Cheap Trick: Cheap Trick

Cheap Trick: Cheap Trick

1977

Epic Records

Format I own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. ELO Kiddies  2. Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School  3. Taxman, Mr. Thief  4. Cry, Cry  5. Oh, Candy  6. Hot Love  7. Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace  8. He's a Whore  9. Mandocello  10. The Ballad of T.V. Violence (I'm Not the Only Boy)

CD Bonus Tracks: 11. Lovin' Money  12. I Want You To Want Me  13. Lookout  14. You're All Talk  15. I Dig Go-Go Girls


I apologize in advance...These Cheap Trick posts are going to be ridiculously gushing...I can't help it! I love Cheap Trick. Easily one of my favorite bands...Everything about them is great; the sharp pop songwriting, the powerful hard rock, the clever lyrics that tackle unlikely subjects (murderers, suicide, gigolos and daddies that should have stayed in High School), to their humorous aesthetic (the two good-looking Rock Gods and the two weirdos).  It was too bad they squandered their good reputation on an endless array of 80's power ballads, because, to me,  these early Cheap Trick records are as good as it gets...

(Woah! Pepe Tacos sounds awesome! You could get concert tickets and tacos!?!?!)

 In a lot of ways their debut is their best. It captures the band at their most raw and rocking, and there's about a half-dozen absolutely perfect tracks...My favorites are the raucous glam-stomper "ELO Kiddies," the pitch-black pop song "Oh, Candy," and the stop-start rocker "He's a Whore," which gets my vote for their best-ever song...The band is just on fire!  Rick Nielsen is so inventive on the guitar, he gets it to sneer, shimmer and even laugh mockingly at us! Check out the guitar solo on "He's a Whore!" It's phenomenal!

And Robin Zander is a monster vocalist. He uses a wide array of different voices throughout the album. You never quite know what you're going to get and he helps this album achieve the off-kilter feel that makes it so special...The rhythm section is similarly flawless (check out Tom Petersson's never ending supply of bass runs). Combine all this instrumental talent with knock-out pop songwriting and you have a masterpiece in my opinion...




In addition to the vinyl, I got this one on CD for the bonus tracks, which I highly recommend.  A few songs that appeared on later albums appear here in embryonic versions, most notably a version of "I Want You to Want Me" that's probably my favorite version...It sounds like a rickety train that's about to fly off the tracks at any moment... And there's also "I Dig Go-Go Girls," which is very likely the most bizarre thing in their entire catalog...A racist opera song...Wha...?!?!

Anyway, this album is so fun to listen to, and this was just the beginning of a killer run of albums the group released in the 70's. So let's check out "He's a Whore" by Cheap Trick. Enjoy...