I’ve always had a special sort of relationship with the music of Cheap Trick. Growing up in their hometown of Rockford, Illinois gives one a sort of connectedness to Cheap Trick. I mean, you have a tendency to bump into the guys here and there over the years and many of your friends know them well. One of my old bands even had a practice space right under theirs, and we got to hear them (and they us, but that’s a long story) in that environment. So, for me a new Cheap Trick album is probably a little different than it is for a lot of other people. There is a certain sense of familiarity and a real feeling of “rooting for the hometown guys.”

Well, I’d have to say that this album is easy to like. There are a number of songs that feel like trademark Cheap Trick. I suppose you could say that they are “safe” bets for the guys, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. Perhaps they don’t push the envelope, but they manage to entertain while making fans feel at home. There are other songs that manage to re-invent the Cheap Trick sound, too. That seems a good balance to me. There are a few tunes here that I think stand up with the best the band have ever done. Nothing is particularly wanting either. That makes this is a very solid album. If there’s one complaint to be made, it’s that it’s a little short, running just around 40 minutes in length.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2016  Volume 3 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Feedback and noisy guitar elements start the album, and there is just a bit of a punky edge to the cut as it works out from there. This hard rocker doesn’t really feel like Cheap Trick on the verses (in fact, I think of Alice Cooper a bit), but the choruses are closer to trademark CT. This is hard edged and a bit raw.