Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick's recent 4 CD collection,Sex, America, Cheap Trick, thoroughly documented and neatly wrapped up the group's first 20 years together. Though one might have assumed Cheap Trick were history, this 1997 self-titled (their second such) disc proves those notions false. In fact, they are as vital as they've ever been, and their sweet-yet-tough, Beatles-influenced pop is as relevant today as it was in the band's late-'70s heyday. Cheap Trick sound much as they did in those first five classic albums. The band has stuck closely to the simplicity of two guitars, bass, drums, and vocals, and it works superbly. The songs are some of the strongest Cheap Trick have written--instantly hummable and brimming with fine pop hooks. Robin Zander's voice is flawless, and the simple, sparkling recording gives him the spotlight without overshadowing Rick Nielsen's fine guitar work and the understated rhythm section of drummer Bun E. Carlos and bassist Tom Peterson. Freed of the shackles of their previous recording contract, withCheap Trick (1997), Cheap Trick return to writing the caliber of songs--some light, some serious--that made them rock & roll icons in the '70s. Welcome back!--Adem Tepedelen