The Latest

Performer: Cheap Trick
Engineer: Howard Willing; Tom Syrowski; Nik Karpen; George Harris; Howard Willing; Kevin Mills; Rafael Serrano; Keith Armstrong
Producer: Howard Willing; Julian Raymond; Howard Willing; Julian Raymond; Cheap Trick
Distributor: (Independently by Label)

Notes: Cheap Trick: Rick Nielsen (guitar, guitars, keyboards, background vocals); Tom Petersson (guitar, bass guitar, background vocals); Bun E. Carlos (drums, cymbals, background vocals); Robin Zander. Additional personnel: Robin Zander (vocals, guitar, keyboards); George Doering (acoustic guitar); Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (keyboards); Luis Conte (percussion); Bon Harris (programming); Sydney Perkins, Mike Dimkish, Max Raymond, Linus Dotson, Justin Berger-Davis, Jacob Brawer, Eric Skodis, Crestview Kids Choir, Ava Raymond, Noah Herdon, Zoe Berger-Davis, Westy Perkins, Jason Falkner, Julian Raymond, Todd Youth, Wayne Kramer , Gannin Arnold. Audio Mixer: Chris Lord-Alge. Audio Remasterer: Brian "Big Bass" Gardener. Recording information: Henson Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Panda Studios; The Record Company Studios. Photographer: Mike Graham . Arrangers: Julian Raymond; Bennett Salvay. If calling their fifteenth studio album THE LATEST doesn't exactly suggest enthusiasm on the part of Cheap Trick, keep in mind that the band has never shown much enthusiasm for album titles anyway, titling two albums after their band and one after their hometown of Rockford, IL. The THE LATEST follows 2006's ROCKFORD by three years and does indeed offer the latest spin on the band's classic power pop, offering another collection of 13 guitar-heavy pop tunes. After the brief, ominous opener "Sleep Forever," a misleading slice of spacy, hazy, mood rock fades away, Cheap Trick tear into the overlooked Slade gem "When the Lights Are Out," suggesting that THE LATEST will be a high-octane rock-fest, but apart from a handful of other moments--including the raging "Sick Man of Europe" and the "Slow Down" revamp "California Girl"--a lot of the record consists of thick Beatlesque psychedelia, an appealing shift in tactics that makes this something a little bit different than yet another Cheap Trick record.

Spin (p.86) - "[T]he band gamely surfs Beatles-besotted power pop and arena-rock Bic-flickers. Even the power ballad 'Smile' is a welcome gloppy respite..."

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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