Cheap Trick

Cheap Trick....
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of Robin Zander (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead guitar), Tom Petersson (bass guitar), and Bun E. Carlos (drums). Their biggest hits include "Surrender", "I Want You to Want Me", "Dream Police" and "The Flame".
With more than 5,000 performances, 20 million records sold, 29 movie soundtracks and 40 gold and platinum recording awards, the band was honored in October 2007 by the Chicago Chapter of NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences) for their contributions to the music industry.
Randy "Xeno" Hogan was the original lead singer for Cheap Trick. He left the band shortly after its formation and was replaced by Robin Zander. Contrary to an often repeated rumor that the band name originated from a Ouija Board, the name was inspired by the band's attendance of a Slade concert, where Petersson commented that the band used "every cheap trick in the book" as part of their act.
The band released their first album, Cheap Trick, in early 1977, produced by Jack Douglas. While favored by critics, the album was not successful in terms of sales. The album's lone single "Oh Candy" failed to chart. However, the band began to develop a fan base in Japan and "ELO Kiddies" was a hit single in Europe.
Their Album , Cheap Trick at Budokan, is considered one of the greatest rock albums of all time and is a classic. The Japanese refer to Cheap Trick as "The American Beatles".
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Album 1...Cheap Trick
Most of the songs have a more raw sound akin to hard rock bands of the period compared to the group's later more polished power pop style, and the song lyrics deal with more extreme subject matter than later albums. For instance, "The Ballad of T.V. Violence" is about serial killer Richard Speck, "Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School" is about a pedophile, and "Oh Candy" is about a friend of the band who committed suicide. When Cheap Trick performed the entire debut album at the Metro Chicago on May 1, 1998, they played the album in the intended order, starting with "Elo Kiddies". This concert was recorded, and parts of it contributed to the live album Music for Hangovers.
The original vinyl record had "Side A" printed on one side of the label and "Side 1" printed on the other, a humorous touch reflecting the band's conviction that they didn't have any "B" material, although the placement of the track listing on the jacket seemed to indicate "Hot Love" was the first track on the album. Indeed, the matrix numbers on the record show the "Hot Love" side was designated side A and the "Elo Kiddies" side as side B. When the album was released on compact disc in the mid-1980s, it followed the same sequence. However, when the album was reissued on CD in 1998, the band's preferred sequence was used, with "Elo Kiddies" being the first track.

I had this on vinyl back in the day. Only songs I remember from it are Taxman, Mr. Thief and of course Elo Kiddies.

I think they really hit their stride with the next album.

Cool, one of the more eclectic bands out there.

I have the remastered version of CT's debut w/bonus tracks and it's a great listen. Sorta punk, sorta pop, sorta metal, they threw everything into the soup on that record, and it would only get better from here.

This is odd - this is an album I have never actually heard! I never owned it and I can't ever remembering any friends owning it. Nice review - I will start contributing on the next review!

I got this after At Budakan, though I did have In Color and Heaven Tonight before that album. Like Freddy stated, everything but the kitchen sink. Been quite a while since I have even spun any Cheap Trick vinyl. Fun record, but far from their best IMHO

Cool thread!

This is a great album but one I have never managed to own, will have to change that soon.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I have the remastered version of CT's debut w/bonus tracks and it's a great listen. Sorta punk, sorta pop, sorta metal, they threw everything into the soup on that record, and it would only get better from here.

Same here. Although I should break it out and give it a fresh spin. In fact, I should give all of their albums I have a fresh spin so I can have at least one or 2 semi-informed posts.

I moved to Rockford in 1987 (at the start of my junior year) and was reminded often how important this band was to the city of Rockford. I went to Guilford High School, where Rick Nielsen, Bun E. Carlos, & Tom Petersson all graduated from (Robin Zander went to Harlem High School). I had a class with Rick's son Aaron my senior year; he was a year younger. I bagged groceries one time for Robin Zander, when I worked at Hilander Grocery Store and saw him grocery shopping on a couple of other occasions. When "The Flame" debuted as a single in the summer of 1988, it literally was an unstoppable force. I can't tell you how many times I heard that song. I wasn't totally turned off by that tune, but I was knee deep into thrash metal at the time, so hearing that song all the time probably drove me a little nuts. Cheap Trick are truly this cities home town heroes (with the actor Aidan Quinn coming in a distant second).

In regards to Cheap Trick's first album, I liked it, but never loved it. I think they really hit their stride with "In Color".

In Color features a more polished production in the hopes of making a commercial impact. While the band members complained that the album lost its power through Tom Werman's overproduction, In Color does show the band's more melodic side that was partially lost on the debut.
The album made the band superstars in Japan, where "I Want You to Want Me" and "Clock Strikes Ten" were hit singles, with the latter hitting #1 on the Japanese charts.
Interesting thing about this album is in April 2010, Rick Nielsen confirmed to the online music site Spinner that the band had in fact finished re-recording the album and planned to release the new version in "the not so distant future"



To me the studio version of this song sounds alot different from the Live version.

Another one I only have on vinyl. My favorite tracks from this one were not the singles. I like Oh Caroline and Southern Girls. Clock Strikes 10 is great too.

Great album - I had this on vinyl back in the day and listened to it all the time.

I like this more than the debut. "Oh Caroline" is a favorite.

A big leap forward, I love about half of this album.

Excellent disc, and one of my favs by Cheap Trick, a bit more pop then what I was excepting because I was so used to hearing alot of these tunes live, where the band added more weight to them.

Great great songwriting and Robin Zander is an underrated vocalist, the guy has an incredible voice IMO.

Next up is the album 'Heaven Tonight'. This is considered Cheap Tricks best album by many critics and fans alike. It contains the mega-hit "Surrender" as well as the title track and "Auf Wiedersehen". A couple of interesting things about this album is it is the first album ever recorded with a 12 string electric bass....and in the picture of Nielsen on the back cover he has a cassette copy of the 'In Color' release sticking out of his back pocket.
Personally "surrender" is one of my favorite cheap trick songs.

For all their goofiness at times this is a tight band as this album proves. Surrender is one of those songs that is perpetual on the radio yet still worth listening to.

Great album!

I don't own this album and need to change this soon

Yeah, I need to rebuy this one too. I had it on vinyl but for some reason never got a CD copy. "Surrender" is one of those rare songs that I just never get tired of no matter how many times I hear it.

Their habit of putting the long-haired rockers on the front LP cover and the two nerds on the back cover always cracked me up.

Next up is Dream Police. This is my personal favorite album by cheap trick. It was released in 1979. Dream Police shows the band expanding into longer, more complex songs and incorporating orchestration on several tracks. Three videos were produced: "Dream Police", "Way of the World" and "Voices". The title track was a top 30 hit for the band...