CD: Cheap Trick - Rockford
Originally Released June 6, 2006
AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Cheap Trick's recorded work has been so
inconsistent
for so long, bouncing back and forth between belabored attempts to
reach
radio and self-conscious returns to their classic early work, it's
kind
of a shock to discover that 2006's Rockford is a good, solid Cheap
Trick
record. Scratch that -- it's a very, very good Cheap Trick record,
glistening
with Beatlesque harmonies, sugary hooks and snarling guitars, and
built
on a set of songs that emphasize their strengths without seeming fussy
or formulaic. They also don't seem tired or juvenile, either, nor do
the
band try to rock too hard or heavy, the way they did on the good but
occasionally
stilted Steve Albini-produced 1996 self-styled comeback, Cheap Trick.
Albini is back for portions of Rockford, as is Jack Douglas, the
producer
behind their early masterworks, and 2000 rock's flavor of the month
Linda
Perry drops by for a single too -- but far from being a case of too
many
cooks spoiling the soup, it's more that each producer/engineer/
collaborator
helps bring out a different aspect of Cheap Trick. Sure there are
songs
that serve up crunching hard rock along with a little bit of
streamlined
arena rock, but there are pop songs built upon the British Invasion,
bittersweet
ballads, even a little bit of disco-funk on "One More." When all these
different sounds are put together, it does indeed add up to the most
diverse
album they've made in many a moon, but since there's such a strong
emphasis
on melody, vocal harmonies, and guitar hooks, all wrapped up in three-
minute
songs, it also winds up as Cheap Trick's first genuine power pop album
since their heyday, and
01. Welcome To The World [0:02:06.65]
02. Perfect Stranger [0:03:41.71]
03. If It Takes A Lifetime [0:04:22.35]
04. Come On Come On Come On [0:03:03.47]
05. O Claire [0:03:43.29]
06. This Time You Got It [0:04:01.56]
07. Give It Away [0:02:48.62]
08. One More [0:03:50.29]
09. Every Night And Every Day [0:03:12.45]
10. Dream The Night Away [0:03:14.29]
11. All Those Years [0:03:35.57]
12. Decaf [0:03:38.00]
*****
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