CD Review
Cheap Trick
Bang, Zoom, Crazy…Hello
Big Machine Records
2016
Produced By: Julian Raymond &
Cheap Trick
✰✰✰½
Review: Joseph Suto
Upon first listen to Cheap Trick’s seventeenth studio release, one thing is certain, this ageless band are showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. This album is perhaps the band’s heaviest output since their self-titled 1997 release. Those expecting all soft slow ballads will be in for a surprise as the band really turned up the juice as the album is very heavy with guitar and of course the scorching, definitive vocals of Robin Zander.
The album is a first in two ways. It is the first studio release not to feature drummer Bun E. Carlos and thus the first to display drummer Daxx Nielsen. Nielsen first played with the band as far back as 2001 when he filled in for Carlos when he was recuperating from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for a few months.
The album kicks off with “Heart On The Line” a scorcher right out of the gate. The catchy “No Direction Home” is next and is followed by the best track of the album the Bowie-esque “When I Wake Up Tomorrow”.
Other songs of note include “The Sun Never Sets”, “Sing My Blues Away” and “Blood Red Lips”.
The recently inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s have been cited as an influence by many bands old and new. This album debuted at #31 making it the bands highest charting position and first into the top 40 since 1988s Lap Of Luxury.
While I may be a sucker for a good Robin Zander ballad, one or two would have propelled my rating over a four stars. Some may ask where does Bang, Zoom, Crazy…Hello stack up compared to the rest of the band’s glorious catalog? I would say it measures up in the middle of the pack, which is fairly decent considering how big their discography is.
Track Listing
01. Heart On The Line
02. No Direction Home
03. When I Wake Up Tomorrow
04. Do You Believe Me?
05. Blood Red Lips
06. Sing My Blues Away
07. Roll Me
08. The In Crowd
09. Long Time No See Ya
10. The Sun Never Sets
11. All Strung Out
