Lap of Luxury

Performer: Cheap Trick
Engineer: Phil Kaffel
Producer: Richie Zito
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Cheap Trick: Robin Zander (vocals); Rick Nielsen (guitar); Tom Petersson (12-string bass); Bun E. Carlos (drums). Recorded at One On One, North Hollywood, California, Sound Castle and A & M Studios, Los Angeles, California. This was Cheap Trick's comeback album after a commercially fallow period, and deservedly so. The songs (not all penned solely by the band, which some hardcore fans objected to) are almost uniformly smart, hooky pop rockers in the best Trick tradition. The album yielded two hits, a clever cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" (done somewhat in the style of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love,") and the power ballad "The Flame," which holds up better than you might expect. Other highlights include the opening "Let Go," a fantastic rocker mixing the riff from the Beatles "If I Needed Someone" with glam-rock saxophones in the chorus, and the attractively Cars-ish "Space."

Cheap Trick's first few albums are often cited as an influence on both '80s pop-metal and the pop-punk phenomenon of the '90s. Robin Zander's rock-star looks and powerful voice played perfectly off guitar hero Rick Neilsen's oddball image and onstage antics, and the band frequently subverted standard rock song structures with odd, ironic lyrics. In their late-'70s heyday, Cheap Trick's fusion of power-pop and hard rock won them credibility with rockers, new wave fans, and pure popsters. Their 1978 release AT BUDOKAN still stands as one of rock's finest concert albums.

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