Here we are, doing a Cheap Trick review, and this week, it’s none other than Heaven Tonight. Released in May of 1978 on Epic, the album was produced by Tom Werman as with the previous In Colour. Originally, the album was to be called American Standards as a play on the plumbing company. However, the band demanded a new title, while the artwork remained. The album would reach #48 on the Billboard 200 and to date has gone Platinum in the United States. In addition, the album is often cited as one of the best or even the best Cheap Trick record by fans and critics. What do I think of it? Well….

1. “Surrender” (Rick Nielsen):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1sAm5UCJ9vA

Right off the bat, we start with “Surrender”, the ode to clashes between the Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers. I should also mention that as with much of the record, Jai Winding performs keyboards on this record.

Oh man, where do I begin with this song? The violin esque synth is just perfect for the opening to the song before we are launched right into the ol parent v child conflict. You have Mom warning you to stay away from sex or you’ll go blind or lose a limb (or the limb), and even though my mom didn’t really have that talk with me, she certainly was a worry wart. I still love her all the same, but she could be pretty damn neurotic about many things, so I can still relate to that verse. And while I never had much hassle for playing my KISS records, Stooges and Zappa on the other hand…..

This is such a perfect, perfect song, perfect power pop tune, and even with us moving away from the Greatest Generation (that did nothing about the Nazis until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, engaged in heavy racism, locked up Japanese Americans in camps, etc) or the Baby Boomers, there will always be that division between generations, so this song will remain as relevant as ever.

It doesn’t matter how I hear this, be it through the studio version or the Budokan version, this is a pop masterpiece that never gets old, so let’s wrap it up and go onto “On Top Of The World”.

2. “On Top Of The World” (Nielsen):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8ENMoiRkSyE

Oh yes, a one-two punch for this album! This “On Top Of The World” of course, not that shitty ass Van Hagar song, this is Cheap Trick.

Bun E. and Petersson kick off the track, and we hear that glorious twelve string bass that Petersson is known for. Fun fact: this is the first album to feature a twelve string bass, which Petersson had conceived of at least as far back as 1973 according to Rick. Well, Rick delivers a full on assault on the guitar before Zander comes in, and holy shit, Zander is just amazing. One of the all time great voices in rock.

The song takes a look at a naive boy and a wild chick and how the boy ended up with her. Like most young people, both are dumb, impulsive, and dysfunctional, and neither really thinks through the long term consequences of their gettin’ it on.

3. “California Man” (Roy Wood):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hQhxYbXY8eE

Now we cover “California Man”, which is a cover of The Move’s last official single before the breakup and resulting formation of ELO.

I’ll be honest, I had no idea for the longest time this was a cover, but I have to say I do really dig the original, but sorry folks, Cheap Trick is where it’s at as far as I’m concerned. They really pump some adrenaline into the track while still keeping that old rock and roll feel to the music. Here, I get that early Beatles feel throughout the song, and early Beach Boys to a lesser extent, that kind of poppy surf rock that is just so freeing and so youthfully eager, like anything is possible.

That freedom is where I find much of the best music comes from, certainly most of my favorite bands have that, the Stones, Van Halen (real Van Halen, not that Loverboy shit calling itself Van Halen), Zappa and the Mothers, Zeppelin, you name it. It is the most beautiful feeling in the world, and man, I hate sounding like a geezer, but I miss that in most of what’s popular now. No matter what dumb mistakes we might make, we are free, we have so many things and so many opportunities to seize. Medicine, farming, police, fire fighters, all very admirable careers and all necessary to sustain life, but art, passion, that’s what makes life worth sustaining. So when you can stroll on through Southern California, do so, because it is so liberating.

4. “High Roller” (Nielsen/Tom Petersson/Robin Zander):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QimgfJXYN_4

After the one-two-three punch, we come to “High Roller”.

Is it me, or is there a little bit of “Aurora” by the Foo Fighters in that opening riff? It’s not blatant by any means, but I can’t help but think of “Aurora”, and I know Dave is a Cheap Trick fan. And that’s my favorite Foo Fighters song, just such a great mellow track that really puts me in the space of just looking up at the stars with my favorite people. In the end, eh, there’s only so many chords.

So back to Cheap Trick, we get a great tambourine or maraca by Bun E to set a cool mood for the track, and the track is pretty rocking man. Robin pulls out some very sultry crooning and it actually works really well, way better than it should. And I just love that little low key post chorus section that is so Beatles like. These guys really are the American Beatles, they should be way bigger than they are. Then again, we’re the idiots that let Sammy Hagar have platinum records to his name. Or God, Limp Bizkit. The masses have shit for taste is what I’m saying. Like I said in the Panorama review, for every hit that is great and becomes a classic, there’s at least five more that are complete dreck.

This is another awesome track by this awesome band, so we must move forward.

5. “Auf Wiedersehen” (Nielsen/Petersson):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0tFlCGZJ6qw

Here we are at “Auf Wiedersehen”, which is German for “goodbye”. This was cut originally for the first album, but was saved for this album. The song has gone on to be the band’s go to closing number for live shows.

This a totally rocking song man, with some mean ass guitar licks by Rick Nielsen paving way for a full on throttle by Zander. Holy shit man, I can see why Dr Fukk points to Zander as his favorite singer because the dude truly packs a punch vocally. He can be tender, he can be abrasive, and can do both with equal conviction.

Additionally, I hear what a few of the later alternative bands would do in this track, which makes sense since a lot of those bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana were big Cheap Trick fans. And I don’t blame them because Cheap Trick rules.

This song is pretty swell, I’d say, and Anthrax does a pretty good cover of it as well, which I believe I talked about in my Sound Of White Noise review.

6. “Takin’ Me Back” (Nielsen):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PO7gcZULyKQ

Alright vinyl folk, let’s flip it over to Side Two and begin with “Takin’ Me Back”.

Straight, no nonsense guitar riff, the dreamy organ, hooks galore, Robin Zander vocals as outstanding as ever. This is so dreamy, so beautifully constructed and a perfect fuck you to shitty exes. It is so defiant, Robin is dead set on not letting anybody hold him back from enjoying his life to the fullest.

I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but this is another awesome song.

7. “On The Radio” (Nielsen):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xzlBdzYJvXk

“On The Radio”, I hear a lot of the sixties girl groups in this song. Imagine The Crystals or The Shangri-Las doing this song, it actually works fairly well, and I’m such a sucker for sixties girl groups anyway. Even Winding’s keyboard work really swings the way a lot of those old songs do, I absolutely love that. And that piano solo is pretty damn sweet too, really good stuff.

This is such a fun song man, another one of my favorite Cheap Trick songs.

8. “Heaven Tonight” (Nielsen/Petersson):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fb84Yao5vZc

“Heaven Tonight”, the title track and eventually the B-Side to “Dream Police”, which Rick later states was made to be an anti drug sort of song.

Whereas other tracks like “High Roller” take on aspects of early Beatles, this one reminds me of the more psychedelic Beatles, this is pure Magical Mystery Tour stuff. There’s this very dreamy, atmospheric quality to it, a sense of euphoria reminiscent of the best drugs. And Zander really channels Lennon on this song, alternating between more droll Lennon and his more primal scream. And the lyrics really convey a sense of dread where any shot of Substance X can be the end for you.

This is a track that gets a lot of love and a lot of praise, and it’s completely deserved; this is by far and away one of Cheap Trick’s finest hours as a recording unit. Hands down the best track off this album, it is pure gold.

9. “Stiff Competition” (Nielsen):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fuJTiZsNY3U

Here’s to some stiff competition.

Compared to the previous song, this is a pretty straightforward rocker, a nice breather after the gloom of “Heaven Tonight”. This is just pure guts on the band’s part, perfectly capturing a young man’s lust and sexual frustration.

And man does Bun E. really tear it up on the skins, playing hard, playing with energy, he is this band’s secret weapon. And while Rick’s son is a capable drummer, he’s no Bun E., and the band definitely misses something without him there just as they did when Tom was out of the band.

This is another very solid tune, though not one of my favorites on here, which shows you what I think of this album.

10. “How Are You?” (Nielsen):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nB7cWFJpN8Q

I’m in a pretty decent mood, thanks for asking.

The track starts with that pretty little piano piece and then BAM! We launch into a rock and roll number, very Beatles and Elton John like in its structure while we get a very McCartney like vocal by Zander. And then this Beatles sundae is topped by some sweet guitar courtesy of Rick Nielsen.

This is another winner on the album, just a killer song.

11. “Oh Claire” (Nielsen):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ca6xVXKdEjk

“Oh Claire”, the hidden track on the album. The title is a play on Eau Claire, Wisconsin where the band often played early on.

It’s a nice little jam with some filler lyrics. I like it well enough, but it’s kind of just there.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

And that concludes Heaven Tonight, my least favorite of Cheap Trick’s classic run and still a stellar record. The hooks pack quite a punch, the band is tighter than a nun’s ass, Tom Werman’s production brings out the best in these tracks. Can’t recommend this album enough, same goes for Cheap Trick’s entire seventies output.

And that is my first Cheap Trick review.