G R A V E W I S H

Artist...: Cheap Trick
Album....: In Another World
Year.....: 2021
Rel. Date: 2021-05-23
Genre....: Hard Rock
Label....: BMG
Source...: CD
Type.....: Retail
Quality..: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo

1.  The Summer Looks Good on You                           3:56
2.  Quit Waking Me Up                                      3:42
3.  Another World                                          4:02
4.  Boys & Girls & Rock 'n' Roll                           3:53
5.  The Party                                              2:54
6.  Final Days                                             4:39
7.  So it Goes                                             3:03
8.  Light up the Fire                                      2:53
9.  Passing Through                                        3:19
10. Here's Looking at You                                  3:20
11. Another World (Reprise)                                3:24
12. I'll See You Again                                     2:50
13. Gimme Some Truth                                       3:26

45:21

ItÆs hard to tell if Cheap Trick still want you to want them, since a
lot of In Another World, the bandÆs 20th full-length, fails to launch.
Sure, there are the big choruses, bigger guitar riffs, and smart-alecky
Nielsenisms that their die-hard cult craves, but at the same time, songs
like ôThe Summer Looks Good on Youö and ôLight Up the Fireö sound like
Cheap Trick by Numbers.
At their most prosaic, they sound like theyÆre unimaginatively paying
tribute to their formative influences. This is nothing new for the band,
whose Beatles worship is a big part of why their power pop hit so hard
in the Seventies, but these days, more often than not, it feels like
theyÆre relying on muscle memory. The group sounds positively
comfortable with adorning their Who-like arena-rock riffs with Beatlesy
vocal harmonies on ôSummerö and obliquely cribbing a line like ôIf
mountains fall into the sea, I thought thereÆd still be you and meö from
Led ZeppelinÆs ôThank Youö for their own Zeppeliny ballad, ôSo It Goes.ö
ôThe Partyö is their paean to Hendrix, while ôIÆll See You Againö
worships at the altar of Beach Boys harmonies, right down to Brian
Wilson-esque falsettos.
But there are some reminders of Cheap TrickÆs early greatness. ôPassing
Throughö has a vaguely Middle Eastern feel (and distant John
Lennonûstyle backups to boot) but its easygoing riff and some
impressionistic Rick Nielsen guitar noise elevates it above Sgt. Pepper
worship. And the upbeat ôHereÆs Looking at You,ö which Linda Perry
cowrote, sounds more like an extension of their ôDream Policeö days with
its gargantuan ôNo way out of here alive/WonÆt give up without a fightö
chorus and its sparkling keyboards than any particular homage. And, as
always, Nielsen knows that he can always spin his multi-necked
wheel-of-fortune guitar around to find a solo that could save an
otherwise ordinary song (ôBoys & Girls & Rock & Roll,ö their cover of
John LennonÆs ôGimme Some Truth,ö which ironically also features the Sex
PistolsÆ Steve Jones on guitar). But with 19 other Cheap Trick albums of
varying quality to choose from, nothing on In Another Planet sounds
truly out of this world.