Tag: Dream Police

Cheap Trick – The Best & Worst Song from Every Album

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Last month, I did a post on the Best & Worst songs from every Judas Priest album. I really enjoyed doing that so I thought I would continue that process and this time we would go through every Cheap Trick album and see what is the best song and the worst one off each album as well. Cheap Trick has 20 studio albums to go through so sit back and take it all in. Now, let’s preface this with the fact that these are my choices and not necessarily yours as we can have different opinions. If you watched the show you will see that sometimes my worst song was their favorite so you never know what people like and we all like different things or this would be a very dull world. I hope you enjoy!!

CHEAP TRICK (1977)

BEST SONG – “ELO KIDDIES”: The song is telling kids to fuck school and go out and be nuts. It is a blast of a track with a catchy ass chorus and a Rick Riff that is memorable and you’re able to singalong and that is a good riff if you can do that. What teenage kid doesn’t think that school is a waste, but only Cheap Trick has the balls to tell you it’s true. This to me is a pure punk attitude.

WORST SONG – “MANDOCELLO”: The song sucks the energy right out of the album. With a heavy bass line and and slowed down tempo, the song drags along while Robin’s angelic singing style doesn’t actually breathe any life in to the song. The chorus though feels like the Beatles with the harmonies and is almost a saving grace but not quite.

IN COLOR (1977)

BEST SONG – “SOUTHERN GIRLS”: This album is perfect and so hard to pick a favorite or a worst for that matter as there isn’t any. But I had to pick a favorite and this was my choice. Now, this isn’t about “Southern” girls from the deep South in the U.S. Nope! This is Canadian Southern Girls. Didn’t know there was any such thing. The beat is perfect for hand clapping as it bounces along and feels you with joy. It is pure pop fun with a little gritty guitar work thrown in for good measure along with some playful piano fills.

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My Sunday Song – “Dream Police” by Cheap Trick

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For My Sunday Song #320, we are ending are Cheap Trick 10 song run with “Dream Police” off the album of the same name. The song was release in September 1979 and broke the Top 40 landing all the way at #26. It was the first single off an album that followed ‘Live at Budokan’ and was destined to be a smash…and it was.

The song was written by Rick Nielsen and seems to be about a very paranoid individual. This guy thinks that Big Brother is monitoring his dreams. No matter where he goes or what he does, the dream police are they waiting to arrest him for that one wrong thought or dream. With each passing moment, he is growing more and more insane and obsessed with the whole idea.

The song is upbeat and starts off with the chorus and then goes straight in to the first verse. The organ/keyboards and the string orchestration add an eerie, spooky vibe to the song which makes the song so dramatic and horrifying. Bun E. Carlos’ drums are spectacular adding perfect fills where needed and Petersson’s bass during the creepy Robin speaking vocals adds so much texture and flavor to the song. It is catchy as hell and bores in to your brain as sweet ear candy. The song also reminds me of The Who with its energy and that is good thing.

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. Do you love the humor behind as much as I do? It is one of my favorite tracks by them, where does it fall for you? Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful and Happy Sunday!! Be careful when you sleep because you never know who is listening (or watching).

“Dream Police”

The dream police, they live inside of my head
The dream police, they come to me in my bed
The dream police, they’re coming to arrest me, oh, no

You know that talk is cheap
And those rumors ain’t nice
And when I fall asleep
I don’t think I’ll survive the night, the night

‘Cause they’re waiting for me
They’re looking for me
Every single night
They’re driving me insane
Those men inside my brain

The dream police, they live inside of my head (live inside of my head)
The dream police, they come to me in my bed (come to me in my bed)
The dream police, they’re coming to arrest me, oh, no

Well, I can’t tell lies
‘Cause they’re listening to me
And when I fall asleep
Bet they’re spying on me tonight, tonight

‘Cause they’re waiting for me
They’re looking for me
Every single night
They’re driving me insane
Those men inside my brain

I try to sleep, they’re wide awake, they won’t let me alone
They don’t get paid to take vacations or let me alone
They spy on me, I try to hide, they won’t let me alone
They persecute me, they’re the judge and jury all in one

‘Cause they’re waiting for me
They’re looking for me
Every single night
They’re driving me insane
Those men inside my brain

The dream police, they live inside of my head (live inside of my head)
The dream police, they come to me in my bed (come to me in my bed)
The dream police, they’re coming to arrest me
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police)
The dream police (police, police

Written by Rick Nielsen

Cheap Trick – The Albums Ranked Worst to First (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

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Welcome to the final post in the Cheap Trick Collection Series. We are going to rank all 20 of their studio albums from their worst to their absolute best. I am sure there will be some disagreement, but these are my choices and not necessarily yours so it is okay to disagree. I have spent the last 9/10 months going through every piece of Cheap Trick music in my collection and that gave us 37 posts so my choices are well documented and please check them all out if you have time.

We started back in 1977 with their debut and finished with their latest studio album, 2021’s ‘In Another World’. We didn’t hit everything in between because I missed a few live albums and a ton of greatest hits compilations, but it was still a pretty immersive catalog to go through. Cheap Trick’s core group was always Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson and Bun E. Carlos with changes here and there, but those are the original guys we all know and love.

Their Beatles influences, pop-punk style was all their own. You heard a Cheap Trick song, you basically knew it was a Cheap Trick song. Robin Zander’s vocals have never aged a bit and at times sounds even better today than 45 years ago. Rick’s crazy guitars weren’t to make up for the fact he can’t play because he sure as hell can as he filled every album with some great solos and killer riffs. Tom Petersson’s bassline was the driving force behind the rhythm section and with Bun E Carlos on drums, that rhythm section was pretty freakin’ tight. These four guys could produce a lot of sound and gave us a lot of great music. Let’s celebrate now with the Ranking from Worst to First!!

THE WORST – ‘THE DOCTOR’ (1986):

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Cheap Trick – ‘Are You Ready? Live 12/31/1979’ (2019) – Album Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

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Cheap Trick has hopped on the Record Store Bandwagon with 3 previous releases for each Volume of The Epic Archives and now for the 2019 Record Store Day they dug in to the archives and are finally releasing their New Year’s Eve concert from the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles from 1979 in full. Some songs were released on the Expanded Edition of the ‘Dream Police’ album, but never the full show. This is the first time it has been released on vinyl, the first time the full show has been released giving is new mixes from the original master tracks. The only issue is the first reel of the master tapes could not be found, so the first four songs aren’t as clean and crisp as the rest of the album. They had to source those songs from a high resolution tape of the official radio broadcast. You can tell the difference in the listen, but honestly, it has zero impact on the listening pleasure.

RSD has it listed as an exclusive release, but only exclusive in the fact it is the only way to get the vinyl. The show has been released on CD and digitally so the vinyl release isn’t truly exclusive. The package is a 2 LP set in a beautiful gatefold. After getting the Epic Archive albums in multiple colors, here we get the standard black vinyl. I have read a lot of reviews and/or comments that they feel the sound sucks, but it is a personal taste. If you like a live album that sounds live, then this will be great. I wasn’t bothered by any of the sound quality and that won’t be mentioned at all as it was a non-issue for me. I was listening to the music and what we got and we got a lot. Let’s walk through it.

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Cheap Trick – ‘The Epic Archive, Vol. 1 (1975-1979)’ (2015) – Album Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

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After the last studio album, 2009’s ‘The Latest’, Cheap Trick went a little quiet. The did release a a live album, ‘Sgt Pepper Live’ in 2009, but that album is not in my Collection and this is “The Collection Series” so it won’t get reviewed at this point. Then in 2010, Bun E. Carlos stopped touring and he ended up suing the band in 2013 as they weren’t allowing him to record or participate in anything with the band. The lawsuit was settled and the band continued on without Carlos as a 3-Piece. Of note, Rick Nielsen’s son, Dax, has filled in for Bun E. as the drummer. And in 2014, they did release a compilation album called ‘The 70’s’, but again, not in the collection.

So, what is in the Collection that can be reviewed next? I will tell you. We have ‘The Epic Archive, Vol. 1 through Vol. 3 to review that were all released in 2015. All three albums were released on November 27, 2015 digitally. There was no physical product at the time. That has since been corrected as they eventually did release these on vinyl for Record Store Day on three separate occasions. I was lucky enough to get all 3. We will start with ‘The Epic Archive, Vol. 1 (1975-1979) since that is the first one in the series.

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Cheap Trick – ‘Music for Hangovers’ (1999) – Album Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

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While the band was touring for the release of the album ‘Cheap Trick at Budokan: The Complete Recordings’, the band decided to record some shows. On a four night stint at The Metro in Chicago from April 30-May 3, 1998, the band recorded all the shows. One of the cool things they did at these shows is each night they played one of their first four albums in its entirety which was in celebration of the re-release of those albums. After that they then played songs from throughout their career. From those recordings, they made a compilation which turned in to ‘Music for Hangovers’.

The album was released on June 15, 1999 and it didn’t just have the main members of Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson and Bun E. Carlos, oh no. They also had a guest appearance from the Smashing Pumpkin’s main man Billy Corgan. Billy also wrote the liner notes as he goes through his love of Cheap Trick and him joining the band on stage multiple times. The show isn’t Budokan, but it is still pretty great. There is a DVD of this release, however, I only have the CD and that is what we will review. Enjoy!

The album opener is “Oh Claire” is a little jam that only says “Oh kininichi wa” and was the last song (uncredited) on ‘Heaven Tonight’ from 1978. They then go straight in to their classic track “Surrender” which they sound just as good as they did 20 years earlier on Budokan. It is rocking with a punk flair and enough energy to get the crowd warmed up for the rest of the show. Then comes the high velocity of “Hot Love” which speeds down the stage at breakneck speed and Robin shows he can still sound as great he did when he recorded the song oh so long ago. Always a fun favorite for me and even more so here.

I love how when Rick introduces the next track it is by his favorite singer in the whole wide world Mr. Robin Zander. Good thing because he’s been stuck with him for 20 years now. They sing “I Can’t Take It” which might be the only song not from the first four albums. How is possible that Robin still sounds as young and talented as he did when he started. It is crazy and I’ll stop harping on that subject because you get it now. Next up is one of their most famous “I Want You To Want Me” and how can you not singalong to this one. It is played at such a fast tempo it is almost exhausting trying to keep up as Bun E. just pounds away on that snare. And one cool thing about them playing the entire first four albums, they now have on tape songs you might not expect as that one for me was “Taxman, Mr. Thief” which opens with a cool Rick riff throughout as he is really killing it here. In a song that had them being compared to the Beatles (which happened a lot), live it is a straight-up rocker and sounds amazing.

Billy Corgan gets introduced before the next song and if you have the DVD you see he comes out dressed up as his hero Rick Nielsen which got a big laugh. Billy plays guitar on the song “Mandocello”, he is the main guy on the intro and outro, which is a song I found boring on the studio album, but live has a whole new life and sounds fantastic. Robin’s angelic voice still sounds like perfection and Tom’s bassline drives the song home. What was missing on the studio shines through here. “Oh Caroline” is up next and they attempt this one acoustically which is a really nice twist. Already a great song and a sign of a really great song is if it can be played acoustically and be as good and guess what, it is. “How Are You?” which studio wise opens with a piano, live just goes straight in to a heavy bass line and drum beat and rocks right out of the gate. Before it was a mix of Elton John and The Beatles and now it is a rocking Cheap Trick like only the can do. The chorus is a hell of a lot of fun and perfect for a live performance.

“If You Want My Love” slows things back down and although a little rough around the edges vocally is still a classic must have song in the set. This was the first song I felt you could see the flaws in Robin’s vocals which I didn’t know existed. It is still a fun song waving your arms from side-to-side in the air! Then comes one of my all-time favorite songs “Dream Police”, bet you don’t know what album this one is from?? Tom’s bass is the highlight here as it is the driving force of the song. Without it, the song would’ve felt so flat and two-dimensional. Rick joins the vocal fun at the one break which has him going crazy and nuts belting out the lines, it is great. “So Good To See You” has a whole 60’s Beatles vibe and is another where Robin just attacks the vocals. It sounds as good or better than the studio track. I love the energy coming from the band.

Another song I wouldn’t have expected is “The Ballad of T.V. Violence” off their debut, but I guess it makes sense as it is about a Chicago Serial Killer and they are in Chicago. It is a darker and a heavier song and Rick really shreds on this one and Bun E. slams those skins. Robin sings it with a little more edge and the whole band slays! The final song is another favorite with “Gonna Raise Hell”. Bun E. kicks things off with a great beat, Tom lays down the bass riff followed by Rick’s laying the same guitar riff as the bass. Robin sings it with a gritty, gravelly vocal to try and sound as tough as he can. It is a great, heavy rock song to end the show (or at least this CD). Go out with a bang and leave them wanting more which this does. I hate to see it end.

Although the album is from songs spread over four nights, they did mix it where it works seamlessly as if one complete show. Now, it is no Budokan, but what it is is a band that was still having fun playing live although their albums weren’t selling at the time. They have accepted that people love those 70’s albums and they fully embrace it. Had they become one of the very first “heritage acts”? Probably so, but thank god as they could still perform at such a high level. The show is full of energy, fun and excitement and if there is a band to see live, it is Cheap Trick. My Overall Score is a 4.0 out of 5.0 Stars. I mean you can’t go wrong with Live Cheap Trick!!

UP NEXT: ‘SPECIAL ONE’ (2003)

The Cheap Trick Collection Series:

  1. Cheap Trick (1977)
  2. In Color (1977)
  3. Heaven Tonight (1978)
  4. Cheap Trick at Budokan (1978)
  5. Dream Police (1979)
  6. Found All The Parts (1980)
  7. All Shook Up (1980)
  8. One On One (1982)
  9. Next Position Please (1983)
  10. Standing on the Edge (1985)
  11. “Tonight It’s You” (1985) – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
  12. “Mighty Wings” (1986) – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
  13. The Doctor (1986)
  14. Lap Of Luxury (1988)
  15. “The Flame” (1988) – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
  16. “Ghost Town” (1988) – CD Single Promo (Bonus Edition)
  17. Busted (1990)
  18. Woke Up With A Monster (1994)
  19. Sex, America, Cheap Trick (1996) – Box Set
  20. “I Want You To Want Me” (Alternate Version) (1996) – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
  21. Cheap Trick (1997)
  22. Cheap Trick at Budokan: The Complete Concert (1998)
  23. Music For Hangovers (1999)

Cheap Trick – ‘Sex, America, Cheap Trick’ (1994) – Box Set Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

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By 1994, Cheap Trick was no longer with Epic Records, they had jumped ship to Warner Bros. Epic was going to take that lying down, no they weren’t. They still had the rights to all the bands material up to ‘Busted’, so they were going to still capitalize on the Cheap Trick name. They released a compilation of Cheap Trick’s biggest hits. However, this was just an ordinary greatest hits set, no sir. Epic did what their name implies…they made an epic box set that had four CDs of hits, album tracks, b-sides, live songs, alternate takes and a ton of previously unreleased tracks. In fact, 17 previously unreleased tracks. A super fan’s wet dream, if you will.

There are 64 tracks on the album, plus 4 hidden little bits of weirdness at the end of each disc. It comes housed in a hard cover book type case that feels pretty solid. Inside, attached to the case, which I don’t like at all, is a booklet filled with pictures, stories and other Cheap Trick goodness. It would’ve been nice if the booklet wasn’t attached and you could take it out and enjoy it on its own. Minor flaw though. I liked the fact that the front cover of the book was actually Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos and the back was Robin Zander and Tom Petersson because most of their albums was the reverse with Robin and Tom on front and Rick & Bun relegated to the back cover. Nice little twist that did not go unnoticed.

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Cheap Trick – ‘Dream Police’ (1979) – Album Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

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The success of the live album, ‘Cheap Trick at Budokan’, kept delaying the release of the band’s fourth studio album, ‘Dream Police’. And that was a great problem to have. The band recorded the album during ’78 and was ready to be released, but the label thought since ‘Bodokan’ had been imported so much in to the US, why not release the live album domestically. And it certainly paid off. They cleaned up a few things in early ’79 and it finally got a released date on September 21, 1979 as Budokan was blowing up the charts. That momentum set the band up for what would become their biggest commercial album to date. Heck, it only took the album a few months to go platinum. The album spawned four singles across the globe and gave the band two Top 40 songs on the Billboard Charts. Yes sir, Cheap Trick had made it to the big time. An audience that wasn’t ready for them a few short years earlier was finally on board.

Cheap Trick brought back Tom Werner for a third time as producer and this time around, the band experimented with their sound and brought in new elements such as orchestration and even songs that were structured to be more complex and definitely longer tracks as one almost hits 10 minutes. This was a band that was not afraid to try new things and this time around, it paid off…big time!! Band members, Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson and Bun E. Carlos were ready to take on the world and now the world was ready for them.

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Tuesday’s Memes – Cheap Trick

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Cheap Trick is one of the greatest American Rock bands to ever grace us with their presence.  If you don’t agree, we all have our faults I guess.  Now it is time to celebrate Cheap Trick with a collection of memes and this is just the place to see that.  I hope you enjoy and it brightens your day!

The Songs….

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