I think this is the kind of Posies singing that John was talking about.
They both get a little ambitious with the harmonies, but Mr. Stringfellow is clearly swinging for the fences.
Cheap Trick - “In Color” (Albini Re-Recording, 1998)
“Come On, Come On” (1998 Version)
So, speaking of Cheap Trick.
The songs on Cheap Trick’s second album were mostly pretty great—certainly full of promise and craft. But ever since In Color’s 1977 release, everybody (including, perhaps most vocally, the band themselves) had complained that producer Tom Werman’s impotent, AM-radio-friendly mix didn’t do the material or the band’s paint-peeling live shows the justice they deserved.
It’s certainly no accident that the version of “I Want You to Want Me” that made Cheap Trick international stars was the blistering live version from At Budokan — rather than the anemic pop smear that got wiped onto the original In Color.
So, to some of the facts that are in evidence, via wikip:
Cheap Trick - “I Can’t Take It” (Thicke of the Night, 1984)
Underrated Cheap Trick sleeper from a period even some hardcore fans consider a slump.1 But, crummy albums can have awesome songs, and I think that gets lost in the shuffle of nerdy, canonical rock criticism. Too bad, too. This here’s some razor-sharp power pop.
When’s the last time you saw a band play live on a damned talk show and sound this crazy-tight? Exactly.
Well, you can thank Alan Thicke. Me? I feel like I’m forever thanking Alan Thicke.
-
Brady’s Bits: The Tampa (St. Pete?) gig for this (Next Position Please) tour was
a) the first time I saw CT live (the first of [if memory serves] six times), and,
b) the first night I ever smoked pot.
The latter did nothing for me (that night, anyhow), and frankly, I probably could have gotten a better buzz choking myself with the Baggie. Certainly would have had less of a headache, too.
Still. Cheap Trick. So great, right? Yes. ↩
Cheap Trick - “Dream Police (1979)
