Label: Big Machine Records (Japan), POCS-24012
Style: Hard Rock
Country: Rockford, Illinois, U.S.
Time: 53:11
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 405 Mb
It's
difficult for any band or artist to sound enthused after decades of
making music. Automatic pilot and rock 'n' roll root rot can easily set
in.
There are some exceptions: Paul McCartney has had some
late-career gems; same goes for David Bowie and the Monkees. You can add
Cheap Trick to that list. They sound positively vibrant and genuinely
excited on We're All Alright!
Unlike many of their contemporaries,
Cheap Trick have never broken up, stopped touring or quit making new
music. They have also never stopped putting everything they have into
what they do either. Coming hot on the heels of last year's Bang Zoom
Crazy Hello, We're All Alright! follows in the footsteps of its
predecessor while adding a couple of new twists to the mix.
Guitarist
Rick Nielsen welds together riffs borrowed from the Kinks and the Who
for the album's first single, "Long Time Coming," while "Nowhere" takes
on a Ramones-like charge in its speed attack. Other songs follow a
similar path, with no track clocking in at more than four minutes. This
pace gives the album a whiplash flow that recalls some of their earliest
records.
A few of the songs actually date back several years. "Radio
Lover" was put on the shelf in the '90s, and it's rescued from oblivion
here as an amphetamine-fueled hard rocker. "Lolita" slaps keyboard
sequencers on top of glam-rock boogie. And "She's Alright" features some
Bob Dylan-styled phrasing from singer Robin Zander
Cheap Trick also
dip into the past by covering Roy Wood again. As they've done in the
past with "California Man," "Brontosaurus" and "Rock and Roll Tonight,"
they take the Move's 1968 song "Blackberry Way" and spin it in their
direction.
The band pushes itself on We're All Alright!, turning in
enthusiastic and engaging performances throughout. They still sound like
a bunch of guys half their age. "Who knows what forever is about?"
Zander asks on "The Rest of My Life." He doesn't pretend to know the
answer.
Cheap Trick sound like they still have something to prove,
and perhaps they do. After a couple of trying and triumphant years --
there was a legal hassle involving former drummer Bun E. Carlos, and
they were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016
-- they sound ready for their next chapter.
(ultimateclassicrock.com/cheap-trick-were-all-alright-review/)
01. You Got It Going On (03:11)
02. Long Time Coming (03:12)
03. Nowhere (02:45)
04. Radio Lover (02:46)
05. Lolita (03:16)
06. Brand New Name On An Old Tattoo (03:32)
07. Floating Down (03:49)
08. She's Alright (03:39)
09. Listen To Me (03:13)
10. The Rest Of My Life (04:18)
11. Blackberry Way (03:13)
12. Like A Fly (03:22)
13. If You Still Want My Love (04:23)
14. When I Wake Up Tomorrow (Live) (Bonus track) (03:38)
15. The In Crowd (Live) (Bonus track) (04:46)
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