Cheap Trick: Heaven Tonight
1978
Epic Records
Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc
Track Listing: 1. Surrender 2. On Top of the World 3. California Man 4. High Roller 5. Auf Wiedersehen 6. Takin' Me Back 7. On the Radio 8. Heaven Tonight 9. Stiff Competition 10. How Are You? 11. Oh Claire
CD Bonus Tracks: 12. Stiff Competition (outtake) 13. Surrender (outtake)
I know it's usually all good times here at the Friday Night Record Party but I'm gonna have to be all sad, dirty clown today for a few minutes...
Not so much sad as complain-y, I guess...But definitely still dirty...
Anyway, I spent the entire week sick as a dog, and to top it all off, I was coming home from work on Thursday and as soon as I stepped off and the bus and watched it drive away I realized I was missing a bag...Uh-oh...It was the bag with my CD wallet in it...
But it's not that simple...See, I'm allowed to listen to music all day at work, but only if it's with a CD player or some similar device that doesn't have a phone or camera...And since all mp3 players have cameras now, that pretty much leaves me with two options....A portable CD player or I bust out the Wang Chung cassettes...
But yea, this CD version of "Heaven Tonight" was one of the CD's that was in the wallet...I've had no luck with Valley Metro's lost and found department yet, since no one answer's their phone, which means all you can do is leave messages, but no one actually calls you back...
It's tough to remember what was all in that CD wallet...I think I've narrowed it down to these selections...Ahem...
Cheap Trick: In Color
Cheap Trick: Heaven Tonight (which we're covering today...)
Robyn Hitchcock: Bad Case of History Disc 1 (Now this one reeeeaaaaaallly sucks, cos it's only available as part of the "Luminous Groove" boxset...booo...)
The 13th Floor Elevators: Bull of the Woods (Ditto this one...I got this in the 13th Floor Elevators Box set...)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: The Brutalist Bricks
Ozzy Osbourne: Blizzard of Ozz
Nick Lowe: Labour of Lust
Rancid: B Sides and C Sides
Dead Milkmen: Big Lizard in My Back Yard
Tobin Sprout: Demos and Outtakes
Cure: Wish
Neil Young: On the Beach
T-Rex: Tanx (Still have my "Tanx" vinyl, so this one is not such a big loss..Same for the Cheap Trick ones...)
So yea, that kinds sucks, but my weekend turned out pretty great...I still have a ridulously lingering cough and no voice to speak of, but I went out with my friends for a birthday celebration that included trips to various record shops...
Such as the new Double Nickels Co-Op, which is where the Eastside Records is located now...I believe I've raved on and on before how mind-blowing Eastside Records is, and I'm glad to have it back again!
...I also got to check out the new Zia Records on Mill Avenue & Southern in Tempe...
I wasn't aware the new location was open yet, but there it was...and the place is massive! I only made it through about a quarter of the store, but I had to leave...Otherwise I would've gone stone cold broke...Easily the best Zia location I've been to yet, and I've been to a lot of them...
I ended the day bar-hopping between The Time Out Lounge and Monkey Pants, playing pool and eating fried cheese curds...Ugh...Still a little queasy, but beautifully so...
All in all, it was a huge blast and thanks to the generosity of everyone, I now have a new crateful of top-notch vinyl that will keep the Friday Night Record Party rolling for a few additional years...
Oh yea, I think I invited you here to talk about "Heaven Tonight, " so I should probably get around to that...
This is their most representative work and the one people usually point out as being their best record. This is where they perfectly blend all their different styles and iterations into one knockout album...
You know this one's a winner as soon as you put this on and you're greeted to the fluttering synths and crashing power chords of "Surrender." Along with "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss (whom Cheap Trick famously name-checks in the song), this track set the standard for large-scale arena rock, but this does it so much more intelligently...Easily one of the greatest album openers ever.
This album also has "Auf Wiedersehen," which is also one of their best songs...A fierce rocker with an awesomely chilling bass intro...Robin Zander proves to be one of the most versatile (and hilarious!) vocalists in rock history, here...It's hard not to be won over by his robotic montone as he's quoting Bob Dylan, or his song-ending "Suicide" shrieks, all while Rick Nielsen delivers some of his most-crushing riffs...They were one of the rare arena rock bands that definitely had one attentive ear tuned to the punk scene that was in full-swing at the time...Check out the choppy "Stiff Competition" for further evidence...
The whole thing is really good...No weak songs whatsoever...While I do enjoy a lot of the albums that came after this one, it's impossible not to acknowlege "Heaven Tonight" as the band's peak...Everything they did during this period is golden, and they would follow this with one of the most famous live albums ever, but we'll get to that tomorrow...
For now, let's check out "Stiff Competition" by Cheap Trick..Enjoy...
No comments:
Post a Comment