The album cover was supposed to be inspired by Springsteen's Born to Run cover. I never picked up on that, I just thought it was cool that Rick Nielsen had a guitar shaped like him. Jumping once again in the wayback machine to a record I actually had in High School. In this case, it's Cheap Trick's Next Position Please album. I hadn't heard this record in decades, but when my wife found this CD in the $3.00 used CD bin of a record store I had to have it.
A little background, in the late 70's Cheap Trick hit it big with their live album At Budokan (1977). But the followup record Dream Police (1979) didn't sustain their momentum. In a confusing mash up of artistic experimentation and commercial desperation Cheap Trick seemed to go with the whims of their producers. All Shook Up (1980) was produced by George Martin and emphasized their Beatles influence. One on One (1982) was produced by Roy Thomas Baker and saw their sound shellacked in a thick coat of overdubs and an almost mechanical perfection.
In an about face from the Arena rock approach on One on One, Cheap Trick hired power pop / studio whiz Todd Rundgren to produce 1983's Next Position Please. When I first started listening to music, my friend next door worshipped Todd Rundgren because his older brother did. So this record came with a heavy recommendation from my neighbor who had a lot more records than I did at the time. When it came to music, I sort of valued his opinion (outside of Rush and Todd Rundgren he seemed to be a little fickle) and I really liked the lead single so I gave this disc a try.
On Next Position Please, Cheap Trick takes Rundgren's production to heart. Like a Todd Rundgren album, the guitars are softer, the melody tends to sway and everything sounds super clean and tight. Track by Track, here's one of Cheap Trick's many forgotten albums.
I Can't Take It - The main song known from the album, I was confused if this was the first or second single. No matter, this is a great song that sets the tone for the album. Rick Nielsen's electric guitar is low in the mix and almost sounds acoustic while the rhythm section of Bun E Carlos (drums) and Jon Brant (bass) kick up the beat. Robin Zander's vocals are as high and tremulous as ever. The chorus is pure Rundgren with the way it becomes tightly harmonic and swaying over the beat.
Borderline - On other Cheap Trick albums, this would have been a full tilt rocker. Instead, squiggly synths emphasize the new wave edge that was popular at the time. Pleasant.
I Don't Love Here Anymore - Nielsen loves song titles that play on words on other albums this type of song would be a stomping, heavy tune. Here, it comes across as mildly insistent, decent but forgettable.
Next Position Please - One of my favorites from this album, the song has a catchy Beatlesque chorus over a semi-punk beat. The zany sense of humor helps here.
Younger Girls - You're not a rock star unless you sing about young girls. A midtempo power pop piece of fluff. A little remiscent of the band's early sound.
Dancing The Night Away - The one song not produced by Rundgren and therefore the hardest rocking song found here. This is more in line with traditional Cheap Trick with it's jumpy beat and harder guitars. Supposedly done at the insistance of the record label (it's a cover song) it's one of the more memorable songs here-probably because it sounds so normal.
You Talk To Much - forgettable because I heard this CD all week and can't recall it.
3D - The most Rundgrenish track, a lot of his studio tricks with distorted voices and off kilter instrumentation is used here. Despite the rockin' "Dancing the Night Away" this album begins to wear out it's welcome with it's studied studious approach.
You Say Jump - or "I Want You To Want Me" again, it has the same beat as their biggest hit. An OK copy of the original.
Y.O.Y.O.Y. - a nice soft ballad with their Beatles influence showing again. There was so much Rundgren on this album that people thought he sang this song.
Won't Take No For An Answer - zzzzzz...what's that? This disc is still playing?
Heavens Falling-starting to get to the end of the record, the band begins to rock a little harder. On a different album, this would have been classic Cheap Trick with the big guitar riff and the urgent tone. A good song.
Invaders Of The Heart - One of the best on the album, a dynamic rock song with nice drum work from Bun E Carlos. His drum solo in the middle is excellent.
Don't Make Our Love A Crime - Back in boring songwriting land again. 14 songs on a record from the vinyl age, can you say "excessive"?
To bring this baby home, it's clear Rundgren is holding the reins on this one though Rick Nielen's songwriting definitely comes through. There are about 4 great songs amid a lot of empty filler which was par for the course for the Tricksters at this point in their career (though 1986's The Doctor was so abysmmal that it only had one good song). If this album was 4 or 5 songs shorter, it would have been better. It went down as another career misstep for the band, the following album would see the return of hard rock producer Jack Douglas and a more direct sound.
Below is a live version from Alan Thicke's short lived late night show Thicke of the Night. He was one of the few people to try to take on Johnny Carson directly in late night tv. His show died quickly, fortunately he was able to channel his condescending smarminess into Growing Pains.
Cheap Trick - "I Can't Take It"
3 comments:
Great band. Fun album. Loved Next Position Please when it was first released. Have you listened to Trick's latest release, Rockford? Awesome. The band's definitely had their high and low points musically, but Rockford was a return to their power pop roots.
I agree with you, Rockford was a very good album. It sounded much closer to their original sound. I really liked "Perfect Stranger", "This Time You Got It" and "Oh Claire". There was a good level of quality to the songs on that disc and retained that sense of fun they always had.
Another Cheap Trick song I liked from '83 was "Up the Creek" from the movie of the same name. I'll have to check to see if that song is still around.
Thank you, I appreciate you leaving your first comment here and it's always nice to know someone is reading. Thanks again.
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