Send "Cheap Trick " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Well, you have to marvel at Sony for this. The label is still generating product from an act that hasn’t been on its roster for the past 20 years. Hey, what’s wrong with making a dollar where there’s a dollar to be made? And Cheap Trick are certainly worthy of the repeated exposure. With each compilation or reissue comes the chance that someone might discover or re-discover this hugely influential, not to mention fun, yet often overlooked band. Maybe someone who had written them off as those guys who did “The Flame”, or know them only as the opening act for ZZ Top nostalgia tours. Yes, Cheap Trick had some success, all right. But they faded, were gobbled up by the record industry machine, and have never really had a proper chance to show how completely they’ve redeemed themselves. Oh, and they have always been one of the most powerful live acts in all of rock’n'roll. So what’s wrong with The Very Best of Cheap Trick Live?Well, the very best of Cheap Trick live was already issued in 1979 as At Budokan. And then in 1993 as Budokan 2. You get the idea. Even the self-released, hard-hitting Music for Hangovers (1999) gives a more complete career overview. So basically, The Very Best of Cheap Trick Live serves no purpose, other than a purely financial one. No, you say. This is a complement to the other live albums. There’s stuff on this that’s not on those. There are “alternate versions”. There’s a cover version of Dylan’s “Ms. Henry”! There’s a Tom Petersson vocal! Well, for you I have two words: Previously released. Any Cheap Trick fan who’s hardcore enough to want these versions has probably found them already, on the Found All the Parts EP, the various Budokan iterations, and the Sex, America, Cheap Trick box set, not to mention the scores of bootlegs that make the rounds amongst the fan community. And maybe, just maybe you could argue The Very Best of Cheap Trick Live serves as a convincing overview of the band’s exciting, groundbreaking early days. You know, how they combined the volume and dynamics of hard rock with the melodicism and playfulness of British Invasion-era pop and demonstrated their alchemy on some stellar, timeless tunes. After all, most of the recordings here date from that late-‘70s period. From the epic-length “Mrs. Henry”, signature hits “I Want You to Want Me” and “Surrender”, to the crushing blues of “Can’t Hold On” and the bastardized disco-boogie of “You’re All Talk”, the evidence of the band’s considerable mark on rock’n'roll history is here. And then there’s the playing. Who minds being reminded of Bun E. Carlos’ razor sharp, off-the-cuff-artful drumming, or Rick Nielsen’s grab bag of guitar styles and virtuosity, as on the mind-blowing solo of “You’re All Talk”? Or Robin Zander’s versatile voice, sounding like the pretty boy ladies’ man and the mischievous kid in the corner rolled into one?...full text |
| Itunes |
| Sony’s Setlist series isn’t a standard budget-line compilation: these discs bypass hits in favor of live tracks cut throughout the years, mixing up highlights from classic live albums with a handful of rarities. In the case of Cheap Trick’s entry, this rare material is culled from the acclaimed expanded editions of Live at Budokan, Dream Police, All Shook Up, and the 1996 box set Sex, America, Cheap Trick, which means there’s nothing previously unreleased but the material is by and large cherrypicked from the band’s prime (with the notable exception of a live version of “The Flame” which is livelier than the hit version) and emphasizes quirkiness over hits, making it a pretty interesting compilation. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi...full text |
| Classicrockrevisited |
| Legacy Recordings has released a batch of CDs under the moniker Setlist: The Very Best of. They went in search of bands that have a great live reputation and culled the vaults for the best of past live albums as well as never before released cuts and packaged them together. The packaging, it should be mentioned is green, as one must get on their computer to view the liner notes, credits and pictures. Basically, it is an online CD booklet which is saving little trees all across America. Good for them. Now, what matters the most to music fans is not saving trees – although we are not anti-tree saving. We are all for saving the earth so long as we are allowed to rock our balls off in the process. Below is a snapshot of seven of the Setlist releases. The Very Best of Judas Priest Live Rating: A- This is a great collection of 12 live Priest classics from all eras of their career. “Beyond the Realms of Death” recorded in Cleveland in 1978 and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’” recorded at the US Festival in 1983 have never been released in the United States. The rest of the collection ranges from 1979’s Unleashed in the East to the band’s 2008 World Tour. Included are “Judas Rising,” “Riding On The Wind,” “Heading Out to the Highway,” “Exiter,” “Tyrant,” Dissident Aggressor,” “The Green Manalishi” and “Freewheel Burning.”...full text |
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