Cheap Trick (1997 album)

Cheap Trick
Studio album by Cheap Trick
Released	April 29, 1997
Recorded	Pie Studios, Glen Cove, New York between December 1995 and January 1997
Genre	Rock, hard rock, power pop
Length	40:45
Label	Red Ant Records/Alliance
Producer	Cheap Trick, Ian Taylor
Cheap Trick chronology
Woke up with a Monster (1994) Cheap Trick (1997) Special One (2003)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[2]
Rolling Stone	(positive)[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]

Cheap Trick, commonly referred to as Cheap Trick '97, is the second eponymous album by the American rock band Cheap Trick, produced by the band and Ian Taylor and released on Red Ant Records and Alliance Entertainment. The album is referred to as "Cheap Trick II" when it is referenced on the promotional DVD that was released with the band's Special One album in 2003. Ian Taylor had previously engineered the One On One LP in 1982 and produced a handful of other tracks from 1983's Next Position Please LP, as well as the title track for the 1983 Sean S. Cunningham comedy film Spring Break.

The album features a black-and-white themed cover and a stripped-down sound reminiscent of the band's eponymous debut album 20 years earlier. It was named after the 1977 debut. Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos are represented on the front cover (rather than the back) of a Cheap Trick album for the first and only time, likewise Robin Zander and Tom Petersson are relegated to the back, but their gear appears instead of the band members themselves. Some have suggested that the band chose this approach treating their debut with Red Ant/Alliance as an opportunity to re-introduce themselves as a band to a new era. Red Ant filed for bankruptcy three weeks after the album's release. There was one black-and-white video shot for the LP; "Say Goodbye". The Japanese version of the album featured a different album cover, a black-and-white photo of the band members.

The album is now only available as a digital download at various online retailers, although a limited edition reissue was released in Japan in 2004.

Track listing

All tracks by Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson & Robin Zander except where noted

1. "Anytime" – 4:36
2. "Hard to Tell" – 4:07
3. "Carnival Game" (Zander, Nielsen, Petersson, Jerry Dale McFadden, Robert Reynolds,) – 4:13
4. "Shelter" (Jamie Mika, Nielsen, Petersson, Zander) – 4:13
5. "You Let a Lotta People Down" – 4:29
6. "Baby No More" – 2:54
7. "Yeah Yeah" (original version) – 3:12
8. "Say Goodbye" (studio version) – 3:34
9. "Wrong All Along" – 2:18
10. "Eight Miles Low" – 3:28
11. "It All Comes Back to You" (Zander, Nielsen, Petersson, Jerry Dale McFadden, Robert Reynolds,) – 3:41

Bonus tracks

This album came with a hidden "track 0" which is a 2:58 montage of clips of songs on the album and studio banter. Some copies of this album came with a bonus disc that contained two songs that were produced by Steve Albini. "Baby Talk" was written by Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, and Tom Petersson. "Brontosaurus" is a 1970 Roy Wood composition, originally recorded by The Move and retrofitted as "California Man" on the band's 1978 album "Heaven Tonight". The tracks were originally released on 7 inch vinyl by Sub Pop Records in 1996. They are also bonus tracks on the Japanese and digital download versions of the album.

1. "Baby Talk"
2. "Brontosaurus"

Singles

• (1997) "Say Goodbye/Yeah Yeah" - #119 US, #39 US Mainstream Rock
• (1997) "Baby No More/Anytime/Brontosaurus"
• (1997) "Carnival Game/You Let a Lotta People Down"

Chart performance

Personnel

• Robin Zander – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, slide guitar, tiple, piano
• Rick Nielsen – backing vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, E-bow, piano, electric saw
• Tom Petersson – backing vocals, bass, 12-string bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, E-bow, tamboura
• Bun E. Carlos – drums, tambourine
• Ian Taylor – producer, engineer, mixing
• Mike Beert – cello
• Richie Cannata – piano

References