Cheap Trick

There are some bands you first encounter in their decadent phase, which can deny you the pleasures of their greatness. I suspect many a 20 something is astounded that REM is in fact one of the great bands. There are those that tell me that Journey and Rush have things worth owning, but they are wrong of course.

One bad I clearly have misjudged is Cheap Trick. In the late 80s they seemed to be a 70s arena rock band gone to seed. Well I was wrong. There are a lot of gems in their catalogue, filled with hooks and great lyrics. He's a Whore is a classic (compare and contrast with Big Black's cover and if you are familiar with the first Cheap Trick album cover, the Big Black single cover will crack a smile) Below I posted Auf Wiedersehen, a truly excellent song. And despite its incessant radio play, Surrender really is an amazing song.