Cheap Trick - Dream Police (1979)(Remaster 2006)

Cheap Trick - Dream Police (1979)(Remaster 2006)

Exclusive Japanese limited edition digitally remastered reissue of this 1979 album, packaged in a miniature LP sleeve featuring .four bonus tracks: 'The House Is Rockin'' (Live), 'Way Of The World' (Live), 'Dream Police' (Alternate Mix) and 'I Know What I Want'. CBS 2006.

Dream Police shows the band expanding into longer, more complex songs and incorporating orchestration on several tracks. Sessions for Dream Police were completed before the recording of their previous release, the live album At Budokan. Epic Records held off on releasing Dream Police to capitalize on At Budokan's unexpected success. "Need Your Love" was actually introduced to the public as a track on At Budokan. "I Know What I Want" is sung by bassist Tom Petersson, and is the only Cheap Trick studio track to feature someone other than Robin Zander on lead vocals. The group originally planned to have Petersson sing "Voices", but it was later recut with a slower tempo and Zander on vocals... An expanded edition of Dream Police was released in 2006 with four bonus tracks.

At Budokan unexpectedly made Cheap Trick stars, largely because "I Want You to Want Me" had a tougher sound than its original studio incarnation. Perversely -- and most things Cheap Trick have done are somehow perverse -- the band decided not to continue with the direct, stripped-down sound of At Budokan, which would have been a return to their debut. Instead, the group went for their biggest, most elaborate production to date, taking the synthesized flourishes of Heaven Tonight to extremes. While it kept the group in the charts, it lessened the impact of the music. Underneath the gloss, there are a number of songs that rank among Cheap Trick's finest, particularly the paranoid title track, the epic rocker "Gonna Raise Hell", the tough "I Know What I Want", the simple pop of "Voices", and the closer, "Need Your Love". Still, Dream Police feels like a letdown in comparison to its predecessors, even though it would later feel like one of the group's last high-water marks...S. Erlewine

320 @
148 MB

Line-up

Robin Zander - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Rick Nielsen - lead guitars, mandocello, vocals
Tom Petersson - bass, 8 & 12 string bass, lead vocals on "8"
Bun E. Carlos - drums

Tracklist:

01 Dream Police 3:54
02 Way of the World 3:38
03 The House Is Rockin' (With Domestic Problems) 5:11
04 Gonna Raise Hell 9:20
05 I'll Be with You Tonight 3:51
06 Voices 4:22
07 Writing on the Wall 3:27
08 I Know What I Want 4:30
09 Need Your Love 7:40
10 The Hosue Is Rockin' / Live / prev. unreleased / Bonus 6:16
11 Way of the World Live / prev. unreleased / Bonus 4:00
12 Dream Police prev.unreleased / Bonus / No Strings Version 3:53
13 I Know What I Want Live / Bonus 4:44

Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick (1977) (Remaster Edit 2002)

Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick (1977) (Remaster Edit 2002)

Cheap Trick's eponymous debut is an explosive fusion of Beatlesque melodic hooks, Who-styled power, and a twisted sense of humor partially borrowed from the Move. But that only begins to scratch the surface of what makes Cheap Trick a dynamic record. Guitarist Rick Nielsen has a powerful sense of dynamics and arrangements, which gives the music an extra kick, but he also can write exceptionally melodic and subversive songs. Nothing on Cheap Trick is quite what it seems. While the songs have hooks and attitude that arena rock was sorely lacking in the late '70s, they are also informed by a bizarre sensibility, whether it's the driving "He's a Whore," the dreamy "Mandocello," or the thumping Gary Glitter perversion "ELO Kiddies." "The Ballad of TV Violence" is about mass murder, while "Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School" concerns pedophiles. All of it is told with a sense of humor, but it doesn't come off as cheap or smirking because of the group's hard-rocking drive and Robin Zander's pop-idol vocals. Even "Oh, Candy," apparently a love song on first listen, is an affecting tribute to a friend who committed suicide. In short, Cheap Trick revel in taboo subjects with abandon, devoting themselves to the power of the hook, as well as sheer volume and gut-wrenching rock & roll -- though the record is more musically accomplished than punk rock, it shares the same aesthetic. The combination of off-kilter humor, bizarre subjects, and blissful power pop made Cheap Trick one of the defining albums of its era, as well as one of the most influential. [The 2002 Epic/Legacy reissue of Cheap Trick features a different track sequence than the original and also adds several bonus tracks, many of which are previously unreleased.]...S. T. Erlewine

320 kB/s
135 MB

Tracklist:

01 ELO Kiddies 3:41
02 Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School 4:44
03 Taxman, Mr. Thief 4:15
04 Cry, Cry 4:22
05 Oh, Candy 3:06
06 Hot Love 2:30
07 Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace 4:34
08 He's a Whore 2:42
09 Mandocello 4:46
10 The Ballad of TV Violence (I'm Not the Only Boy) 5:25
11 Lovin' Money p. unreleased / Bonus / Outtake 4:09
12 I Want You to Want Me p. unreleased / Bonus / Early Version 2:44
13 Lookout Bonus / p. Unreleased Studio Version 3:30
14 You're All Talk Bonus / p.Unreleased Studio Version 3:31
15 I Dig Go-Go Girls p. unreleased / Bonus 3:06

mirror

Cheap Trick - Next Position Please (1983) (1990)

Cheap Trick - Next Position Please (1983) (1990)

On VH1's countdown of the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock (Cheap Trick landed at #25), respected sound engineer and recent CT producer Rob Albini described the group's music as having "moments of rage and ugliness and power...but there are also things about it that are genuinely very pretty and elegant." This album is their "elegant" side (or as elegant as a blistering power-pop band can get anyway).
Like all of their string of commercially-failed 80s albums, "Next Position Please" is a real gem, and a worthwhile reward for anyone who gives panned albums a chance. Renowned pop producing expert Todd Rundgren was brought on board to man the switches, a move that many say is to be given credit for the album's accessibility. On Cheap Trick's previous "failed" album, "One On One," there were subtle hints that their commercial slide was interfering with the confidence in their music, but that's certainly not the case with "Next Position Please." Cheap Trick sounds determined and focused, despite what shows up in many CT bios. The title track sounds like it was written during the band's glory days of the late 70s, and Rundgren's glossy production actually works on 'Y.O.Y.O.Y.', 'I Can't Take It' (Trick at their most sincere), and the album's best track, 'I Don't Love Here Anymore' (which is complete with Beatles-like backing vocals). It's also obvious that the group were trying to regain a younger, modern audience with songs like 'You Talk To Much' and 'Heaven's Falling.' A wildly left-center version of 'Dancing the Night Away' meanwhile, can be seen as only Cheap Trick being their erratic, oddball selves.
Many complain that "Next Position Please" is much too pop-oriented to sound like vintage Cheap Trick; but whoever thinks that can compare this record to their 1988 'comeback' "Lap of Luxury," an album the band members themselves criticize, in which the group was forced to bring in outside songwriters. So in that light, "Next Position Please" is the more Cheap Trick-sounding substitute for "Lap of Luxury." As for this album's commercial stance, the next position for Cheap Trick would be a disappointing peak at number 61...B. Sturguess

320 @
117 MB

Tracklist:

01. I Can't Take It 3:28
02. Borderline 3:34
03. I Don't Love Her Anymore 3:51
04. Next Position Please 2:51
05. Younger Girls 3:14
06. Dancing The Night Away 4:58
07. You Talk Too Much 1:55
08. 3-D 3:37
09. You Say Jump 2:06
10. Y.O.Y.O.Y. 5:54
11. Won't Take No For An Answer 3:13
12. Heaven's Falling 3:48
13. Invaders Of The Heart 4:00
14. Don't Make Our Love A Crime 3:45