Great Rock Albums of 1988: Cheap Trick- Lap of Luxury

Today’s post comes compliments of 2Loud. The reason for this is because by 1988, I thought Cheap Trick had disappeared into obscurity and I was left to simply enjoy memories of classic albums such as “Dream Police” and “Cheap Trick At Budokan,” Fortunately, 2Loud’s recent series on Cheap Trick alerted me to the many albums I had missed after the 1982 “One on One” album. After reading, 2Loud’s post on the 1988 “Lap of Luxury” album and how successful it was in the US, I had to put it on my list.

Memories of Cheap Trick came flooding back with opening riffs of “Let Go.” Hearing that gave me reassurance that they hadn’t gone anywhere and had not lost their touch. While I try not to let other reviews on albums effect my own, I can’t help agreeing with 2Loud’s point that they were (probably under the record label’s direction) trying to adapt to the pop of the 1980s. That comes through on the second track, “No Mercy.” It’s obvious to me that it’s still Cheap Trick playing the song, Robin’s vocals are too unique, the drums seem to be turned up to synth pop level and while this is no intent against what a great drummer Bun E. Carlos is, it does detract from the song a bit.

Another reason why the album passed me by is that I was already established in England by this time and the album made no headway there. Case in point, the band’s only number one single, “The Flame.” It only reached number 77 in the UK charts and therefore went pretty much unnoticed. That was a damn shame because even though it’s a ballad, Rick Neilsen shows he still can bend the six string to his will with a cool acoustic guitar intro followed by a his best guitar solo on the album. For me, this is the best song on the album.

“Space” sounds very 80s to me with the keyboards but there is the drone of the guitar in the back to make it hard rocking enough. There is another good guitar solo from Rick and I like the backing vocals on it. However, the singles seem to be the best songs on the album because “Never Had a Lot to Lose” is a traditional Cheap Trick rocker. It has the harder guitar with the new wave melody. Robin’s diverse vocal style definitely makes the song but it might have been better if Rick had more of a guitar solo on it but that’s up to debate.

On the other hand, while I can understand why they might have wanted to release the cover of the Elvis classic, “Don’t Be Cruel.” as a single, I wonder if it should be on the album, let alone released as a single. Don’t get me wrong, I like Cheap Trick’s spin on it but in comparison to the rest of the album, it feels a little out of place. Saying that, it’s growing on me a little. Things do go back to normal with “Wrong Side of Love” where I love Tom Petersson’s bass work on it and I’m glad that he rejoined the band when I hear him. Rick’s guitar work is great as well and together, they make “Wrong Side of Love” the hidden gem.

Here’s my one thought of a flaw on the album. It’s simply a case of song order. I think that tracks eight and ten should have been swapped around. To my ears, “All We Need is a Dream,” would have been a better closer. It’s a ballad but the intro stomps it’s authority in a way that tells me that this is the end of the album. Robin’s vocals assist on this point and the way the band all seems to come together on the song just screams “Closer!” All Wound Up” is a good song too but it would have been better placed anywhere from tracks 2-8. Penultimate track “Ghost Town” is best left where it is as it does serve as a great set up to whichever song is going to be the closer. It’s a ballad and Robin nails it with vocals and there’s nothing wrong with an album finishing with two ballads had they swapped those tracks around.

Track Listing:

1. Let Go
2. No Mercy
3. The Flame
4. Space
5. Never Had a Lot to Lose
6. Don’t Be Cruel
7. Wrong Side of Love
8. All We Need is a Dream
9. Ghost Town
10. All Wound Up

Cheap Trick

Robin Zander- lead vocals, rhythm guitar, synthesizer

Rick Neilsen- lead guitar, backing vocals

Tom Petersson- bass, backing vocals

Bun E. Carlos- drums, percussion

“Lap of Luxury” was the first album where outside songwriters were used. In the case of this album, it worked, at least in the US. I can say that while “Lap of Luxury” will not make me put away all those classic albums from the late 1970s, it’s still a good album and it was great to see that the band was still chugging away.

Next post: Tracy Chapman

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Note: I have been told that “Rock and Roll Children” is available as an e-book but this hasn’t been made known to me.

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Great Albums That Were Lost in the Cassette Player

For those who have been following me for awhile, you will know that back in the early 198os, I owned a lot of cassettes due to my very limited living space when I was in the marines. Even after I got out, while I began buying vinyl again, I still bought a good amount of cassettes. My logic at the time was you couldn’t play records in the car and I need my travelling music. While cassettes had the advantage of being very compact, you could fit one in your shirt pocket, they had the disadvantage of being susceptible of destructing. They could easily get mangled in the player and often times brake. I found this extremely frustrating. While the percentage of cassettes lost was small compared to the number I owned, it still upset me when I lost one to the machine. So, as an in between the years post, I will play homage to all the great albums that were mangled by a tape player.

The famous ammo cans . I thought this would be a good excuse to put this picture in the post.

Others that succumbed but I don’t have pictures for

Slayer- South of Heaven

The Dreggs- Unsung Heroes

The Who- recorded from the radio

Copperhead

There could be more but these are the ones I definitely remember. However, other cassettes weren’t mangled in the machine but wore out another way. When played they began to have a hiss sound on them. Eventually, this hiss got louder and present on more of the tape until it was unplayable. There was the odd tape where that started but it stopped and played normal again. Unfortunately, others didn’t so here is a tribute to those cassettes that were lost in this manner.

As you can see, many a great album fell victim to the dreaded tape player one way or the other. Thank God for CDs and more modern means of listening to music as I don’t have that problem anymore.

Next post: 1984

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Great Metal Albums of 1982: Hanoi Rocks- Self Destruction Blues

First of all, no one spotted the mistake in my last post. Boppinsblog came close as he pointed out that “Live At Budokan” was a Cheap Trick album, so one 80smetalman gold star awarded there. But that wasn’t the mistake I was referring to. Boppinsblog was close though because the mistake had to do with the quote from Wayne’s World. See, the quote I used on the last post was from Wayne’s World 1 while the photo below it was from Wayne’s World 2. I’m afraid that no one gets the grand prize this time.

Now onto the second album in 1982 from Finnish glam metallers, Hanoi Rocks. When I visited the predecessor, “Oriental Beat,” I commented on what a great feel good, party album it was and I stick by that. I won’t be so flowery about the second album, “Self Destruction Blues.” The album just simply bloody rocks!

Just about every track on this album is an absolute corker and one thing that it has in common with its predecessor is that each songs seems to improve as the album progresses. Except for maybe “Whispers in the Dark,” that’s not quite as good as the others. However, putting it first wouldn’t be a good idea because “Love’s an Injection” is such a great opener. If you think that “Problem Child” was a cover of the AC/DC classic, it is nothing of the sort. It’s still a cool song.

What I find about most of the songs on this album is that the titles of the songs hardly appear in their song. “Desperado,” my favourite track, is only sung once. If I didn’t have the title in front of me, I would have thought it was called “Ten Thousand Heartaches.” Nevertheless, the song is just brilliant so full marks to the band for that little twist. The same can be said for such other cool tracks like “Beer and a Cigarette” and “Kill City Kills.” Again both are great tracks. The title track is actually done in a blues fashion and it’s good to hear Michael Monroe’s voice stretching out a bit. Full marks to the band again. The closer, “Dead by Xmas,” in my mind is a case of Bon Jovi meets The Clash. I mean the piano sounds very similar to that on the first Bon Jovi single “Runaway.” Then when the song kicks in, it sounds very much like The Clash but it’s well done. In fact, I think the humour that went into the album, along with some fine songs, make “Self Destruction Blues” a fantastic album.

Track Listing:

1. Love’s an Injection
2. I Want You
3. Cafe Avenue
4. Nothing New
5. Kill City Kills
6. Self Destruction Blues
7. Beer and a Cigarette
8. Whispers in the Dark
9. Taxi Driver
10. Desperado
11. Problem Child
12. Dead by Xmas

Hanoi Rocks

Michael Monroe- lead vocals

Andy McCoy- guitar

Nasty Suicide- guitar

Sam Yaffa- bass

Gyp Casino- drums

After the recording of the album, Gyp Casino would leave the band and be replaced by Razzle

Another fun hard rocking album from Hanoi Rocks in 1982. Had I been more aware of this band in the year, I would have concluded that Finland must be a place to rock because albums like this one certainly give that impression.

Next Post: Saxon- The Eagle Has Landed

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Great Rock Albums of 1982: A Flock of Seagulls

I first heard of A Flock of Seagulls on the radio when it was advertised they would be opening for Cheap Trick at an advertised concert. While, I thought nothing much about it at the time, I wondered after hearing their debut self titled album and comparing it to the albums I’ve heard from Cheap Trick, if this would have made a good combination for a concert. As we already know, Cheap Trick are known for  for their hard rock sound but A Flock of Seagulls had a much more progressive sound and were considered very new wave at the time. It only leaves me wondering how a concert like this would have gone down.

Some have argued that A Flock of Seagulls were the springboard that made it possible for progressive rock to descend into synth pop. Their sound is very keyboard oriented but it sounds nothing like the music which would come out a year or two later. Of course, synth pop was already making a name for itself in the UK but I can’t put that branding on this band.

Their first offering to my ears was their biggest song, “I Ran (So Far Away.) I did and still do like the way the keyboards are used in the song. It has a relaxing, reassuring feel to the song and you can appreciate that the band are capable musicians. The rest of the album also generates this same mood but the songs that stick out most for me are “Modern Love is Automatic,” “Space Age Love Song” and the instrumental “DNA.” In my view, this is a great album to lay back, mellow out and just appreciate.

Track Listing:

1. Modern Love is Automatic

2. Messages

3. I Ran (So Far Away)

4. Space Age Love Song

5. You Can Run

6. Telecommunication

7. Standing in the Doorway

8. Don’t Ask Me

9. DNA

10. Tokyo

11. Man Made

A Flock of Seagulls- Also this haircut would also be a trademark for the band

Mike Score- lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar

Paul Reynolds- lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Frank Maudsley- bass, backing vocals

Ali Score- drums, percussion

In 1982, A Flock of Seagulls heralded an age of new wave into music. Their melodic, progressive sound was truly original and yet enjoyed by many.

Next post: Men At Work- Business As Usual

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Great Rock Albums of 1982: Cheap Trick- One on One

For many people in 1982, it was assumed that Cheap Trick had descended from the height of their popularity. True, their songs weren’t getting so much airplay on radio in those days but they were still selling records and were still a big concert draw. It was only on account of military obligations I didn’t see them that year. Nonetheless, what could be said about them was that their album “One on One” was a good one. I’ll be the first to say that it’s not quite as spectacular as classics like “Dream Police” or “At Budokhan,” but being not quite as spectacular doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a great album, it was.

“One On One,” for me, comes in three acts. Act 1 consists of the first three tracks, all of which more of a pop rock sound. Well, as pop as Cheap Trick could get. Two of those tracks, “I Want You” and “If You Want My Love” were released as singles and I remember the latter being played on MTV when my household finally got the channel a year later. Those songs may have been recorded for radio but they still have the Cheap Trick sound that we all love them for.

Act 2 is my favourite part of the album because they go even more hard rock here. The fourth track, “Oo La La La” makes the transition a very enjoyable one. Especially as my favourite song on the album, “Looking Out for Number One” follows right after. Following that, Cheap Trick show that they could still combine hard rock with humourous innuendo in the song, “She’s Tight.” However, Act 3 is the weakest part of the album in my view. They go a bit more 80s mainstream synthesizer rock with these songs and while they are still good songs, Act 3 isn’t as good as the second act. Although they also show their sense of humour with “I Want Be Man,” which sounds like it’s about wanting to be transgender. Fortunately, they take things out very well with the rocking closer, “Four Letter Words” and with everything, “One on One” goes on to become a very good album.

Track Listing:

1. I Want You

2. One on One

3. If You Want My Love

4. Ooh La La La

5. Looking Out for Number One

6. She’s Tight

7. Time is Runnin’

8. Saturday at Midnight

9. Love’s Got a Hold On Me

10. I Want Be Man

11. Four Letter Words

Cheap Trick

Robin Zander- lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards

Rick Nielsen- lead guitar, vocals

Jon Brant- bass, backing vocals

Bun E Carlos- drums, percussion

The moral of the story with Cheap Trick and “One on One” is never write off a band just because their songs aren’t getting played on AM radio anymore. Cheap Trick still put out some fine albums in the 80s and “One on One” is certainly one of those.

Next post: A Flock of Seagulls

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Great Soundtracks of 1981: Heavy Metal

If I have to think back in time and pick out one major turning point in what made me the metalhead I am today, it would have to be this film and its superb soundtrack. Back then, I only thought of heavy metal music as a concept and it wouldn’t be until I left the marines two years later that I would actually call myself a metalhead but after seeing the film and listening to all the great music on the soundtrack, it was safe to say that I was well on the road to becoming one.

Even though as a film, “Heavy Metal” was dismissed by some critics, even science fiction ones, I thoroughly enjoyed it. When you’re twenty years old and your mind is under the influence of certain substances, seeing a space ship open its cargo door and then an astronaut comes out of it in a 1953 chevy corvette parachuting to Earth is mind blowing. For those who haven’t seen the film, the mentioned scene happens to be at the beginning. The astronaut drives home and is met by his daughter. He then gives her this gift which is a large green globe. The globe melts the father and then tells the daughter its going to kill her after it shows her six stories about how it is the sum of all evil. It is these individual stories that make the film. My personal favourite is story two, “Den” about a nerdy teen who gets transported to a fantasy world where is is this muscular hero who gets all the girls. For months, I went around repeating Den’s  lines from where he first discovers he’s in a new body. “No hair, mmm big.” Then the nerdy voice (done by the late John Candy) says, “There is no way I’m walking around this place with my dork hanging out.” And then later in that story, after he sleeps with the evil queen, “Eighteen years of nothing and then twice in one day.” Sorry, small things amuse small minds. While those lines amused me, the one that became the standard for me and my buddies was from story five when the two stoned aliens badly dock their space ship. Voiced by the late Harold Ramis: “One thing I know how to do man is drive when I’m stoned.”

Chevy Corvette parachutes to Earth

You find out at the end that the entire film is tied to the very last story, “Taarna.” Taarna is the last descendant of a warrior race known as the Taarakians, who after extracting vengeance on the barbarians who destroyed a peaceful city, sacrifices herself so the green globe can’t take over the world. Her blood is in the young girl who becomes the new Taarakian defender. Yes, I thought the ending was a little naff but after watching the other six stories, I didn’t really care. Besides, it was this last story that has instilled my fondness for ladies wielding swords. That might be too much information.

Taarna with her sword

Enough about the film, lets move to this fantastic soundtrack. I don’t use the term “fantastic” loosely here because I really believe it about this soundtrack. It’s a who’s who of great rock and metal artists from the period. Two bands, Grand Funk Railroad and Blue Oyster Cult were listed in my honourable mentions category in great heavy metal influences. Then there’s a song by Nazereth, whose album “Hair of the Dog” could have been used as a blue print for the creation of metal. Note: the Nazereth song on this soundtrack wasn’t from that album but it’s a good one nonetheless. Up an coming Sammy Hagar demonstrates why he would rise to glory in his own right with the song he plays here. There are also two great songs from Cheap Trick and my favourite Devo song and the soundtrack’s more tender moments give us “Open Arms” by Journey and ones from Stevie Nicks and Donald Fagen. And of course we can’t forget the contribution from one of the metal’s founding fathers, Black Sabbath. What better song for this soundtrack than “The Mob Rules.” However, the one song that gained the most notoriety was the second title track, (there are two on this one) by former Eagles guitarist Don Felder. If the soundtrack and film set me on the road to being a metalhead, it was this particular song that was the engine driving it.

Black Sabbath

Blue Oyster Cult

Track Listing:

1. Sammy Hagar- Heavy Metal

2. Riggs- Heartbeat

3. Devo- Working in a Coal Mine

4. Blue Oyster Cult- Veteran of 1000 Psychic Wars

5. Cheap Trick- Reach Out

6. Don Felder- Heavy Metal

7. Donald Fagan- True Companion

8. Nazereth- Crazy (A Suitable Case for Treatment)

9. Riggs- Radar Rider

10 Journey- Open Arms

11. Grand Funk Railroad- Queen Bee

12. Cheap Trick- I Must Be Dreamin’

13. Black Sabbath- The Mob Rules

14. Don Felder- All of You

15. Trust- Prefabricated

16. Stevie Nicks- Blue Lamp

Journey

Cheap Trick

One useless piece of information: When I visited Journey’ “Escape” album, I mentioned that “Open Arms” was Mrs 80sMetalman’s and mine first dance song at our wedding. Actually it was the CD from this very soundtrack that was used for it. See, that’s how good this soundtrack was. Not much more I can say about it as the songs speak for themselves.

Next post: Thin Lizzy- Renegade

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Great Rock Albums of 1981: Cheap Trick- All Shook Up

 

Cheap Trick’s album “All Shook Up” was yet another album that passed me by when I was on sea duty in late 1980/early 81. I had heard they had put out a new album and it was in my mind to get it once I got back to the US but for some reason, I never did. My loss and it was one that I now regret because after finally listening to it, I realise how good it actually is.

The main problem for Cheap Trick was that “All Shook Up” did not have the radio playability as their previous album, “Dream Police.” I honestly can not remember any songs from the album played on FM radio around the time. True there’s no top 40 single like “Dream Police” or “I Want You to Want Me” on this album.  Therefore, many people, not just me, allowed it to pass them by and I am sure that I am not the only person who regretted this because I can now say that this is a really good album. It proves once more that Cheap Trick can rock and have fun at the same time. The songs are all good rocking fun especially the last five or so. “I Love You Honey But I Hate Your Friends” is a classic example of Cheap Trick doing what they do best and “High Priest of Rhythmic Noise” is another one. Saying that, the band remains tight through all of the songs with all the trademark aspects of this great band.

Track Listing:

1. Stop the Game

2. Just Got Back

3. Baby Loves to Rock

4. Can’t Stop It But I’m Gonna Try

5. World’s Greatest Lover

6. High Priest of Rhythmic Noise

7. Love Comes A Tumblin’ Down

8. I Love You Honey But I Hate Your Friends

9. Go For The Throat (Use Your Own Imagination)

10. Who D’ King

Cheap Trick

Robin Zander- lead vocals

Rick Nielson- lead guitar, backing vocals

Tom Peterssen- bass, backing vocals

Bun E Carlos- drums

Thinking back, I believe that one of the reasons “All Shook Up” passed me by was that I got a letter from my sister telling me that her heart throb Tom Peterssen left the band shortly after it was released. I know that put her off buying the album or otherwise it would have been there for me to borrow and listen to when I got home. My excuse and I’m sticking with it. It was a definite shame because I now realise that I have been missing about on a great album for over three decades.

Next post: Frank Zappa- Tinseltown Rebellion

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Great Soundtracks of 1980: Up The Academy

There is many a film out there where the film itself wasn’t up to much but it had a kick ass soundtrack. One I covered already with “The Last Waltz” although the film itself was a concert and there are more out there which will appear here. One such film from 1980 was the film from Mad Magazine called “Up The Academy.” One doesn’t need a college degree to figure out that Mad Magazine made this film in an attempt to cash in on the success of their rival National Lampoon whose film “Animal House” is one of the forever classics. Unfortunately, there is no comparison between the two films, “Animal House” wins hands down.

This is not to say that “Up the Academy” is a bad film. Actually, I thought it was funny in many places. The film is about four teenage boys who are sent to military school by there parents on account of things the boys have done to bring dishonour to the family. One got his girlfriend pregnant and his father is a politician campaigning on the anti-abortion platform. One, played by a young Ralph Machio, is the son of a mafia kingpin and is not interested in the family business. Then there is the son of the Arabian Sheik and the pot smoking African American boy whose father is a TV evangelist. Without going into full details, the main characters immediately fall foul of the gung-ho commandant and there is a lot of funny moments as they try to get one over on him. For months after I saw the film, one of my marine buddies who I saw it with, (he went by Mooch,) would impersonate the commandant with “Say ageeen, say ageen.”

A scene from the film

What stood out for me more than the laughs was all the great songs that were played in the film. Now classics like “One Way or Another” from Blondie and Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” lead a string of cool rock tunes. There are also contributions from Pat Benatar, Sammy Hagar, The Kinks, Dwight Twilley and a ten minute song from the legendary Lou Reed. Ok, they only played a small part of the song. As the case with many soundtracks, there is some unknown band that makes its mark. On this soundtrack, it is the band Blow-Up. Three of their songs appear on the album and I was impressed with all of them. The opener, “Kicking Up a Fuss” reminds me of The Ramones or The Dead Kennedys and the other two, while less punk are still good rock tunes as well. This is definitely a cool soundtrack.

Blondie

Cheap Trick

Track Listing:

1. Blow-Up- Kicking Up a Fuss

2. Iggy and the Stooges- Gimme Danger

3. Dwight Twilley Band- Trying to Find My Baby

4. Blondie- X Offender

5. Eddie and the Hot Rods- Do Anything You Wanna Do

6. The Kinks- Yes Sir, No Sir

7. Ian Hunter- We Gotta Get Out of Here

8. Lou Reed- Street Hassle

9. Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers- Roadrunner

10. The Boomtown Rats- Rat Trap

11. David Johansen- Girls

12. Blondie- One Way or Another

13. Cheeks- Coquette

14. Blow-Up- Local Hero

15. Sammy Hagar- Bad Reputation

16. Iggy Pop and James Williamson- Night Theme

17. Cheeks- Bony Moronie

18. Nick Lowe- Heart of the City

19. Pat Benatar- We Live for Love

20. The Babys- Midnight Rendezvous

21. Cheap Trick- Surrender

22. Blow- Up- Beat the Devil

So if you want a good laugh while rocking out to some great tunes then your task is simple. Watch “Up the Academy” and then listen to the soundtrack, it’s definitely worth it. But it does seem a shame that Blow-Up never seemed to make it big.

Next post: Great Rock One Hit Wonders of 1980

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Great Rock Albums of 1979: Bob Dylan- At Budokan

Cheap Trick weren’t the only ones who put out a live album from Budokan in 1979, Bob Dylan did too. Like Cheap Trick, this was taken from concerts recorded there in 1978 and released early in the following year. On the album, Dylan plays some of the long time classics as well as some of the tracks from the albums that were more recent around that time. For someone who didn’t have have every Bob Dylan album around then and wanted a good mix of Dylan material, this live recording provides all of this. Classics such as “Mr Tambourine Man” and “Like a Rolling Stone” feature heavily here and others like “Shelter From the Storm” also get a good play, although I still prefer the version of that song from “Hard Rain.”

When “At Budokan” was released, Dylan had some harsh reviews from critics and Dylan purists alike. Critics, like Rolling Stone said the album was slick and sterile while some purists accused him of selling out. This album was not a sell out for me. See, if Dylan wanted to sell out back in 1979, he would have put a disco beat in all of his songs. That would have been a sell out! To me, like I said above, this is a good and sometimes alternative listen to some classic Dylan tunes and there is nothing I dislike about it.

Track Listing:

1. Mr Tambourine Man

2. Shelter From the Storm

3. Love Minus Zero No Limit

4. The Ballad of a Thin Man

5. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

6. Maggie’s Farm

7. One More Cup of Coffee

8. Like a Rolling Stone

9. I Shall Be Released

10. Is Your Love In Vain

11. Going Going Gone

12. Blowin’ Like the Wind

13. Just Like a Woman

14. Oh Sister

15. All Along the Watchtower

16. A Simple Twist of Fate

17. I Want You

18. All I Really Wanna Do

19. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

20. It’s All Right Ma, I’m Only Bleeding

21. Forever Young

22. The Times They Are a Changin’

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan- rhythm guitar, vocals, harmonica

Billy Cross-  lead guitar

Steve Douglas- saxophone, flute, recorder

Debi Dye- backing vocals

Bobby Hall- percussion

Jo Ann Harris- backing vocals

David Mansfield- pedal steel, violin, mandolin, dobro, guitar

Alan Pasqua- keyboards

Ed Rash- tambourine

Steven Soles- acoustic rhythm guitar, backing vocals

Helena Springs- backing vocals

Rob Stoner- bass, backing vocals

Ian Wallace- drums

This album would be the last before Bob Dylan’s conversion to Christianity but that’s a story for further down the road in 1979. For me, this album is a great way to reminisce over many of the great classics of Bob Dylan.

Next Post: The Police- Regatta De Blanc

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Great Rock Albums of 1979: Cheap Trick- Dream Police

You’re under arrest for having an illegal dream. At least that was the joke making it’s rounds at the time this brilliant release from Cheap Trick was making its rounds in 1979. But they were driving me insane, those men inside my brain or at least I thought so. Anyway, I first saw this album literally the day before I left for boot camp and so I wasn’t able to buy it. That would be another six months when “Dream Police” would be the first ever album I bought on casette. Unfortunately, three years later it would meet the fate that was the drawback with casettes, it would get eaten in the machine.

“Dream Police” is definitely for me, the best Cheap Trick album ever. When deciding to visit this album, I came to the realisation that I hadn’t listened to it in full since that fateful day when my tape player ate the casette, nearly 30 years ago! But thank the Lord for YouTube and I get to take a very cool walk down memory lane. Usually, when I listen to something I haven’t listened to in awhile, it takes a minute or two before I get refamiliar with it. Not the case with “Dream Police.” Each song is like I have been listening to it constantly for the past three decades. That is something that makes this album so good.

The album brings back some other memories as well. “Gonna Raise Hell” was the theme tune every evening my buddies and I went out for a wild liberty session. That’s what we were bent on doing and that’s what we did, we raised hell. The other tracks can be either good for listening to with a few brews or cruising down the main drag in the car. The hard rock backdrop with the fun attitude displayed by Cheap Trick when hearing this album make it flexible for both.

Track Listing:

1. Dream Police

2. Way of the World

3. The House is Rocking (With Domestic Problems)

4. Gonna Raise Hell

5. I’ll Be With You Tonight

6. Voices

7. Writing On the Wall

8. I Know What I Want

9. Need Your Love

Cheap Trick

Robbin Zander- lead vocals, rhythm guitar

Rick Neilson- lead guitar, backing vocals

Tom Peterssen- bass, lead vocal on “I Know What I Want,” backing vocals

Bun E. Carlos- drums, percussion

I have always considered Cheap Trick to be a fun band. While I have no doubt they take their music seriously, they seem to have a good time doing so. “Dream Police” is proof in the pudding that you can make a dynamite album and still have fun at the same time. My big regret is that I never got to see them live.

On a personal note, while I endeavour to put out two posts a week, this might not be possible over the next few months. My second book has just been accepted for publishing even though I haven’t finished it yet. Therefore, I am going balls to the wall, to quote Accept, in order to finish it by Christmas. In order not to get anyone’s hopes up, my new book will not be so heavy metal oriented. However, it does get a mention because after all, heavy metal always gets the blame when a school shooting occurs in America. I will do my upmost to try to get two posts out a week to my evergrowing list of followers, but please bear with me and don’t be too disappointed in weeks where I can only post once.

Thank you

80smetalman

Next post: The Eagles- The Long Run

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