I’ve come to the conclusion that a Cheap Trick record is like a box of chocolate — hopelessly addictive, irresistible, and despite what Forrest Gump thinks, you generally know what you’re going to get. There have been a few duds along the way, especially in the early to mid 80s, but their last three studio albums — 2006’s Rockford, 2009’s The Latest and for 2016, Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello — are overflowing with all the classic Cheap Trick trademark anthemic power-pop quirks that have come to define their sound and likely helped earned them a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello lifts off with a sturdy, melodic rocker called “Heart On The Line” that sets the course for what’s to come. The momentum carries through on the album’s first single “No Direction,” a bouncy number with a dramatic pre-chorus that pulls you in and never lets go. As it is throughout, Rick Nielsen’s snappy guitar grounds the songs, and bassist Tom Petersson and drummer Daxx Nielsen, making his first appearance on a Cheap Trick album, drive it home. The second single, “When I Wake Up Tomorrow,” resonates in a similar minor key that made “The Flame” so alluring back in the late 80s. Calling it a power ballad may be overstating the song’s moody tone, but it’s definitely a think piece that offers a little more weight and depth than the album’s more user-friendly material.
The rest of the record pretty much follows suit with its fair share of muscular might (“Don You Believe Me?,” “Roll Me,” “All Strung Out”) and pop-laced tarts (“Blood Red Lips,” “Long Time No See Ya”), slotted in with refined, middle-of-the-road nuggets like “Sing My Blues Away,” “The In Crowd” and “The Sun Never Sets” to highlight Robin Zander’s edgier-but-still-potent vocals. Produced by Julian Raymond, who co-wrote all the songs with the band and previously worked with them on The Latest, Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello exemplifies Cheap Trick’s greatest strengths with few weaknesses that still, after over 40 years, explain why they continue to be hailed as the “American Beatles.”
~ Shawn Perry
