| Through The Night > English > Album reviews | |
| Album reviews | |
 |
Cheap Trick(1977) |
| Again, a rockin album from start to finish. This album has that "raw" sound
that I love so much, the sound of a band that's just getting acquatinted with
it's sound. Lots of that sexual innuendo in the lyrics that we've come to
expect. And "Mandocello" is just one of the most beautiful songs I've ever
heard.:) **Dear23 ** It's hard for me to choose between CT albums....I love all of them, even The Doctor :) .... although Heaven Tonight was the first one I purchased, not even knowing their music....I just thought the two guys on the album cover were gorgeous..the rest was history, I played the album & loved the music so much that the next day I went back to the record store & bought In Color & Cheap Trick 77. Being that CT 77 has my two favorite songs on it...Hot Love & He's a Whore, I have to say that is one of my favorites, but I also love The Dream Police, In Color, Heaven Tonight & of course Woke Up With A Monster. **Zandergal ** I adore this album for its diversity. It has it all! The guys really show off their abilities on this one. There are classic, hard rocking songs like "Hot Love" and "Elo Kiddies" then there are rockers with a "dark side" like "Ballad of TV Violence" and "Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School." Plus, there's solid proof that the guys can cover a song and make it their own ("Speak Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace)" and then, as if that wasn't enough, they include one of my all-time favorite ballads, "Mandocello." WOW! ** Lisa J ** Cheap Trick's debut album was a kick in the face to the music world. It's raw guitar and incredible vocals were just what the music industry needed. It is still one of my all time favorite albums. With hard hitting songs like Hot Love, Daddy Should Have Stayed In High School, and He's A Whore, in addition to soft ballads like Mandocello and power pop "ballads" like Oh Candy every song on this album is a keeper. Cheap Trick's debut album showed the world that they were here to stay ! ** jaci k ** My no.1 is a tie between CT77 and CT97 CT77 is really raw. It took me a while to warm up to it, but when I did, I LOVED it. There's not a song on it I don't love. From the hard stuff like "Daady should have stayed in HS" to the ballads Like "Cry Cry". And they still perform these songs just as well today. CT 97 has a real "Beatle" feel to it- (And how could you not like that!?) **Stephanie T ** Their very first effort was a truly innovative,but perfectly underrated album. A great hybrid rock'n roll. Totally unique. It's a pity one and a half decades later this kind of sound had got a huge favor as "alternative rock" ** Kyota ** |
|
|
|
|
 |
In Color(1977) |
|
** Dear23 ** Though it's well known they not at all like Tom Werman's production,you just can't pass over this bunch of well-crafted songs. The song itself has great enough quality to show their,especially RN's ability in songwriting. As Dawn says this is a total power-pop gem flooded with crunchy,catchy rock'n roll! ** Kyota ** |
|
|
|
|
 |
Heaven Tonight(1978) |
| It was the first album I ever bought with my own money. I was 11 when I bought
it in 1979 (a year after it was released). Two events prompted me to buy this
album. One was the movie Over the Edge. That movie ran on HBO several times
during the summer of 1979 and my brother and my friends and I all watched it and
loved it. I rented it on video a couple of years ago, and it seems a bit cheesy
now, but back then it was "cool." My friends and I were all around 10 - 12
years old and we thought the "big" kids on the movie were so rebellious and
cool! haha! And the music made the movie. Cheap Trick, The Cars, etc. I
wanted to be a rebel. ;) The second event was riding to sports club camp on a
bus with my best friend in 6th grade. She'd borrowed her big brother's cassette
player and his Heaven Tonight tape and we played Surrender over and over and
over. It was just such a rebellious, rocking song to young renegade-wannabe's
like us. LOL We were on the verge of becoming teenagers, starting to experience
puberty and during camp a bunch of us girls and boys hung out, holding hands and
smooching. LOL After I returned home from camp, I bought the album for myself.
Strangely enough, at that young age, I thought the cover picture of Robin and
Tom was scary. Being a naive 11 year-old, I thought those two gorgeous guys
were scummy and ugly and much too old for me! Well, I must say that I have
since changed my mind. What on earth was I thinking? ;p I think Surrender
stands the test of time and is one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Each
song is special, but my favorites on this album are Surrender, On Top of the
World, Auf Wiedersehen, and Stiff Competition. ** Jan ** This yielded them what I think of as an anthem of a generation in Surrender. Another great mix of songs. The only song that doesn't thrill me on this album is "How Are You"? ** Stephanie T ** |
|
|
|
|
 |
Dream Police(1979) |
| Quite simply THE BEST Cheap
Trick album ever recorded! I think what I like most about this album is that it
pretty much rocks all the way (with the exception of "Voices," gotta have
something to slow the pace for a bit). The perfect album to start your day
with, in my opinion.:)
** Dear23 ** This must be the most ambitious album they ever made. A great mix of pop stuff and heavy stuff. One of the pinnacle of their recording career. ** Kyota ** |
|
|
|
|
 |
One On One(1982) |
|
** Lisa J ** Like blowing out the loss of Tom,RN's almost furious guitar and RZ's screaming voice going through the whole album. And Roy Thomas Baker catch the real Cheap Trick sound perfectly. The effort is a composition of a bunch of totally rocking songs and a striking power ballad IYWML! Even if you'd think "Saturday At Midnight" marked a stain,this album is still hard-rocking! And remember this album was released in the year of the heyday of that polished "New Wave Music"! ** Kyota ** |
|
|
|
|
 |
Busted(1990) |
| Coming out two years after their "comeback" album Lap of Luxury,Busted is in my
opinion, an even better album than its predecessor. Great mix of ballads and
rockers and the whole collection holds up to repeated listenings. I even love
the production on this one and I am not a Richie Zito fan! Stand out tracks are
Walk Away, Had to make you Mine and the title cut. ** Dawn864 ** I can't deny Busted is my least favorite CT album,though,still I love many of the songs on it.My favs are 1st songle "Can't Stop Falling Into Love" Striking live starter "Busted" very trick-ish "I Can't Understand It" beautiful ballad "Walk Away" and nicely catchy "Had To Make You Mine"(Thanks Dawn turned me on to this song) I love the producing of Richie Zito,but I just don't think he can catch the "real" CT sound. ** Kyota ** |
|
|
|
|
 |
Woke Up With A Monster(1994) |
|
|
|
| I can't
pinpoint exactly what it is about this album that makes me love it so. Perhaps
it's the good mixture of hard-rockers and ballads. I love the hard edginess of
You're All I Wanna Do, Girlfriends, and Our Gang, the sweet vocals in Never Run
Out of Love, Didn't Know I Had It and Tell Me Everything, the story-telling
lyrics of Let Her Go and WUWAM, and let's not forget the sexual entendres of
Ride The Pony and Love Me For A Minute. It's the mixture of styles; its the
SOUND of the songs. Let's just face it -- it's an album with an amazing SOUND.
Not a bad song on the entire album, in my opinion. Some people don't care for
songs they feel are "un-Cheap-Trick-like" such as Ride the Pony, but I love it.
The raunchier, the better. And that's what makes Cheap Trick so amazing. None
of their albums sound the same. They're always progressing, experimenting with
new styles, yet retaining their hard-rocking edge and interesting
lyrics. **Jan ** After 17 years with Epic Records, Cheap Trick parted ways with their label to join forces with Warner Brothers. And while this union was short lived, it resulted in another one of my favorite albums; Woke Up With A Monster. Monster has all the ingredients that made their debut such a hit among fans. With all their crazy antics, sexual innuendoes and killer power pop melodies, Woke Up With A Monster is a force to be reckoned with. Getting back to basics, Cheap Trick does things their way on this album. With the band writing, or co-writing 10 of the 11 songs on this album, we got to hear many new treats, as well as some old. Girlfriends is an old song of Rick's that was looking for a home. It certainly found one on Monster! Cheap Trick's Woke Up With A Monster is ear candy to say the least. There are at least two rockers for each ballad on this album, which is good for all the rock and rollers out there! With Monster, Cheap trick shows they are back and are still "raising hell." This album has always been in heavy rotation on my stereo. Oddly enough, the first three or four times I listened to it I was a little put off by it (don't ask me why). This album, unlike most of CT's work is one you have to listen to a few times for the songs to grow on you. And that is a good thing! Although Monster has largely been ignored by the record buying public and has even gotten some ribbing by fans this is definitly one of their best bodies of work. Stand out tracks are the title cut, Didn't Know I Had It and the funky Ride The Pony. Don't laugh... Woke Up With A Monster- Like the above 2 albums, with the exception of "Ride the Pony" (sorry Robin)- there isin't a song on this album I don't love. Beautiful Ballads like Didin't Know I Had It" and "Tell Me Everything"- both so bittersweet. Great screamers like "WUWAM". I just don't get tired of playing this album. **Stephanie T ** It's known Ted Templeman did almost nothing on this
album,but his "let them do what they like" style of producing totally worked! :)
As a result,this very "Trick-ish" masterpiece was born and they brought
themselves on the right track once again. Includes many great songs,but "Didn't
Know I Had It" would have to be my favorite. I think it's one of the best song
RN ever written.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Cheap Trick'97 |
|
I love every song on this album. From the tear-jerking Shelter to the
hard-assed You Let A Lot of People Down. My favorites are Hard To Tell and
Carnival Game for their rocking bounciness, It All Comes Back to You, for
Robin's incredible voice and sentimental lyrics, and Say Goodbye for the amazing
harmonies. Their "Beatlesque" sound shows through really well on this album,
too, especially in Yeah, Yeah. This album marked a "comeback" for me as a Cheap
Trick fan. Although I'd first discovered them in the late 70s with Heaven
Tonight, and always considered them one of my favorite bands, I'd gotten a bit
"out" of Cheap Trick in the late 80s/early 90s. I had gotten into heavy metal
and was really into other bands such as Queen, Metallica, Whitesnake and Def
Leppard. Still, I never forgot the impact Cheap Trick had on me as a child and
the attitudes their songs inspired in me as a young teen. Surrender was a song
that always hit me square in the heart and gave me rock & roll shivers up
and down my spine. To me, Surrender (and Cheap Trick) symbolized 70s rock. But
there were a few years when Cheap Trick was not the band at the top of my
list... until I saw the Hard Rock Live concert advertised on VH1 in 1997.
I made sure I was in front of my TV when it aired, not only to watch it, but
also to tape it. In addition to I Want You to Want Me, Dream Police and
Surrender, they played Carnival Game and Say Goodbye. I was spellbound. I
immediately went out and bought CT '97. I was back! I'd finally regained my
senses and Cheap Trick regained its spot in my heart as favorite
band.
** Jan ** After a brief stint with Warner Brothers Records, Cheap Trick again decided to take their music in another direction. And like the previous record, Cheap Trick 1997 was moving forward. The black and white cover art was a nod to their first album. Self titling this album as well was a re-birth for the band. Quite simply, this is the definitive Cheap Tick album. Life long fans will always have a soft spot for the debut, but Cheap trick 1997 wrangled in a heard of new fans! Cheap Trick 1997 is a quintessential rock album, and my favorite Cheap Tick album by far. Staying true to themselves this album is pure and simple rock and roll. Opening the album is Anytime, a steamy invitation to rock. Shelter is a look into the personal lives of the band members, it reminds me very much of John Lennon. With it's catchy chorus, one can't help but sing along with Yeah, Yeah. There is no song on this album that I don't like. If I were trying to get someone to listen to Cheap Trick, I would definitely send them to buy Cheap trick 1977 and 1997! ** jaci k ** This one is a close second for many of the same reasons that I love CT77. After over 20 years, CT proves that they've still got it! It's such a great collection of songs - a wonderful return to form. I remember listening to it for the first time. During Rick's solo in "Carnival Game" I literally jumped up and down and shouted, "YEAAAA!" ** Lisa J ** And each one is perfectly characterized by Robin's amazing voice and distinctive instruments as always. Now they are perfectly free from the major label. It's not too much to say their firm intentions brought CT'97 to perfection. ** Kyota ** |
|
|
|
|
 |
Silver(2001) |
| Recorded in celebration of the
band's 25th Anniversary, Silver truly proves where the band is at its
best--live, on stage. A killer set list is added by strong performances. If you
wore out your copy of Budokan this is a more than worthy successor. Among my
favorite parts of the double cd set are getting to hear Rick sing lead vocals on
World's Greatest Lover and getting to hear the CT kids Miles, Daxx, Holland,and
Ian contribute their talent as well to the proceedings. Buy this one today!!
** Dawn864 ** This set of two CDs is well packng the whole career of "live band" Cheap Trick and their versality in music. Great selections,energetic play and notable guests. If you start collecting CT catalog or wondering which of the CD should buy first,this album is one of the best choice! ** Kyota ** |
|
|
|
|
| Special thanks to: Allie, Dawn C, jaci, Jan, Lisa J, Stephanie T, and The West Coast Dawn |
|
| Through The Night | |
