Cheap Trick - Bang, Zoom, Crazy… Hello

Cheap Trick Bang, Zoom, Crazy… Hello cover
Cheap Trick
Bang, Zoom, Crazy… Hello
Big Machine Label Group
2016
7.5
Cheap Trick have been around since, well, forever… the early 70s to be more precise, even though they only debuted late in that decade. Many ups and down and seventeen albums later, having established themselves as a fairly commercially successful rock band, highly regarded by their peers and with a decent catalog of hits to their name, Cheap Trick that just seem to have lost a longtime drummer, but not their knack for writing catchy and uplifting rock n roll tunes.
 
In fact, the band has changed precious little since they were formed but it’s quite nice to see that their energy and enthusiasm is at such a high level at this day and age. Their 60/70s feel good rock, that’s not to dissimilar to that of Sweet at their prime, is still as important and restless as ever, probably a bit adjusted for inflation and the current times, hehe, but still the foundation remains the same.
 
The album kicks with 3 or 4 very strong songs, namely the pretty amazing “Heart on the Line”, which is a little reminiscent of Sweet’s “Action” and then proceeds with the more laid back but still rocking “No Direction Home”, a song you could definitely cruise to.
 
“When I Wake Up Tomorrow” is more of a pop/rock number with the pop sensitivities overriding the rock but it all comes together in a good way and Zander sounds smooth as 3$%# !
 
While “Do You Believe Me?” is a lot like 70s prime time Alice Cooper.
 
“Blood Red Lips”… if I had my eyes tied, I’d guess was some lost T-Rex track, while “Sing My Blues Away” sounds like somewhat like ELO/Petty/Orbinson and I mean that as a compliment.
 
“Roll Me” is a little two fisted for its own good, it remains too basic to really strike a real chord, but it’s no dud when viewing the album as a whole.
 
“The In Crowd” is a 60s standard that the band covers, but they follow more or less Bryan Ferry’s 70s cover style, not bad, but nothing to write home about, still a decent song on its own, but a little too introspective sounding and it does dampens the album down a bit, a task that “Long Time No See Ya” has to reverse, but it makes light work of.
 
“The Sun Never Sets” has a transitional Beatlesque meets early Kiss sound that’s not bad, but not really hair raising and finally the fuzzy “All Strung Out” sounds like some bad grungy trip on The Stones… not horrible, but again not hugely gratifying.
 
While the album starts out rather impressively it sort of seems to run low on steam towards the end. That doesn’t mean it’s bad and it will surely please longtime fans… new kids could and should better start via a compilation or one of the more classic albums of the band.