap Trick
on a desert island, and that's the one I want with me.

Oh my god:

ROCK AND ROLL ASSHOLES FUCKING ROCK AND ROLL GET THE FUCK OUT OF TOWN IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT WE ARE TAKING OVER

Inspired by all this I dug out "If You Want My Love" earlier this evening. Still great.

My friend had to cancel our DVD Budokan watching this weekend. Not sure if it was his kids or what. :( Says he got it in the mail and it was all he could do to stop it after two songs and try to wait for me. LOL I was like dude, just watch it if you want to. You don't have to wait for me!

Sometimes it's like they're trying to bleed the Beatles out of my veins - "Everything Works If You Let It"...

I feel all that much more goth in the end. I'm more goth for the experience, I think.

Didn't the 10-inch they put out circa "Everything Works" (in fact, it included a bonus seven-inch of that, I think) include their version of "Day Tripper"?

And wasn't "Take Me" on that, too?

in fact . . . I think

Heh.

See if you can find a video of the 1981 tour. Show began with "Stop This Game" and then went into "Hello There."

Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson were the special guests at a Posies show I saw in Nashville in 1996

Nielsen and Zander also guested on the Posies' "Hate Song," Nielsen doing guitar squonks and Zander doing some screaming.

I know it's going to sound like I've said it a thousand times already, but "Need Your Love"...I need that with me on a lifeboat. Oh my god. What a song, that is just WAY out of the ballpark, even for them as a band. Way past what I ever would have thought them capable of. Jesus.

I just added the One On One album from 1982 to my iPod!!! I'm going to die in a Beatles heaven, soon! I keep trying to deny that the singer of Cheap Trick is hot. I keep trying to deny it and keep quiet about it but god, I'd fuck him three ways from Saturday anytime anywhere. But it's only the most homophobic people that want you to keep quiet the most, that's what I've learned. It's only the most homophobic people who want you to shut up the most. Everyone else is totally bored and doesn't give a shit.

David Lee Roth can suck it.

No, Cheap Trick are driving me clean out of my MIND. I believe that this band is the secret to happiness. This band are driving me out of my MIND. No. No. No. No. No.

Some people love the Beatles and some people don't. Get the hell out of town if you don't.

Anyway, it's not my fault that my friend couldn't get rid of his kids long enough for us to watch the Budokan DVD. That is not my fault.

"She's Tight" is a lot like The Who.

God I bet Rush are jealous of that.

Oh no, this band are putting in me heaven again. "I Want Be Man". Oh man, oh god. Just kill me. Right now, just kill me. Oh no. That is some damn fine music, goddamnit. Help. New wave! God new wave is the best thing that happened to music, ever.

"I Can't Take It". Indeed, the pleasure centers of my brain are overloaded. This band are going to be the death of me, I think.

God, they piss all over hair metal, don't they?

If you want my love, you got it
when you need my love, you got it
I won't hide it, I won't throw your love away

Nope, I'm sorry, this is the best thing that ever happened to humanity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnYwV0ccbqU

But I told you. We Americans will be forever in shame that we didn't come up with the Beatles. We try to make up for it, but we'll never live it down.

"AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!"

classic...In Color and Heaven Tonight

haven't heard the rest of them

First album is still the best.

Oddly enough, I'm hearing their new single all the time on satellite radio

ha, i had in color and heaven tonight on shuffle during my bike ride today. except that i replayed southern girls twice. really theres no way that i should have gone this long without cheap trick in my life. the direct arrows between them and both hair metal and indie powerpop-- srsly i really didnt know. it makes the former seem more tolerable and the latter little more than pale imitation.

This thread is kinda ghosts of princes in towers, huh.

I'm listening to "Southern Girls" again and again tonight: did they ever top this song? There's not much to it, but what sweet ache, especially on the chorus. It makes me miss the south a little bit.

Guys help me. I remember a Cheap Trick song that sounded proto-electro... fast power riffing at the intro sort of influenced by Human League... can't remember the title and looking at their discography nothing seems to ring a bell.

dunno, your description is pretty vague. lot of synths on the late 70s/early 80s cheap trick albums, but only one one one suggests electro to me. did it sound anything like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWXfTum3FxM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiSypDGFLVo

We were in Las Vegas the weekend before last and on Saturday night we were in Paris casino to get dinner. There was a hour and a half wait for the outside tables at Mon Ami Gabi so we were just killing time people watching, peeking in shops, and just waiting around. We were standing outside one of the shops when my friend noticed a pair of show tickets laying on top of one of the planter boxes.

The tickets read "Cheap Trick plays Sgt. Pepper Live - August 14 - 8pm - EMP COMP."

Ummm holy shit that's tonight. Check clock... it is now 8:45pm.

RUN to the Paris hotel theater... "hey are these legitimate tickets?" "yeah, come on in! There's still 45 minutes left in the show"

So we get to our seats just in time to catch the end of "Good Morning Good Morning" and yeah... it's Cheap Trick plus an orchestra, couple backing players, couple of sitar players, and man Zander's vocals sound really fantastic. Hell, everyone sounds great. More to the point it sounds like Cheap Trick playing a bunch of Beatles covers and not a Sgt. Pepper imitation. No Bun E. though (touring with Tinted Windows apparently), but I later find out it's Rick Nielsen's son on drums.

Crack as many jokes as you want about old rock bands playing runs in Las Vegas, but seeing them burn through "Dream Police," "I Want You To Want Me," "Surrender," "Golden Slumbers," and "Carry That Weight" like erratic teenagers instead of bored 60+ year old men was pretty inspiring. Neither of us had seen Cheap Trick before and now I'm wondering what the fuck my problem was for not seeing them sooner.

Punch line to the story. We go back to Mon Ami Gabi to get dinner and Rick Nielsen and a couple of the other band members end up sitting a table away.

saw em a couple times a few years ago and was more or less blown away by the enthusiasm & attack. like seeing a goddam rock and roll band, not some washed up nostalgia act. inspirational.

shit I was gonna see CT in NYC last month (w/ Squeeze @ RCMH!) but didn't for logistical reasons & fear of nostalgia. glad to hear this^^CT were SO high-energy live in the 70s.

i used to have Heaven Tonight but lost it while I worked at Best Buy -- I think someone ganked it from the music station (where we blared our own cds prior to work). gonna have to re-d/l it as it was fantastic. In Color's awesome too.

Did any Minneapolitans go to the Cheap Trick/ Blondie casino show last weekend? I've seen Cheap Trick three times: twice in the In Color/ Heaven Tonight era, and once in the 90s, and that 90s show was still ass-kicking. (I've also seen Blondie three times, and while I'm glad I saw them, they've never been particularly great.)

didn't go but saw one of the three nights of the first avenue stand where they did the first three albums in their entirety

inspirational band for sure.

saw 'em about six years ago @ great american music hall (sf). i heard they almost didn't go on because they didn't think it would be loud enough. but gamh brought in some kinda enormous PA and saved the day. one of the loudest shows i've ever seen, and it was a blast

Anyone see 'em RIP SHIT UP on Austin City Limits? Hella good even with Daxx Nielsen on drums instead of Bun E., who apparently doesn't tour anymore.

(oops E. Telecom mentioned the drummer thing upthread)

A narrow escape.

Robin's alright...Tommy's alright...Rick's alright...they're all alright.

Unfuckwithable unimpeachable genius in the '70s, and "The Flame" is one of the greatest power ballads ever penned.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm303/fearno2/Futurama_Fry_Looking_Squint.jpg

Considering they didn't even write it...

Whoa, crazy! I had no idea...

playing a free show in Coney Island on Aug 18.

http://www.brooklynconcerts.com/seaside.html

^that's tonight, if it doesn't rain

my good friend and infrequent ILM poster chr1s is recording at electrical audio in chicago and just sent me a picture of a stack of boxes of tape in the studio, one reel is marked "Cheap Trick rough mixes 98" -- the legendary albini re-recording in In Color!

Welp

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/07/22/59555.htm

just in time for their 40th anniversay. what a bummer.

bah, anniversary.

"And on the witness stand...Mister BUN...E...CARLOS!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C-jXJl0Zrg

Indeed.

Noticed that Kathy Valentine has filed a massive lawsuit against her former Go-Go's bandmates, too.

So Chunklet sent around links to the 14 CD bootleg collection of outtakes and rarities etc. that's been floating around for a few years. So if you need it:

https://www.wetransfer.com/downloads/26569e26848ee935d86d7699f3985d9f20150420001738/055e01

https://www.wetransfer.com/downloads/59db063c6a2f8f33eb2cec460c4925a820150420001718/cbf510

More info including tracklisting from 2009:

http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f90/cheap-trick-b-sides-demos-outtakes-rarities-14-cds-mp3320-a-88543.html

I wish I wasn't aware of the 92 Cuba gooding jr movie of the same name so I could wonder if "I will survive" from the gladiator soundtrack was a Gloria gaynor cover I forgot played underneath a russell crowe coliseum bout

It's also not a cover :(

this version is just killing me today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL1SgiK2fbU

I was at this show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoFmkE8jSJ4

i keep meaning to post in that one thread, i cant remember the name of it so i can't find it, it's about classic albums or bands that you never heard until recently or are just discovering. way back when i was 11 or 12 and my dad gave me my first guitar and taught me how to play The Kinks "You Really Got Me" on it i remember the same night he was going on about Cheap Trick and Live at Budokan. i ended up inherited the album and loved it but never really explored past that.

well last year i started buying Cheap Trick albums. the self titled and In Color are really the perfect pop music. Beatles style melodies but with shredding guitars, a dumb/silly punk edge, and great lyrics. hearing these for the first time was like cracking a code. suddenly soooo many modern bands make more sense, everyone from Weezer to Andrew W.K., Nirvana to Green Day, CT is so massively influential across the rock spectrum.

"Downed" is my favorite song, no wait, "Hello There" is my favorite song, no wait, "Southern Girls", no wait, let me just flip the record and play it again. nowadays if i start playing a Cheap Trick album i play it over and over again. it's one of the few bands that never fail to put me in a good mood the minute i drop the needle.

that line about the Velvet Underground being so influential, yet nobody really sounds like them, i feel like that's more explicitly true with Cheap Trick. so many bands sound like this, so many bands want to have this energy and write these songs.

Great post!
They are a special band

The Buttons comp from Numero Group has some great Cheap Trick worship from 70s Midwest bar scene

Do you want to hear a great obscure Cheap Trick song? I know that you do.

Dig Hard To Tell from their self titled 1997 album.

https://youtu.be/3KOLDxYcl_0

Also, Cheap Trick is an ideal band for an ILM poll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQDc9loiFuk

I saw them at Shellac's ATP in 2002, held at Camber Sands. From what I remember they played for an audience of around 200 people on the second stage, and yet they were still giving it absolutely everything, with Rick Nielsen still duck-walking across the stage and throwing plectrums into the crowd. Really great, and a privilege to see them in such an intimate setting.

their bromance with albini is very adorable

there's that okay-ish Big Black cover of He's a Whore isn't there

yeah, they kind of a mutual admiration society

they did this too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bsT3EWlsJM

oh nice, will check, thanks. There's the Illinois connection too I suppose

Also Bun E. and Rick (at least) are two of the nicest dudes (which makes it extra weird that they are feuding).

From what I've read, it's actually Tom and Robin who've got the problem w/Bun. Rick was happy to see him at the H.o.F. ceremony.

Huh. I jut figured since Rick's son was playing drums that Rick had something to do with it.

Classic.

Shellac's ATP in 2002, held at Camber Sands. From what I remember they played for an audience of around 200 people on the second stage, and yet they were still giving it absolutely everything

The first weekend they were upstairs but it thinned out massively about halfway through for (I think) The Fall downstairs (or, rather, a queue to get into The Fall downstairs) and they closed the set to about 200, still acting like they were at Wembley.

"Taxman, Mr. Thief" is so cool. also one of the rare sequel songs. imo it is a sequel to the original "Taxman". it pays tribute to the New Wave angular guitar stuff the Beatles were playing w on Revolver (their most futuristic/New Wave record). but its its own song w its only harmonies melodies and as always they are great and backed with cool angular guitar stuff. if you pay attention to the guitar parts, this is basically a Strokes track in 1977.

and there is a sequel to "Hot Love" also in a way (and the "Get It On"-referencing intro to "Oh Candy"). its rare to find a band that wears their influences on their sleeve like this while still sounding super unique and one of a kind. Cheap Trick rules so much.

vocals, guitars, drums, they all know what they are doing. the vocals are so perfect for this kind of music. i guess the closest other bands i can think to them would maybe be Roxy Music or T-Rex. they all do that 50s teenage emo pop-via-70s glam, punk & New Wave.

Oh Candy. That is my favorite.

Worth noting that in the late '70s, the Beatles were not terribly cool. Then you get this young band out of Rockford, of all places, that somehow manages to synthesize not just Beatles but hard blues rock and glam and power-pop, the sort of mix that could equally influence punks and new wave dorks as well as, eventually, '80s hair metal bands. Listening to "In Color" today, I think Zander may be key. He's such an awesome singer.

xxxp thanks Aldo, I remember that now! I think I went and watched the end of the Fall's set after Cheap Trick had finished playing

Y'all heard that unreleased track they did with Lennon? Omg it's fucking siqqqqqqq https://youtu.be/gRxTXHfeg8s

my "adjacent to inside" scoop, based on what i can glean, is that yeah Tom and Robin are not cool w/Bun. Rick seems like he's okay with him. Rick's son is cool w/Bun himself. I think Bun is okay w/Rick and his kid playing drums is probably for him a more respectful move than some random dude taking over.

I watch this dude's channel all the time, and this particular episode is great -- Douglas has a lot of fun stories about this recording, including the fact that it isn't the Budokan show at all, but a different venue in Osaka. They had to resort to all sorts of chicanery to get a decent drum track, too, because the drums were only miced up with two overheads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qchBSQZ5QAM

That was nice, thanks for posting.

New Cheap Trick song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2volrJQ0p2U

Sounds like Cheap Trick to me!

I have been upset with the band for their treatment of Bun E, but I think I just need to get over it.
The new album comes out 4/9.

Just went to Wikipedia to read up, had no idea Bun E. and the rest of the band have been estranged for the last decade. Bummer.

"Tonight It's You" is classic.

The debut is all killer / no filler. In Color, Heaven Tonight, At Budokan, and — in a pinch — Dream Police are similarly fulfilling.

It’s true that, if you lived in the Chicago area in the late ‘70s, Trick was much more visible than in other parts of the US. “So Good To See You” got regular airplay on WLS, and when At Budokan came out (I remember TV ads for it; I don’t remember TV ads for any other record, ever), it was very much a “local boys make good” situation. So we heard “I Want You To Want Me” hourly, and usually semi-hourly.

Their career seemed front-loaded: Neilsen apparently had a stockpile of material, but didn’t really add to it, so by All Shook Up they were essentially bereft of solid material.

In a word, yes.

https://realgonemusic.com/products/cheap-trick-live-at-the-whisky-1977-limited-4-cd-set

Automatic purchase. From the moment I first heard "Please Mrs. Henry" on the boxed set I wished they'd released the whole show(s).

You're not alone there!

Their career seemed front-loaded: Neilsen apparently had a stockpile of material, but didn’t really add to it, so by All Shook Up they were essentially bereft of solid material.

I agree with this. I think for a while the most common CD compilation from them focused on their later recordings which actually discouraged me from looking into them further - eventually I gave them another chance and I was surprised how much was overlooked from those first three studio LP's. Kind of crazy that when they finally broke through commercially, it was downhill from there musically speaking (though Dream Police isn't bad).

Speaking of The Move references (which some of you were 18 years ago), "So Good to See You" squeezes in a bit of "Message from the Country"

Since I’m obviously the person with best taste around here, I am happy to be the first one to mention “Come
On, Come On” as one of the best songs on “In Colour” and a top 10 song for them. Power pop perfection.

I think "Downed" is their most overlooked song; nice to see four mentions in the thread.

Busted out my Trick vinyl and realized: was "Oh Claire" on Heaven Tonight the first unlisted bonus track?

Although I guess that honer actually goes to "Her Majesty".

Just checked my copy, and there is a short song after the five listed ones on side 2.

Yeah, that's "Oh Claire". It finally got listed on the CDs.

It's just that I grew with the received wisdom that "Train In Vain" was the first unlisted album "Easter Egg" (not counting Beatle weirdness).

Okay, I see what you mean...I wonder if some early punk groups tacked on hidden tracks. But I don't know.

How 'bout the tunes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2oHY4RapDY

(Poor quality.)

Damone has no idea what's about to hit him in that scene.

speaking of cheap trick in 80s movies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jh_155r8f0

Two from Over the Edge ('79):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4ejxfhWiJA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCpUq1Tmd0o

I’m only halfway through the Whisky box, but I think I can state with some certainty that this is The Best Cheap Trick Album, and by a significant margin. No goofy studio arrangements or flumpfily-recorded drums to get in the way, far more intense and agitated (and much better recorded) than At Budokan…absolutely everything that was great about Cheap Trick is happening at all times. It’s a total thrill ride.

This isn't the Live in 1977 set from a couple of years ago?

Nope, 4CD box just released by Real Gone:

https://realgonemusic.com/products/cheap-trick-live-at-the-whisky-1977-limited-4-cd-set

Sold out. Is it legally streaming or downloadable?

Neither nor. (Got my copy, it is all that.)

so it is partially on streaming, available on "Out To Get You! Live 1977" - a double album released a couple years ago that is a compilation of songs culled from all the sets available on the new box set (which contains all the complete sets), so you can definitely experience it and i just listened and it smokes for sure

Tbh Robin sounds a little ragged sometimes, but the set rips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BrzW84Iggw

Only just now listening to the Live at the Whiskey box set and goddamn this rips!