Disco de Cheap Trick: “Dream Police”

I was in high school when Cheap Trick first popped on my personal radar screen. My friends and I had just a formed a band and religiously poured through Creem, Circus & Guitar Player magazines. 2 of the guys in the band were always buying new albums by new groups and they had discovered Cheap Trick when the first album came out. They introduced me to the band when the "new" album "In Color" came out and I ran out and snatched up the 1st 2 albums and wore them out before Heaven Tonight was released. I've been a Cheap Trick fan ever since.

On to the album and music - This re-master is a great improvement over the previous CD release but still suffers a bit from the album's original thin sound. Unfortunate, as I'd really like to get more of the 12 string bass punch from Gonna Raise Hell and Need Your Love. Still, this is a welcome improvement in audio quality. Things pop out of the mix when playing in a room that I generally have only noticed when I've got cans on my head. As for the songs - we all have our personal takes - and opinions are like - well, you know.

Dream Police - It's a good tune, certainly not one of their best. A little too bubblegum on the chorus and I've always been put off by the strings. Would've sounded great had the string parts been Rick's overdubbed guitars.

The Way Of The World - Love it. Cheap Trick in near perfect POP mode.

The House Is Rockin' with Domestic Problems - one of my all time favorites from Cheap Trick. Built around a cool guitar phrase that's longer than the usual "hook" the song drives and builds right through to the fade out. Rick unleashes 3 great guitar solos in the course of this one song and even gets a trademark Beatles "quote" tossed in to the middle of one solo. And of course major nod to the Beatles 'She's So Heavy' on the bridge vocals.

Gonna Raise Hell - love hearing the bass exposed in the intro - my only qualm with this song has always been (like Dream Police) the inclusion of the strings.

I'll Be With You Tonight - not great, not bad. catchy little in-offensive tune.

Voices - yep. Pretty much a classic. Can't understand why this wasn't a Top 10 hit. Was it even released as a single?

Writing On The Wall - Cheap Trick reflecting on their sudden fame and fortune (they went from long touring road dog nobodies - to road dog international stars in about a 6 month span of time time). Replete with sound effects of jets, cheering crowds, and screeching tires - the song is an attempt to capture the madness they were going through. Robin's "rap" at the end about their sudden fame is brilliant.

I Know What I Want - Tom gets a shot at singing. For a song made up of maybe 4 chords it's pretty catchy. His nasally vocals take a bit of getting used to. Nothing special but it's still a fan favorite in concert because Tom gets to sing.

Need Your Love - What can I say? This is what Cheap Trick music is all about. This song has everything - cool guitar riffs, Bun E.s steady groove, Robin's ethereal vocals - then changing to one of his more menacing tones, crunchy 12 string bass up the wazoo and Rick layering guitars upon guitars in the solo sections. Yet the song is so simple it's spooky - it is a near perfect example of the many elements that create the Cheap Trick sound. In concert this song is an unrelenting machine that builds and builds - the boys improvise within certain confines - yet the song remains structured. There's a handful of songs like this that sum up Cheap Trick, songs that I play for people when I want to let someone know that Cheap Trick is NOT that pop band that sings "I Want You To Want Me" and "The Flame". Great album closer, more restrained than live versions of the song.

As for the Bonus stuff - it's not bad. I have several Cheap Trick concerts on CD - the live stuff here sounds better than some - not as good as others.

This album has plenty of good ol fashioned, catchy mid-West American rock n roll. The way it was meant to be sang and played. Buy it!

Compared with the original CD mastering, this reissue of "Dream Police" is a welcome sound for sore ears. Unlike the previous reviewer, I do not own any of the Japanese editions (The Japanese do seem better at mastering CDs. Why is that?), but I can definitely hear the improved clarity and impact of this remaster. My quibble is with the bonus tracks. The sound quality on the live tracks is, to put it bluntly, unfortunate while the demo version of "Dream Police" offers nothing new.

I give it 5 because it brings back great memories and because it rocks from start to finish.

This release was hard pressed to follow the massive success of the Budokan release. However it held it's own and made Cheap Trick a house hold name for years to come.

This remaster has one big advantage over the original release in that the sound as one reveiwer said, jumps out of your speakers. It really brings this classic to life. The entire mix is louder and the bass is firmer and more supportive.

The extra's are alright, but nothing fantastic!

It's a great listen, pick it up!

For many Cheap Trick fans this marks the end of the "classic era." While the follow-up to this one, All Shook Up, is arguably their best work, it also marked their decline in the pop music industry and fall from the top of the charts for a few years until they returned with a couple of power ballads. Anyway, Dream Police is a must have for tricksters and contains some of their best songs. Like the album before it, Heaven Tonight, Dream Police kicks off with a pop rock masterpiece as the opener and doesn't really contain a bad song all the way through. Some are better than others but there's nothing to skip on this CD. Standout tracks include: Way of the World, Gonna Raise Hell, I'll Be With You Tonight, Need Your Love.

Catching just about everyone by surprise Cheap Trick's "Live At Budakon" album, released early in the year, vaulted to the top of the charts and became a smash hit. All of a sudden the band went from opening act / club status to being able to headline arenas. "Dream Police" was actually already in the can when the live album was released, and was pushed back to the end of the year in order for the live album to run it's course. I don't think that "Dream Police" is quite as good as the previous studio disc "Heaven Tonight", but it has some great songs on it. The title track is an all time classic and still gets played on classic rock radio to this day. "The House Is Rockin" is a great rocker. "Gonna Raise Hell" is a track that is cool, but features a rather dated disco beat to it. "Voices" was the other hit from the album and was a rather nice ballad. The album closer "Need Your Love" was a 7 minute plus tour de force that features some killer guitar work from Rick Neilson. This track almost sounds like something UFO might have recorded. The rest of the album is just ok. Cheap Trick were at the peak of their popularity at this time in their career and "Dream Police" is a great portrait of where the band was at during this time period.