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Once largely written off by critics as arena-rock dinosaurs, Rockford, Illinois' favourite musical sons have become darlings of an influential cadre of alternative and modern-rock superstars and the subjects of an overdue catalogue 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 albu
Once largely written off by critics as arena-rock dinosaurs, Rockford, Illinois' favourite musical sons have become darlings of an influential cadre of alternative and modern-rock superstars and the subjects of an overdue catalogue 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"), paedophilia ("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. The "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
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Manufacturer: Epic
Release date: 13 July 1997
EAN: 5099748793324
Tags: Robin Zander (1), Electric Mandocellos (1), Five-necked Guitars (1), Daxx Nielsen (1), Magic Cristian (1), Jon Brant (1), Pete Comita (1), Randy Hogan (1), Rock (1), Bun E. Carlos (1), Tom Petersson (1), Rick Nielsen (1), Budokan (1), United States (1), American (1), Power Pop (1), Hard Rock (1)
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