There’s no denying the album that defined Cheap Trick as a
\ncommercially viable act was
\nCheap Trick At Budokan<\/i>; in 1978, Robin Zander and crew went
\nfrom being hometown favorites to overnight superstars, a title
\nthey’ve worked hard at trying to keep. Even today, 21 years after
\nBudokan came out, the band – Zander, guitarist\/resident wildman
\nRick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Bun E. Carlos –
\nstill know how to write a killer pop hook, even if today’s music
\nconsumer doesn’t know how to recognize it.<\/p>\n
Their latest release, and second official live album (now that
\nAt Budokan<\/i> and
\nBudokan II<\/i> have been rolled into one package),
\nMusic For Hangovers<\/i>, captures the band on more familiar
\nsoil, playing the Metro in Chicago. In front of a hometown crowd,
\nCheap Trick knows they’re with friends, and they take a good chunk
\nof their past and roll it into a very entertaining release. And to
\nthink, I could have been at the taping, but for a previous
\ncommitment. Nuts.<\/p>\n
The shows that this album were culled from featured Cheap Trick
\nplaying their first four albums in their entirety. Had this release
\nfeatured only the work of the first three discs and
\nAt Budokan<\/i>, it might have been as enjoyable, but there would
\nalways be the feel that something was missing. Fortunately, Zander
\nand company stretch their setlist to include more.<\/p>\n
The inclusion of cuts like “I Can’t Take It” is a great
\ndecision, though I’ll always be more partial to the polished studio
\nversion of this track – not because Todd Rundgren produced it, but
\nbecause it just sounds cleaner. The two selections from
\nDream Police<\/i> – “Gonna Raise Hell” and the title track – are
\nwonderful additions, highlighting an album that has been ignored
\nover the years. (True story: When my father was a purchasing
\nmanager for a lift truck company, he knew Petersson’s father, who
\nwas nice enough to get for me a copy of
\nDream Police<\/i> – which I wore out – and a signed Japanese
\nprogram from that tour. If only I had taken better care of that
\nprogram.)<\/p>\n
Most of the hits you’d expect are on
\nMusic For Hangovers<\/i>. “Surrender” is always a great track
\nlive (though I wonder what the main difference is between the track
\non the disc and the “unreleased” version that Amazon.com is
\noffering as a download; I kinda like the downloadable track better,
\nthough there’s no crowd noise). Likewise, “I Want You To Want Me”
\nis now a song that has to be included in the set – though I miss
\nthe screams during the verses that you can hear on At Budokan.<\/p>\n
One hit which you won’t find on this disc is “The Flame”, though
\nI can understand why Cheap Trick would want to distance themselves
\nfrom this one. (It’s still a great song, though.) And there are a
\nfew surprise inclusions, such as “If You Want My Love” (featuring
\nD’arcy from Smashing Pumpkins), which is a track I’ve just never
\nwarmed up to. (Another Pumpkins member, Billy Corgan, sits in on
\n“Mandocello”.)<\/p>\n
For the most part,
\nMusic For Hangovers<\/i> is a killer disc that showcases a band
\nthat is going to exit the picture kicking and screaming. Nielsen
\nstill is a powerful force on the guitar, and time has only helped
\nto improve Zander’s vocals. Petersson and Carlos provide a solid
\none-two punch as the rhythm section; Petersson still knows he can
\nwring more sound out of his 8- and 12-string basses than many
\nguitar players can.<\/p>\n
If you’re a long-time Trick fan, hearing songs like “Taxman, Mr.
\nThief” and “So Good To See You” will undoubtedly bring back
\nmemories of when the albums first came out. If you pick this one up
\nas one of the first Cheap Trick albums you’ve ever purchased, it’s
\na great introduction to a band who were never in the spotlight for
\nas long as they deserved to be.<\/p>\n
\nMusic For Hangovers<\/i> does what all good live albums should
\ndo: it puts both the band and the music in familiar, comfortable
\nlight. Hearing this will make you think you’re standing at the edge
\nof the stage at the Metro, watching Cheap Trick tear into another
\none of your favorites. Maybe – just
\nmaybe<\/i> – they have an album that could even top
\nAt Budokan<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5736],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-39040","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-cheap-trick","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39040"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}