Celebrating their fiftieth year of playing this Rock n Roll game, the mighty Cheap Trick ain’t done yet, and with this, their latest offering, ‘All Washed Up’, is a tongue-in-cheek title because on the evidence herein, they are on fire and sounding as hungry as the day they first broke out of Rockford. From the opening few bars of the title track, you kinda know exactly what you’re in for. The band sounds vibrant and kicking it with the energy coming from the engine room, which is now driven by Rick’s son Daxx, who is proving to be a real power house and driving the music on, adding a ton of x factor to proceedings.
To be fair they are on fire here and turning everything up to 11 they’re rockin hard. by the time you get to the third track, Nielsen has decided that he wants to show everyone hes lost none of his fire and love for loud guitars as he rinses ever last drop out of how ever many necks he feels like swinging around these days. Hell, they are right on it for ‘Bet It All’ with the musicianship being put to the test and throwing down the gauntlet to anyone within earshot. I remember when Aerosmith returned decades ago after ‘Done With Mirrors’ and every man and his dog wanted to champion the band for their hunger and quality, well, this reminds me a lot of the spirit captured in these here tracks. Even the first slower ballad-like track, ‘The Best Thing’ (of course it’s called that and with slushy tempo and dreamy solo it’s built for American Radio if that’s still a thing.
Another point apart from the rhythm section and lead breaks sounding fantastic, a special mention to the amazing vocals courtesy of Robin Zander, who is pealing back the years. I’m not even sure a guy of his years should be allowed to possess a voice that bloody good; it might be illegal these days.
Throughout the eleven songs that unmistakable Cheap Trick power pop is there for all to hear, of course, it is its part of them like a gas or the lifeblood that courses through their veins, it’s always there. ‘Twelve Gates’ is a great example of the old dog and new tricks, it’s power pop gold. Hang on, ‘Bad Blood’ is even more Cheap Trick with a fantastic melody and a thick edge on the Bass, whilst Nielsen is having the time of his life all over this record. Even the parts where they might be cruising, Rick has something fire up his sleeve just so you don’t get complacent.
Finally, I’d just like to say that when they turn it up, they really do capture some magic, and whilst the production is slick and thick, it’s when they up the RPM that they hit the dizzy heights on ‘All Washed Up’, and those are the songs that take this to the next level.
To produce a product this good, this deep into a career, is nothing short of remarkable. I’ll even forgive them the skiffle and jazzy outro of ‘Wham Boom Bang’, they’ve earned it because Cheap Trick are still the cats whiskers and this is the mutts nuts now wham boom bang that one and buy this album!
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Author: Dom Daley

















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