• Artist: Cheap Trick
• Rating:
• Styles: Pop/Rock, Power Pop, Hard Rock
• Track Picks: "Come on Come on Come On," "This Time You Got It," "Welcome to the World"

Review

Cheap Trick's recorded work has been so inconsistent for so long, bouncing back and forth between belabored attempts to reach radio and self-conscious returns to their classic early work, it's kind of a shock to discover that 2006's Rockford is a good, solid Cheap Trick record. Scratch that -- it's a very, very good Cheap Trick record, glistening with Beatlesque harmonies, sugary hooks and snarling guitars, and built on a set of songs that emphasize their strengths without seeming fussy or formulaic. They also don't seem tired or juvenile, either, nor do the band try to rock too hard or heavy, the way they did on the good but occasionally stilted Steve Albini-produced 1996 self-styled comeback, Cheap Trick. Albini is back for portions of Rockford, as is Jack Douglas, the producer behind their early masterworks, and 2000 rock's flavor of the month Linda Perry drops by for a single too -- but far from being a case of too many cooks spoiling the soup, it's more that each producer/engineer/collaborator helps bring out a different aspect of Cheap Trick. Sure there are songs that serve up crunching hard rock along with a little bit of streamlined arena rock, but there are pop songs built upon the British Invasion, bittersweet ballads, even a little bit of disco-funk on "One More." When all these different sounds are put together, it does indeed add up to the most diverse album they've made in many a moon, but since there's such a strong emphasis on melody, vocal harmonies, and guitar hooks, all wrapped up in three-minute songs, it also winds up as Cheap Trick's first genuine power pop album since their heyday, and their best album since Dream Police. After all these years and all those uneven albums, it's a bit of a surprise to have the band deliver an album this good completely out of the blue but, as their catalog proves, Cheap Trick have never done things the easy way -- and it's better to finally get a very, very good Cheap Trick record unexpectedly, some 27 years after the last good one, instead of not getting one at all. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	iTunes	Composers	Performers	Time
Welcome to the World		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(2:06)
Perfect Stranger		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Linda Perry, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(3:41)
If It Takes a Lifetime		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Julian Raymond, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(4:22)
Come on Come on Come On		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(3:03)
O Claire		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(3:43)
This Time You Got It		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(4:01)
Give It Away		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(2:48)
One More	...	Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(3:50)
Every Night and Every Day		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(3:12)
Dream the Night Away		Bill Lloyd, Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(3:14)
All Those Years		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Julian Raymond, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(3:35)
Decaf		Robin Zander, Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson	Cheap Trick	(3:38)

Credits

Robin Zander (Guitar), Robin Zander (Keyboards), Robin Zander (Vocals), Steve Albini (Producer), Steve Albini (Engineer), Kim Bullard (Keyboards), Bun E. Carlos (Drums), Bun E. Carlos (Vocals (Background)), Jack Douglas (Producer), Jack Douglas (Engineer), Jack Douglas (Shaker), Ian Hatton (Mixing Assistant), Ted Jensen (Mastering), Roger Moutenot (Engineer), Rick Nielsen (Guitar), Rick Nielsen (Keyboards), Rick Nielsen (Vocals (Background)), Linda Perry (Producer), Linda Perry (Engineer), Julian Raymond (Producer), Tom Petersson (Bass), Tom Petersson (Guitar), Tom Petersson (Vocals (Background)), Bill Kozy (Crew), Jim Survis (Crew), Bill Synan (Assistant Engineer), Christopher Shaw (Producer), Christopher Shaw (Engineer), Dave Frey (Management), Bryan Cook (Engineer), David Rule (Crew), Kevin Churko (Assistant Engineer), John "Woog" Johnson (Design), John "Woog" Johnson (Illustrations), John "Woog" Johnson (Cover Art), Eric Hunter (Assistant Engineer), Damon Fox (Keyboards), Richie "Britley" Hughes (Art Direction), Robin Taylor Zander (Vocals (Background)), Tommy Jamin (Engineer), Tommy Jamin (Assistant Engineer), Mike Mang (Assistant Engineer)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

rockford	Rockford P3002
Rockford P162s	Rockford 1501bd