On June 23, Cheap Trick released their new album, The Latest, available for the first month exclusively through Trick’s website and on Amazon. It hits retail stores mid-July. On the same day, Cheap Trick began their 40 city summer tour with Def Leppard and Poison. Several weeks earlier, Trick announced they’d be performing The Beatles Sgt. Peppers show for nine dates in September at the Las Vegas Hilton, and the band seemed to be firing on all cylinders.
But the first week of the release and tour was not unlike Cheap Trick’s checkerboard logo. It was a compilation of dark and light. Though early reviews of the new CD were very positive, shipping delays caused great agida for fans and Cheap Trick’s webmaster. Then some folks complained about the CD from Amazon not really being an official CD, but a CD-R. Several reviewers, despite noting that the songs were very good, gave the band only 1 or 2 stars on Amazon due to the CD-R issue.
To top it off, the band didn’t make it to the third show (June 26) of their tour, Darien Lake, NY, due to being stuck on a tarmac in a New York City area airport because of very inclement weather. A few fans were extremely vocal on the boards about their irritation and disappointment that Def Leppard and Poison made it to the gig, but not Trick. Why was Trick in NYC and not traveling from Cuyahoga Falls, OH, where they’d played the night before?
So overall, it was a week of highs and lows for the fans and band. As for the really important thing, the music on “The Latest,” when I first heard the 30 second snippets on Amazon, I wasn’t too impressed. But after listening to the CD numerous times, (the CD-R sounds just fine to my ears) I’ve changed my tune. The songs on “The Latest” are much more powerful than I expected. I wrote the following review and posted it on Amazon.
Let’s start with the CD cover. The band is on the beach with metal detectors looking for buried treasure, and the lead guitarist himself, Rick Nielsen, is more than half buried in the sand. Is this a metaphor of “The Latest?” Should listeners go on a musical beachcombing expedition looking for buried treasure in the lyrics and melodies? After listening to the CD numerous times, I’d say abso-freakin-lutely YES!
“The Latest” is a diverse, well engineered array of songs from the slow, dirge-like opener “Sleep Forever,” to the funky bass-driven rock scorcher “Sick Man of Europe.” You can mine a great deal of gold in this CD, but it takes at least several listens in order to appreciate the lush orchestral arrangements in “Closer,” “Everybody Knows,” and “Times of Our Lives,” all of which smack of The Beatles. Cheap Trick has always been highly influenced by the Fab Four, and in September 2009 they’ll roll out nine performances of the Sgt. Pepper’s album in Las Vegas. But no song on “The Latest” is as Beatle-esque as “Miracle.” “Miracle” is reminiscent of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and lead singer Robin Zander sounds eerily as if he’s channeling the deceased Beatles singer/songwriter.
Speaking of the deceased, death doesn’t take a holiday on several songs. “Sleep Forever” was inspired by the passing of a close friend of the band, and the haunting “Everybody Knows” implies the impending demise of a ship’s crew. Even the rockin’ chorus in “Alive” wails, “We’re never gonna get out of this place alive. You know we’ll never survive…” The beginning of “Sleep Forever” features guitar-made SETI space-like sounds one would hear if you were trying to communicate with the beyond (at least that’s what it resembles to my ears) and similar unusual sounds pop up on “Closer: The Ballad of Burt and Linda.” “The Latest” is chock-full of unique vibrations and almost dissonant orchestral melodies that combine for a powerful new aural experience.
Part of the fun of listening to any Trick CD is trying to figure out the meaning of the lyrics. Some songs seem pretty straight forward, like “California Girl,” “When the Lights are Out,” and “Every day You Make Me Crazy.” But others, such as “Alive,” “Miracle,” “Closer,” and “Everybody Knows” beg to be explored on a deeper level. If you give the CD a few whirls, you’ll enjoy pondering the messages, though there aren’t any right or wrong answers. Each song has a unique or personal meaning to each listener, and that’s the beauty of Cheap Trick’s music.
Bonnie Raitt once said, “I think my fans will follow me into our combined old age. Real musicians and real fans stay together for a long, long time.” For those fans that have followed Cheap Trick for decades, “The Latest” displays their evolution as song writers and musicians. Zander’s vocals exude intense emotion, and his voice sounds as amazing, if not better, than 30 years ago. The diversity of the CD offers something for new listeners and old fans alike. If you go on your own musical beachcombing expedition and search for the hidden treasures, I’m sure you will find at least one or two gems that are sonically golden to your ears.
Sick Man of Euorpe