CHEAP TRICK – IN ANOTHER WORLD

CHEAP TRICK, IN ANOTHER WORLD, (BMG)

Cheap Trick’s twentieth album, as they approach their fiftieth anniversary in a few years, does not disappoint. Written before the Pandemic, release has been delayed, but keen to play the new material, they are already starting to tour the record in Australia.

‘Here Comes the Summer’ was released as the first single in 2018. While it’s light, airy and poppy with layers of catchy harmonies, the guitar riffs and arrangements give it real bite. ‘Quit Waking Me Up’ has a sixties/seventies poppy feel overall, but Rick Nielsen will still rip you a new orifice with his rock n roll solos. ‘Another World’ and  ‘Passing Through’ although undeniably Beatles influenced have a slightly sassy nineties Oasis style streak.

‘Boys & Girls & Rock N Roll’ has a Stones-y vibe. ‘The Party’ tips a wink to Jimi Hendrix, but the band can’t resist injecting it with a bit of power pop. ‘Final Days’ has influences from old Memphis black blues and steamin’ harmonica from Jimmy Hall: despite its seeming apocalyptic theme the album was actually finished before the Pandemic began and delayed its release.

‘So It Goes’ is acoustic and pared back: apparently first written by Robin Zander in the seventies, it cheekily references the famous line from Led Zep about ‘if mountains fall into the sea’ ‘there would still be you and me’, and mines late era Beatles atmospherically.

‘Light Up the Fire’, my favourite on the album, is where Zander really lets loose and gets rockin. ‘Here’s Looking At You’ channels a bit of a fifties rock n roll riff and solo, but combines it with a full on stomping upbeat chorus that is quintessentially Cheap Trick. ‘Another World Reprise’ as it suggests revisits the title track,  but speeds it up to give it almost a punk rock garage sound with trashier guitar. Again it’s amazing to think this last track was written before the Pandemic as the lyrics echo current times so well.

‘I’ll See You Again’ is a bit trippy and spaced out and takes the pace down again. ‘Gimme Some Truth’, a rocked up version of the John Lennon song features a guest appearance from Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and finishes the album with a sentiment about politicians that everyone has had on their mind lately, making it more relevant than ever.

There are no real surprises with this album. That may be a good thing, as long time fans of a band often find surprises from their favourite bands to be of the less than welcome kind. Cheap Trick, like leopards will not change their spots, but remain nevertheless majestic.

Dawn Osborne