Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick

Once largely written off by critics as arena-rock dinosaurs, Rockford, Illinois's favorite musical sons have become darlings of an influential cadre of alternative and modern-rock superstars and the subjects of an overdue catalog upgrade--and for a slew of good reasons. The first of those would be Cheap Trick, the blistering 1977 debut that confounded reviewers nearly as well as it captured the band's edgy song sensibility and musical chops honed by their 200-plus-gig-a-year work ethic. Producer Jack Douglas wisely opted for a deceptively raw tack that captured Cheap Trick's manic live essence better than any other album--save, of course, Live at Budokan. The band's later bubble-gum rep is viciously and hilariously undercut here by songs about youth-culture cynicism ("Elo Kiddies"), pedophilia ("Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School"), mass murder ("The Ballad of TV Violence"), and gigolos ("He's a Whore"), not to mention a tasty cover of Terry Reid's "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace." Guitarist Rick Nielsen's loud, trashy fretwork presaged "grunge" by a good 15 years, and Robin Zander's vocals show why he's since been tagged the Man of a Thousand Voices. And the rhythm section of drummer Bun E. Carlos and Tom Petersson was (and is) one of rock's most underrated. This Sony Legacy "Expanded Edition" restores the album's original running order (the previous version flipped the vinyl's A and B sides) and features new photos, liner notes, and five bonus cuts. One of rock's greatest albums, unsung or otherwise. --Jerry McCulley Amazon.com essential recording

Boarding the Rocket Ship to Glory

Although the world would eventually catch up with them for a short while only to lose track after their short tour as chart-conquering behemoths came full stop, Cheap Trick's eponymous debut was too smart for Kiss fans (although "Surrender" may have eventually won them over two albums down the line with its mention of Mom and Dad groping, fumbling, and mouth breathing on the sofa with Bill Aucoin's charges as a backdrop) and too loud for AOR, Rockford, Illinois' apostles of absurdity figuring the best way to keep `em entertained was to keep `em guessing.

While the liner notes here trumpet the band as one without a past - "literally" - it's obvious this is where Eric Von Lustbader first realized he had a future as a fantasy writer, all four members of the band paying their dues along various mid-west interstates, NOT in the south of France. Perish the thought. Both Fuse and Sick Man of Europe died so that Cheap Trick might live.

If this album had touched down in 1965, "16" magazine would be telling us about the band's favorite foods, colors, and TV shows, everything from their bleeding typeface logo to the juxtaposition of tailor-suited, world-weary men of leisure Robin Zander and Tom Petersson against hopeless mooks Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos all but guaranteeing an army of screaming pre-pube POW's ensnared by a combination of guts, gimmicks, guffaws, teen-pop excitement and middle-age lechery, followed quite quickly by mass-audience megabucks.

Speaking of keeping `em guessing, Zander certainly does his part, occupying a different voice in just about every song, which run the gamut from violence to suicide to teenage sex, changing guises from a guy who has to pee really bad after a long car trip ("Hot Love") to confused, misunderstood and mad at the world ("Taxman, Mr. Thief") to the moderator of a combined Thorazine addiction/Tourette's Syndrome symposium ("The Ballad of TV Violence"). Whatever the circumstance, he's dumb enough to describe raging hormones in heroic terms, a choirboy in a strip club who doesn't quite know which way to turn.

From behind the glass, producer Jack Douglas cleans and polishes the rubble left by Nielsen, a demented guitar whiz in the throes of a psychotic reaction - archetypal superstar grimaces and all - and Carlos, smashing cymbals in Keith Moon's white-noise tradition, into three and four-minute cuddle toys which may not have caused much of a ripple on FM radio thirty years ago, but swagger with all the brazen arrogance of The Next Big Thing.

The money shot of "Cheap Trick's" pie-eyed, metal-studded power pop chaos arrives as the last ringing chord of the Terry Reid cover "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace" segues into massive chord cruncher "He's a Whore," which cooks with gas, a knot of histrionic urgency and St. Vitus dance downstrokes that has nowhere to go and even less time to get there. Throw in the glitzy, bubble-packed "Oh, Candy" to cleanse the palate and pulverize your brain into Cool Whip and - voila! - you're ready for an after dinner snooze.

So this is how legends are born. November 21, 2008

Cheap Trick - A Strong Debut

Cheap Trick are one of those bands that perform basic rock n roll, but have always done it in a way that sounds like no one else. The band consisted of the two poster boys Robin Zander (vocals, guitar) and Tom Peterson (bass), teamed up with two total geeks in Bun. E. Carlos (drums) and the every unique Rick Neilson (guitars). This foursome has been able to carve a nice little niche for themselves in the pop rock world over the years and it all started with this their debut album. This one is far from the band's best, but broke them out of the box as a band to be reckoned with sporting a totally new take on Beatles influenced rock n roll. The first half of this album is great with quirky songs like "Elo Kiddies", "Daddy Should Have Stayed In High School", "TaxMan, Mr. Thief" with it's obvious ode to the Beatles, "Cry Cry" and "Oh Candy" all great tunes. The second half of the album is not nearly as strong to my ears and seems to come off as a bit more conventional. Overall this was a decent debut from the band and a preview of what they would do down the line. September 11, 2008

Yeah I remember this now... I think?

Cheap Trick... hmmmmmmm I dunno should I... gee I couldn't, I shouldn't, ohhhh please don't make me... welllll OK I guess!

CT was one of the bands from the seventies that I couldn't get into but that may have been my fault as admittedly their image (album cover and television spots) bugged me. These guys' image was so darned goofy with a guitarist who looked like something from The Bowery Boys on meth. that I just couldn't take it seriously. And with a name like CHEAP TRICK I assumed they were a bad joke. Besides Rob loved them and musically speaking Rob was an idiot. He had (probably still has) everything Moxy ever put out.

So is this album (CD) worth my hard earned cash for an AMAZON purchase and a place in my beloved digital collection? First of all I'll go to UTUBE and have a look/listen to "I WANT YOU TO WANT ME".

Well that's not really bad and, despite the silly image, it's not laughable like the DWIGHT YOKUM version is. Let's download the MP3s and see...

Oh... now I remember why I don't remember this. They were a cheap trick! It sounds very much like someone was looking for a new formula but didn't have any new ideas. The guitar playing isn't terrible but nothing remarkable by seventies standards or todays. The lyrics are banal, childish and overall uninteresting especially the "Daddy Should Have...." which is really nothing more than a pretty lame take off of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung". Vocally the whole thing sounds like a whiny Alice Cooper although Cooper's melodies were at least melodic whereas these are all half baked and forced. The Mondcello tune is probably the best on the title with some decent moments even if the lyrics are pure nonsense that go nowhere. Lovin' Memory is a Lennon influenced tune that might have been OK if it weren't such an obvious cash in on someone else's style.

Yeah, CHEAP TRICK... I always suspected. June 9, 2008

The greatest 1st album ever !!!

I had a copy of In Color and thought it was great...then I got Cheap Trick and knew what great really was! Raw, edgy, daring, different, POWERFUL, the list could go on and on. In my 35+ years of listening to rock music (starting at about 10) this album still ranks in my "top 10". And yes, that first copy of In Color was on 8-track. This is what non-comercial, American Rock,n,Roll is all about. If you don't like this album, you should have stayed in High School!!! March 2, 2008

Raw and brilliant

Cheap Trick's self-titled debut album is exceptional and is by far the rawest of their catalog. Tom Petersson's 12-string bass is way up in the mix and only adds to the album's rough edge. As for the songs, all of them are very good, even if most of them are only known by their hardcore fans. "Oh, Candy" and "Mandocello" are strong ballads that never get sappy while mid-tempo tracks like "Cry, Cry", "The Ballad of TV Violence", "Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School", and the cover of "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace" are performed with passion and swagger. "Hot Love" and "He's a Whore" are as heavy as Cheap Trick got, bearing no resemblance to the pop/rock of later years. The remaining tracks, "Elo Kiddies" and "Taxman, Mr. Thief" are also very good, featuring Rick Nielsen's majestic sounding riffs. The bonus tracks are also very good, particularly early versions of "I Want You to Want Me" and "You're All Talk." All told, an excellent debut, second only to In Color as their best album, only because that disc has a lot more classic tracks. February 26, 2008

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