REVIEW: Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick (Red Ant Records)
- Bill Holmes
Unlike most bands from the 1970's who fell apart but came back for the money; Cheap Trick has been grinding it out for twenty years. A slight bump in the road saw a revolving door for bass players for a few years, but with 12-string thumper Tom Petersson back in the fold, the original Tricksters are once more intact. Everything else has changed, however - the band's long time management has been jettisoned, a new label selected, and symbolically, a second self-titled record signaling a new phase in their career.
Those old enough to remember the remarkable start this band had - four power pop classics spit out at a pace only Elvis Costello could keep up with - probably grew "comfortable" with the band's mid period. Like many acts of the time, as radio changed, so did their window of opportunity. If there ever was a pinkie ring era in rock, it was then, with rock and roll still young enough not to recognize the trappings of styling to the movement du jour rather than just blasting at your own level come hell or high water. The result was a string of spotty records that featured a few sparks of brilliance, many exercises in producer's whimsy, and worst of all for the band, songs written by hired guns. Unfortunately, one of these was "The Flame", a song perfectly suited to Robin Zander's majestic voice, but ammunition for the nay-sayers that more outside material would be the way to go. For many, this is the biggest hit they ever had, their radio legacy. To a band that prides itself on its writing as much as its performance, that's a sore spot.
When you're swimming in career quicksand it's tough to make a move, but whatever got under the band's skin recently may have been the best thing that ever could have happened to them. Cheap Trick is easily the best record the band has made in fifteen years or more, and it's because they are doing what they want the way they want to do it. It's hard to imagine that the mid-80s version would dare include a confessional weeper like "Shelter" on a record, but here it works beautifully. The out and out rockers like "Baby No More", "Anytime" and especially the incandescent "Wrong All Along" kick ass like anything from their prime.
Robin Zander has one of the greatest voices in rock and roll, able to scream or glide from note to note with equal ease, and he sounds as good now as ever. Two of his vocal showcases are also prime hit single candidates - "Carnival Game" and the Beatle-esque stunner "Say Goodbye". Rick Nielsen's imaginative guitar playing is fresh, and the rhythm section of Carlos and Petersson is solid. While the drawn out "You Let A Lot Of People Down" does absolutely nothing for my ears, I could mix the rest of this record with the first four records in my CD changer and be a happy guy. I'd just hope that the closer would still be "It All Comes Back To You", the Lennon-ish ballad that send you off with a smile.
It would have been very easy for Cheap Trick to roll over and die. With their box set release and list of tribute comments from bands twenty years their junior, they could have played the old fart circuit for years, picking up the checks like Journey and Boston do. Instead, they've unplugged the life support system and are back to kick our ass all over again. Watch out, younger bands, the old dog learned something after all.
