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Hey! Whaddaya do when your rock band is really starting to hit all new heights, selling out arena tours, and taking over the radio airwaves? Why, you release your shittiest album to date, that’s what! Sad, but true. By the dawn of the ’80s, Cheap Trick had had a surprise smash hit with their live At Budokan album, and stayed relatively well on the charts with their fourth proper studio album Dream Police. But by the time they made it to All Shook Up, it seems that the gas was running out in more ways than one. But who would have imagined that such great power popsters teamed up with George Martin would produce such a flaccid LP? True, not every moment of Dream Police was as solid as Heaven Tonight or the band’s debut, but the title track and “Voices” were especially great, as well as the Tom Petersson-sung “I Know What I Want” (that has remained a staple of the band’s live show). All Shook Up, on the other hand, had “Just Got Back” and not a whole lot else. You can hear the potential in there throughout the album wanting to break free, but instead it’s hampered by lackluster songwriting and by-the-numbers performances. Indeed, it was the beginning of a quick decline for the Trick. Petersson would quit the band after the album’s completion and his absence was more than felt on albums like One to One and Next Position Please, though while both slightly more enjoyable than All Shook Up, just didn’t have that classic Cheap Trick feel to them. And as we all know, it wouldn’t be until Lap of Luxury with the return of Tom and the godawful song “The Flame” that rocketed Cheap Trick up the charts and kept them there that the band had a renaissance of sorts. Of course, by that time, the kids wanted to hear “The Flame” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” Thankfully the band has since written off this period of their career. But that big “comeback” would not have been possible without All Shook Up leading the way to a quick descent. Some fans have recently cropped up to defend the album, but to my ears it still sounds as lifeless as it ever did. For once, Cheap Trick seemed tapped out of ideas and no amount of George Martin overseeing the project could help save the ship. Now maybe if they had had Ringo along as well to pen a couple songs, things could have really gotten cooking. I’m only half-kidding.
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