Cheap Trick – All Shook Up (1980) Review | A Marriage Made in Heaven Gone to Hell
Kronomyth 6.0: The magical misery tour.
This is one for the “Be careful what you wish for” files. Cheap Trick paired with the fab production team of George Martin and Geoff Emerick seemed like a match made in heaven. Turned out it was a trainwreck in the making. All Shook Up is easily their worst album to date, effectively ending their string of five great albums with a resounding thud. It would be simple to blame Martin’s production style as a poor match for the band, but it’s more than that. The material from Rick Nielsen isn’t anywhere up to code, Tom Petersson (whose name is inexplicably misspelled on the album’s liner notes) is all but absent, and Bun E. Carlos seems to simply be going through the motions. To his credit, Robin Zander sounds terrific on this record; this might be some of the strongest singing of his career. Too bad Nielsen picked now to present his weakest material. It’s hard to fault the engineering in all this, but Martin clearly hadn’t been following Cheap Trick’s career closely, or he would have understood that giving the band the “Live and Let Die” treatment (e.g., Stop This Game, High Priest of Rhythmic Noise) was the kiss of death. The closest that Martin comes to giving the band the fab treatment they deserve is a few ELO soundalikes on World’s Greatest Lover and Just Got Back. (Was “ELO Kiddies” so long ago?) The album this reminds me of most is The Tubes’ Love Bomb, which also managed to produce a bad album from what appeared to be the perfect producer (Todd Rundgren). Somehow, the band had fallen out of favor with the eternal muses, and they never released another album that matched the power and fury of their first five, although there were still moments of inspiration.
The Product
A1. Stop This Game (Robin Zander/Rick Nielsen) (3:54)
A2. Just Got Back (2:04)
A3. Baby Loves to Rock (3:17)
A4. Can’t Stop It But I’m Gonna Try (3:30)
A5. World’s Greatest Lover (4:50)
B1. High Priest of Rhythmic Noise (4:10)
B2. Love Comes A-Tumblin’ Down (3:06)
B3. I Love You Honey But I Hate Your Friends (3:49)
B4. Go for the Throat (Use Your Imagination) (3:01)
B5. Who D’King (Bun E. Carlos/Rick Nielsen) (2:16)
All songs written by Rick Nielsen unless noted. All songs arranged by Cheap Trick except A1 by Cheap Trick/George Martin and A5 by George Martin.
CD reissue bonus tracks
11. Everything Works If You Let It
12. Day Tripper (live)
13. Can’t Hold On (live)
14. Such a Good Girl (live)
15. Take Me I’m Yours (live)
The Players
Bun E. Carlos (percussion), Rick Nielsen (guitars, microphones, ivories), Tom Peterson (basses), Robin Zander (singers). Produced by George Martin; engineered by Geoff Emerick.
The Pictures
Art direction and design by Rick Nielsen and Ria Lewerke-Shapiro. Photography by Moshe Brakha.
The Plastic
Released on elpee and cassette on October 24, 1980 in the US (Epic, FE/FET 36498), the UK (Epic, EPC-86124), the Netherlands (Epic, 84345), New Zealand (Epic, ELPS-4068) and Yugoslavia (Suzy, EPC-84345) with picture innersleeve. Reached #24 on the US charts (RIAA-certified gold record).
- Re-issued on compact disc in the US (Epic, 36498).
- Re-issued on expanded compact disc in 2006 in the US (Sony, 94484) and Japan (Epic, MHPC-1079) with 5 bonus tracks.
