Cheap Trick: Cheap Trick

This could be the record that makes people say Cheap Trick is back. Of course, the band never really went away; it merely slowed down a bit and recorded "The Flame," a saccharine atrocity that nearly ruined band members' reputations for good. Almost. Cheap Trick, with riffs to spare and plenty of jump-up-sing-along choruses, should go a long way toward restoring Cheap Trick's status as a mighty power-pop band. The please-baby-please anthem "Hard To Tell" is a minor masterpiece of songwriting: It's nothing but choruses, all four minutes of it, and it's a great reminder that these guys practically invented clever, hard-rocking pop. The record isn't perfect: "Shelter," an abortion of a ballad featuring acoustic guitar and tambourine, is perhaps Cheap Trick's second worst song ever. And, of course, it's really nothing new anymore, but who cares It's a pretty damn good Cheap Trick record, and that's more than enough.