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www.churchonthursday.com
Cheap Trick
Self-Titled ('77)
In Color ('77)
Heaven Tonight ('78)
Between 1977 and 1978 Cheap Trick released three remarkable albums: their eponymous debut, In Color, and Heaven Tonight. Pretty prolific for an Illinois-bred bar band; especially considering the tendency of some 70's rock bands to spend several months--or even a year--in the studio. Add to that fact that each record equals or surpasses its predacessor in terms of songwriting, musicianship and commercial success--feats most bands are lucky to pull off once, if ever.
Sadly, most of Cheap Trick's albums since the early
80's ended up in the obscurity of 
clearance
bins, and the band went from selling-out stadiums to playing the county fair
circuit. But these albums serve as a testament to a once (and still) great
band that defied pop and rock conventions and still managed to kick a dent
in the mainstream.
Straddling the line of British punk and American hard rock, 1997's Cheap Trick is a sonic jewel. Combining the pop sensibilities of The Beatles and the sardonic humor and edginess of the Ramones, Cheap Trick swerves between lucidity and obnoxiousness like a drunk hillbilly driving on a back road. Critics loved the album, but it stuttered commercially, lacking the FM-ready polish of Foreigner and Fleetwood Mac that attracted rock fans then, and being way too over-the-top for the "Mellow Gold" contingent that embraced James Taylor, Carley Simon and Paul Simon. Standout cuts: "He's A Whore", a diatribe directed at the "Me Generation" (and later covered by Industrial Punk pioneers Big Black), and "Mandocello", a sparse psychedelic ballad utilizing a weird mandolin/cello/guitar hybrid strummed by gonzo guitarist Rick Nielsen.
Later that year the band released In Color,
enlisting producer Tom Werman to help smooth
out their jagged edges. In Color includes the studio version of "I
Want You To Want Me", a Tin Pan Alley takeoff which became their first
hit in 1979 when it resurfaced on Live at Budokan. Many consider
this to be the quintessential Power Pop album. Again, it went ignored by record
buyers but has been influential till present day, inspiring bands as diverse
as Greeen Day, the Pixies and Motley Crue. Standout cuts: "I Want You
To Want Me", which sucks compared to the live version, "Oh Caroline",
which sounds like John Lennon singing for the Buzzcocks, and "Southern
Girls", a park-your-car-at-the-Dairy Queen-and-drink-cans-of-cheap-beer-out-of-the
trunk-on-a-summer-night anthem.
Cheap Trick had their first taste of commercial success in 1978. Heaven Tonight combined the sonic urgency of their first album with the slicker production of In Color. The result: their first hit, "Surrender", and one step closer to the multi-platinum sales and stardom they would finally achieve on their next album, Live at Budokan.
Standout cuts: "Surrender", of course. How can you lose with a song that chants "Mommy's alright, Daddy's alright/They just seem a little weird..." and "Auf Wiedersehen", a suicide note in the guise of a song that somehow escaped the scrutiny of the PMRC.
--Felix Thursday