I’ve always loved Cheap Trick and ‘live’ they have few peers but in the studio oddly I don’t think I’ve ever really loved one of their albums completely. Equally Cheap Trick has never put out a bad album, there are always moments, and some albums have more than most, of sheer brilliance. I’m always waiting for that one though.
‘Bang, Zoom, Crazy Hello’ could be close. ‘Heart on the Line’ that opens is classic Trick, hard-edged melody and attitude with trademark guitar licks, great big fun rock and roll. It’s a typically cool start, the question is can they sustain it?
The answer is yes, but that of course isn’t the full story. This slice of Trick has something for everyone. ‘No Direction Home’ (the first single) lays the melody on thick caught between the sixties, seventies and the Travelling Willburys; you could easily see it edging into the live set and staying there. ‘When I Wake Up Tomorrow’ is subtler, more atmospheric with an 80’s pop-vibe. All are cool songs, all very Cheap Trick and it’s at this point you realise two things – firstly that this is real good and secondly that this is real comfortable…
Pressing on ‘Do You Believe Me’ has some nice bite, but it’s ‘Blood Red Lips’ with a nice injection of 70’s Glam, and ‘Sing My Blues Away’ replete with a great big hook and melody to the max that seem to push the envelope a little before we’re back to the relative safe party rock sounds of ‘Roll Me’.
The album rounds out nicely too with the Dobie Gray cover ‘The In Crowd’ which really is well-chosen and nice cover. We close with another three fine tunes ‘Long Time No See Ya’ a bubbly rocker; ‘The Sun Never sets’ a nice sounding late-period Beatles type number and closer ‘All Strung Out’ which ends the album on a frenetic, big pop note.
This is Cheap Trick’s best Cheap Trick album for years and the one I’ve enjoyed most in quite some time…
