Classic Rock Bottom

It's been a while since I've reviewed and album, as I've had an unpleasant year to this point.  But hopefully I can manage to gather my thoughts on some of this year's releases and get them posted here on the site.  First up is the latest offering from long time rockers Cheap Trick.  Yes, they've been around for a long time.  And I have to say, they have released a terrific package of music with this current release.  

Bang, Zoom, Crazy...Hello hit the streets earlier this year on the first of April, just before the band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.  And let me make it clear, this album is fantastic.  Opening with what seems to be a song that has been around a while, Heart On The Line shows the band is back and ready to rock.  No Direction Home, the albums's first single, is a tremendous little power pop song, which of course is what the Trick does best! Following that track up is the pure melodic bliss of When I Wake Up Tomorrow.  I get a strong sense of Tonight It's You from the intro.  Great song!  Then comes the "heavy as Hell" Do You Believe Me?  Did I mention it was heavy?  

I could go on and on about each individual song, but it's not necessary.  Songs like Blood Red Lips and Roll Me, which didn't particularly impress me at first, have become songs that I truly dig.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention The Sun Never Sets.  What an amazing song this is.  If you haven't heard it, do yourself a favor and check it out.  It contains one of the best hooks I've ever heard. Yes, it's that good.  Heck, Zander even mentions Frank Serpico on the final track.  I love this album.

What surprised me most was Rick Nielsen's guitar playing.  I've never though of him as a big solo guy, but his solos here are out of this world.  The production is terrific as well.  The only low points for this release would be the the dismal album cover and the gosh-awful album title.  That is all a matter of taste, of course, and has nothing to do with the music.   That being said, I'm going to deduct a tenth for those two little items, spoiling what otherwise for me would be a perfect album.  Nice job for a bunch of old geezers (and one young geezer)!

Final Rating: 4.9 out of 5 (Cheap) Stars

Tracks:

1. Heart On The Line

2. No Direction Home

3. When I Wake Up Tomorrow

4. Do You Believe Me?

5. Blood Red Lips

6. Sing My Blues Away

7. Roll Me

8. The In Crowd

9. Long Time No See Ya

10. The Sun Never Sets

11. All Strung Out

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Replies to This Discussion

RJ,

Finally listened to this one.

Some I really liked:

1. Heart On The Line- Good

2. No Direction Home- gets very Beatle-like in there & I always like phasing

3. When I Wake Up Tomorrow- has a very David Bowie sound to me

4. Do You Believe Me?- Nah

5. Blood Red Lips- like it, not sure how much

6. Sing My Blues Away-Nah

7. Roll Me- Nah

8. The In Crowd- Good cover of old song

9. Long Time No See Ya- Real good, a show opener

10. The Sun Never Sets- Nah

11. All Strung Out- Like it, Namedropping in there

All based on just one listen.

Mike

I'm not that impressed with this album as you are.

It'll probably/most certainly end up on my Top 10 anyway. I'm not expecting another 9 great albums, the last 3-4 months of this year. (Hopefully 5 good albums)

Around the same time, it was released, I heard "rockford" for the first time, and that album impresses me more. Imo, Rockford is truely THe best CT-album since the 80's.

This one ain't bad, but to me it sounds like a former great band still producing okay music, even though their time has passed and they are now 65 years old or more.

I still prefer CT from around 1977-79, and allways will.

In my opinion, good music is good music.  And this is good music.  I'm quite impressed that, at this stage of the game, CT is putting out a record of this quality.  I don't see many (if any) younger bands making this type of album these days.  Maybe there is some great power pop being produced by 20 and 30 year olds and I just don't know who they are, but I doubt it.  I still enjoy newly written and recorded music, which worries me for the future, because bands like CT will not be able to do this for much longer.  

I've already weighed in on what I thought of the album.

But I'm glad to see that you are back to doing some reviewing. You liked the album a little bit more than me but since we both agree that it is a really good album, the difference of degree is meaningless.

I did realize that you had already reviewed it, but maybe our 6 million viewers split it up (3 mil for you, 3 mil for me).  Gonna try to get to two more albums over the next couple of days.  Thanks to you (and Niels) for reading and commenting.

RJhog,

My comment was just mentioning that since I had reviewed the album, I didn't have anything extra to add by way of text in the initial reply, not that you shouldn't have done your own review. Sorry if that's what you thought I meant.

I actually love to see other people reviewing the same albums, gives me another viewpoint.

I didn't take it that way at all.

I like it too, but the initial appeal has worn off a bit, its been waiting to be played again for a good while...  will it hit my top 10 this year?  Most likely, but certainly not the top spot....  Still a nice write up!

Probably won't be in my top spot either.  There is, at a minimum, one album that I like even better.

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