Customer Reviews

Special One (Bonus DVD)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Once upon a time, Cheap Trick fired off cannon blasts of power pop with the reliability and precision of an ace artillery unit. "C'mon, C'mon," "Lookout," "He's a Whore," "Dream Police," "Surrender" -- the crafty bubblegum barrage seemed like it'd never end. And then it did. The band spent much of the '80s trying to re-capture the original magic. Its successes, however, were often overshadowed by a sense of confusion. And, to be fair, no younger band was able to catch and sustain the spark either -- though many tried.

In the '90s, Trick shed some of its old baggage and forged a new identity. The pop smarts remained, but the band ditched the hyperactive wisecracker persona. After all, they'd become middle-aged men. So while late-period classics such as "Say Goodbye" and "Hard to Tell" still boiled over with hooks, the songs were darker, more grounded than heyday haymakers like "Southern Girls" and "She's Tight."

"Special One" finds this great American institution mining fresh gold from this fairly new groove. While the opening track, "Scent of a Woman," demonstrates the band can still kick out the power chords, the lyrics are earnest -- even annoyingly so. Still, the song is saved by a joltingly energetic bridge and an infectious overall enthusiasm. From there, "Special One" simmers down to a medium boil with "My Obsession" and "Too Much" taking top prizes for melody and crackerjack performances. While earlier ballads like "If You Want My Love" often came across as winningly jokey, these two are straight-shooters and the better for it.

Trick has always had a psychotic streak and they don't hide it for long on "Special One." The back-to-back desperation of "Sorry Boy" and "Best Friend" may put off fans seduced by the album's warm-hearted open. But taken on their own, each track offers an impressively bruising heaviness that even a group as powerful as the Who wasn't able to muster this late into its career. The band trades in the sledgehammers for some new techno-Tricks on the closers, "If I Could" and "Hummer." Neither one is a classic, but either is better than anything on the new Third Eye Blind album.

All-in-all, "Special One" is convincing proof that Cheap Trick is as alive and restless as it was back in the Budokan days. And the lyrics of its greatest anthem, "Surrender," never sounded so relevent to the band itself, "Mommy's all right, daddy's all right, they just seem a little bit wei-ei-eird." Weird but still wonderful.

New disc from 70's legends Cheap Trick proves the band can still write a catchy tune. My Obsession, Pop Drone, Too Much, Special One, and Words are the strongest tracks. The classic Cheap Trick power-pop sound is very much alive on Special One with it's Beatle-ish melodies and grungy guitars. But just as they did in their early years, the boys aren't shy about exploring their quirky, experimental side either. Check out the songs Sorry Boy and Hummer to see what I mean. Overall, Special One is probably Cheap Trick's best record since 1985's Standing On The Edge. It's nice to hear them performing their own material after the dreary late-80's / early-90's period when their label forced them to bring in outside writers and it seemed the band had totally sold out in the pursuit of a hit. Whether or not Special One will spawn a radio hit and revive the band's career is anyone's guess. But if nothing else it proves that 25 years later Cheap Trick still rocks with the best of them.

Cheap Trick came out with a good album in 1997. This album continues where the last one left off, except this one is better.

The band has taken a step beyond the power rock in the 1997 album. They've added a techno feel and some different rythms. More importantly, they have added this feel while still applying their signature. This is classic Cheap Trick with some new dimensions. This is exactly what you want from a band - Continuous evolution.

Lyrically speaking the album is their best. This is truly one of their best albums, and one of the best albums I've heard this year. If anyone has any suggestions of albums that are as good as this one, let me know.

I like this album for what it is: creative, different and classic Cheap Trick. I like it for what it isn't - 10 power pop love songs. Cheap trick is better than that and they've proved it on their last two albums.

Keep going guys, keep evloving and trying new things. You saved us from Disco once, now save us from 'nsync hell and John Mayer banality.

Cheap Trick is back in a big way! "Special One" is long overdue but worth the wait. It has about everything you could expect from Cheap Trick: catchy hooks, reckless hard rock, and a load of enjoyable tunes. The album admittedly has a gay title, one of their stupidest yet (I'm picturing the album riding the "short bus"). The music is great though, with each member giving a solid performance in every song. It's well recorded by the production "dream team" consisting of Cheap Trick, Chris Shaw, Jack Douglas, & Steve Albini. Here's a song-by-song description:

Scent of a Woman - Amazing! A truly amazing song, the best I've heard in years. It has a solid rhythm and a level of passion that is all but lost in today's rock. Sure it starts slow, but don't adjust the volume too much. This one will blow you away.

Too Much - A good rhythmic song with a classic Beatles-inspired Cheap Trick sound.

Special One - Continue's the band's love affair with Japan. An interesting listen because it's different sounding. You can find versions of this song that are actually sung in Japanese.

Pop Drone - A basic pop song, mildly interesting. Most people seem to like this one more than I do.

My Obsession - This is a nice rhythmic pop song with a good sound. I wouldn't be surprised to hear this on the radio.

Words - The album gets a bit slow at this point, but still good music. One reviewer described this song as "Double Fantasy"-era John Lennon. Perfect description.

Sorry Boy - A pounding rocker with a heavy, ominous sound. A nice break from the slow pop songs. Reminds me of "Anytime" from CT '97.

Best Friend - A musical journey into madness. Starts out safe enough, but builds into a screaming, thrashing monster. It'll make you sweat!

If I Could - Another slower pop song. Needs more life to it.

Low Life in High Heels - Amusing title (why couldn't they name the album after this one?) A fairly interesting instrumental consisting mainly of a sleazy guitar riff and Robin humming.

Hummer - Basically an extension of the last song with a cool remix. Some people don't like how they end the album with this song, but I find it creative and interesting.

Overall I'd give this album 3 1/2 stars. It starts off great with Scent of a Woman but never quite reaches that peak afterward. Pretty solid and consistently good though. It's a must for Cheap Trick fans, and enjoyable for non-fans as well.

Well, what can you say about Cheap Trick? Here is a band 30 years into their career, and they put out an album that rivals bands half their age. In an age where bands wallow in self pity and all try to sing in that annoying Eddie Veder barotone, along comes Cheap Trick with a full blast of technicolor, swagger and hooks a mile wide. "Scent of a Woman" with its line "A man is just a day in the life of a woman, a few minutes a night to a woman," is wit and power, and fun all mixed together for a great Rolling Stones meets the Who slice of heaven. "Too Much," has a kind of cool Gasoline Alley feel with a modern edge. I can picture Bono singing this one or Mick Jagger. "Special One," the title track, is not a ballad. Unless, of course you consider a song about assisted suicide a ballad. Pop Drone, is just this big monster of a song that is chock full of Beatle style riffs, harmonies, and and a cool atmospheric vibe as well. "My Obsession,"which could have easily been on the Beatles album Revolver, is stunning. If radio played Obssession the song would raise the bar for other bands, and radio can't have that. "Words," is a mixture of John Lennon and the Kinks, with of course Cheap Trick's unique touch. The middle part of "Words," will take your breath away, in the same way that "If You Want My Love," did. "Sorry Boy," is just a fierce groove that pounds and pounds and does not let up. It has an arabesque string arrangement ontop of a huge wall of sound. Tom's bass is thick not just on this song, but the entire album. Be forewarned the bass, as in bass guitar, can barely be contained on Special One. Now as for "Best Friend,"lookout. The song will blow you away. It builds and builds and builds and at its height Robin's voice is pure rage as is Rick guitar. This is one of the hardest things they have ever done, and brother that says alot right there. Then there is "If I Could," which starts out with a dance groove then morphs into a cool Beatlesque power pop ditty. "Low Life in High Heels," and "Hummer," believe it or not are both kind of trippy instrumentals. Chris Shaw, the producer here, did a good job of giving the songs on here layers and textures that many Cheap Trick studio albums in the past missed. I would give it five stars, but I think they should have added one more song. Call me greedy all you want, but this is so good I did not want it to end. The American Beatles are back and they go by the name Cheap Trick.

This is a long overdue studio album from one of America's great bands, A solid effort that fits in nicely with their classic catalog. I particularly like the Steve Albini produced "Sorry Boy" (wherein the bands brings the heaviosity, ala "Auf Wiedersehen") and Blur / Gorillaz fans should definitely check out Dan "the Automator" Nakamura's groovin' mix for "Hummer".

As a really cool bonus, the band includes a DVD full of videos of classic songs spanning their entire career. My personal favorite is "Say Goodbye" a fantastic should-have-been-a-massive-hit from the Cheap Trick '97 album.

Since 1977 I have always said, when people asked me about Cheap Trick, that they were basically "The Beatles with Balls". This new outing is no exception.

Love it, love it love it! It's fresh. It's got the right hooks. It's got the right rawness. It's got enough melody and harmony that these days makes you wonder, whatever happened to great rock n roll?

It's right here and it's from Cheap Trick, they're like The Beatles with Balls!

Cheap Trick graces its fanatical following with another stellar follow up to their great Cheap Trick (97) album. "Scent of a woman" is one of the best Cheap Trick singles released in years. "Too much", "Pop Drone" and "My Obsession" update Cheap Trick's classic sound. The first half of the disc is lighter and more pop oriented than the second half. Starting with "Sorry Boy" (supposedly about soldiers dying in Iraq according to bassist Tom Petersson) the album takes a dramatic turn and really gets darker. "My Best Friend" is a monster of a song. "If I could" starts off with a dance rhythm before returning to the Cheap trick we all know and love. "Low Life in High Heels" and "Hummer" are basically two different songs in one. Overall this disc is terrific for a band whose has been consistently amazing throughout all the rough years.

Despite their solid reputation and overall stellar career, Cheap Trick have had some poor, uneven albums over the years. This is definitely not one of them. Sure the last couple of tracks wander a bit, but this is a great disc. Several tracks jump out as instant Trick classics, rivaling even their best songs from years past. My Obsession is simply an infectious, very well-crafted song with a rich, catchy melody. I think it's one of Cheap Trick's ten best songs. Scent of a Woman is a great opening rocker (and not a cover as one reviewer suggests). Too Much, Words, and Sorry Boy are also very good tracks. And I really like Pop Drone, though other reviewers apparently don't. Overall, this is just an enjoyable disc . . . much better than a lot of stuff that is on the radio and even better than much of Cheap Trick's catalog since the late 70s or early 80s. If you like rock music with a healthy dose of pop sensibility, I think you'll enjoy this CD.

OK, first, you need to know that is not an "instant" cd. It does't leap of the speakers and posess you immediately. It takes a few listens before it all begins to hook you. Some have said that this CT album doesn't rock. It is definitely more subdued that most of their releases, though it is not "laid back" or mellow. The songs are slow and midtempo in the majority but in the same vein that songs like "Heaven Tonight" and "Gonna Raise Hell" are, not poppy like "The Flame". This album has some legs. I too regret that radio, being what it is currently, won't be helping this album find the audience it deserves.
Second, this is not just for fans, but for anyone that likes great rock 'n roll.
Third, thank god they still put out albums and aren't a nostalgia act!
Auf Weidersehen!