Heaven Tonight [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Cheap Trick

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000C28K
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #123,751 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

The unexpected success of Live at Budokan (originally available in America only as a Japanese import) in 1978 very nearly overshadowed the band's most accomplished studio album, Heaven Tonight, released just months earlier. In Color's occasionally candy-ass studio gloss isn't entirely lost, just supplanted by healthy doses of the band's awesome raw power. Kicking off with the crypto-anthemic "Surrender," Heaven maintains a level of quality in songwriting, performance, and production rare in a rock album; some lesser band would covet this as its greatest-hits collection. There's another peerless Trick cover choice (the Move's "California Man") and a batch of originals that cover everything from suicidal tendencies ("Auf Wiedersehen") and drug abuse (the eerily moving title track) to blank nostalgia ("Takin' Me Back"), FM bliss ("On the Radio"), and jaded big spenders ("High Roller"). This "Expanded Edition" is sonically superb and includes new liner notes, photos, and a pair of live-in-the-studio outtakes. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On Top Of The World and You Can't Get Any Higher, February 2, 2003

By	Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Rick Nielsen once said he had a big enough stash of songs written in the early days to have cut a dozen albums. If that was a true statement, he was saving up the best for "Heaven Tonight." Absolutely everything here clicks. From the cryptic fun of "Surrender" to the kiss-off of "Auf Weidersen," there isn't a lame cut in the bunch. They also take a stronger stance in the production department, peeling the gloss of "In Color" back just enough to give the rocker instinct some bite, but leaving enough pop polish to make the album sparkle.

Nielsen had become a guitar maniac by now, throwing off inventive riffs like he'd just invented the six-string. The rolling thunder of "Stiff Competition" and "Auf Weidersen" out new-wave many of the bands sporting skinny ties at the time, and their cover of the Move's "California Man" make Cheap Trick sound as brilliant as any British Invasion band of the sixties. "Surrender" is also quite possibly the most subversive rock song to brush the lower regions of the pop charts. Bubbly keyboards, Pete Townshend-ish guitar banging and a lyric about sneaking in on your parents while they make out to your KISS records...if that isn't your idea of a rock anthem for the post baby-boom generation, you're probably reading this review by accident.

Equal parts funny and deviant, yet 100% tuneful, "Heaven Tonight" is Cheap Trick's high water mark in the studio. If you get any Trick album other than "At Budokan," this is the one you must have.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CD Crafted for Conoisseurs, October 30, 2000

By	B. Lynch "the_onewhoknows" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This CD captures Cheap Trick perfectly. The songwriting, playing, and production came together here to create a music set that withstands the test of time extremely well.

Unlike "In Color", which showcased Cheap Trick's pop sensibilities, "Heaven Tonight" is a raving rock CD. From the opening riff of 'Surrender', this CD is a great collection of hooks, melodies, and rhythms for people who think too much of today's popular stuff is awful.

Unlike so many contemporary CD's, there is no 'filler' or 'throwaway' material here: it's all very good, and every song leaves you wanting to hear the next one.

Cheap Trick released several CD's after this one, and while most had at least one great song, none of them measured up to "heaven Tonight" for consistent excellence from start to finish. While Cheap Trick is a band best known for their own music, The Move's "California Man" is covered here, and Cheap Trick's remake is actually more forceful than the original.

Note to Audiophiles: The Cheap Trick remasters show some of the greatest degree of improvement of any set of remasters, in part because the original CD releases were so bad. The engineering here is extremely good, and the mix is really clear. Even if you have the old CD's, this one's well worth the few extra dollars for the improved sound quality.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Underrated Band., February 24, 2000

By	Jason Stein (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Cheap Trick has 13 full length studio cds on the market and most people under 20 have never heard this band. I select Heaven Tonight as the cd to start with. Sure, the debut Cheap Trick and the follow up, In Color, are great cds, but you can get those after Heaven Tonight. Sure, Live at Budokan was what sent Cheap Trick up the charts, but Heaven Tonight came before that. Then there are the mediocre Cheap Trick cds like All Shook Up, Standing on the Edge, The Doctor and Busted. I happened to like One On One, Next Position Please, Lap of Luxury, Woke Up With A Monster and 1997's self titled Cheap Trick. Yet most Cheap Trick fans would agree that their first four albums are their best. I have to agree to an extent. Heaven Tonight achieved the cohesiveness and consistency that their first two albums missed. Heaven Tonight is stronger than Dream Police is. With Heaven Tonight, Cheap Trick displays exactly what they do best--rock and roll with a pop flare. This cd sounds even better now that it's been digitally remastered. This cd is worth having if you are a serious music fan. Also, if you are a die-hard Cheap Trick fan that is open minded about their entire catalogue, you might check out the now hard-to-find solo cd from Robin Zander (1993). I thought it was different but yet just as good as Cheap Trick's material.