Cheap Trick has always known how to get the crowd rockin.They would go down good at Cropredy.
OK, never let it be said that I am the sort of person to stick rigidly to an opinion formed well over 20 years ago.
Frankly I've always thought Cheap Trick were one of the most aptly named bands ever. Naffness personified.
So anyway, I decided to reappraise them, since so many seemed to think they'd be a winner at Cropredy.
I found downloads of 'At Budokan: The Complete Concert', & 'The Latest', which I believe is indeed their latest album.
I started with the late 70s live concert, since I figured this would be a good overview of what they were about.
The first few tracks surprised me, in that I disliked them more than I expected, really awful I thought...
Then.... gradually.... they began to grow on me. A couple of tracks reminded me of Jet/Radio Stars, who I like a lot. 'Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace' reminded me so much of Manic Street Preachers, that I actually looked to see if the Manics had ever covered the song. No evidence showed, but I could easily hear them do it in my head. Nice to hear a Roy Wood/Move cover in there too.
By the end of the 2nd CD, I was actually enjoying it. OK, not enough to actively join the campaign to get them for Cropredy, but enough that I wouldn't actually oppose it either.
Then I tried 'The Latest'...
What a revelation! I really, really liked this CD!
I'd read reviews that some thought the band had in fact just made the best record of their 30 odd year career so far with this album, but I'd dismissed that as pretty unlikely.
Maybe those reviewers were right...
I didn't expect to want to hear either album again, but in that I was mistaken.
Mistaken, not wrong. Never wrong. Don't be silly!.
If I've learned anything in my life, it's that you should never judge anything by your first impressions, but even more so, you should certainly never rely on opinions formed decades ago. There are too many changeable factors over that length of time for such opinions to be reliable. Be it the artists changing, improving, developing, or simply one's own tastes changing, expanding, maturing.
Am I a Cheap Trick fan now?... Let's wait & see what their next album is like.
I will be listening to 'The Latest' again though. That's for sure.
