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Music For Hangovers

Cheap Trick - Music For Hangovers Audio CD

A fair review of the Cheap Trick "Music For Hangovers" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Cheap Trick reviews here, or go back to the Cheap Trick tabs.

Band: Cheap Trick
Title: Music For Hangovers
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-04-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Oh Claire 2: Surrender 3: Hot Love 4: I Can't Take It 5: I Want You To Want Me 6: Taxman, Mr. Thief 7: Mandocello 8: Oh Caroline 9: How Are You? 10: If You Want My Love 11: Dream Police 12: So Good To See You 13: The Ballad of T.V. Violence 14: Gonna Raise Hell

Cheap Trick - 'Music For Hangovers' (Cheap Trick Unlimited)
'Music. Should be able to obtain a copy of this gem for really low-priced almost anywhere you look. . . ' was recorded at one of the four-night special engagement they played at Chicago's Metro in 1998 to mark the 25th anniversary release of their first album. That's what I've heard anyway. Tracks off 'Music For Hangovers' are all if not mostly off of the band's first three lp's. An old school Cheap Trick fan's dream police(er,I mean dream)come true. Sound is great,almost as if you were there yourself. Tracks that were more than a delight to relive again include "Surrender","I Can't Take It","Dream Police","The Ballad Of T. V. Violence"(haven't heard this cut in awhile now),"Gonna Raise Hell" among others. Highly recommended. A must-have.

MONEY SAVING TIP
COM AND THEY THROW THIS IN FOR FREE. HEY YOU CAN GET THIS FREE: BUY JUST ABOUT ANYTHING DIRECT FROM CHEAPTRICK. I WAS AT THE CONCERT AND HAVE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THIS! SO, OF COURSE I LOVE IT. A NICE SELECTION OF THEIR BIG SONGS.

Exceeds the legendary
The high regard in which the Budokan recording is held becomes all that more impressive when considering that it was released in THE decade known for great live albums (and it holds its own with Frampton, Kiss, McCartney, et al from the same era). Cheap Trick may very well be the best pop/rock band America has ever produced, and it's no mistake that the first big splash they made in terms of record sales was the phenomenal "Cheap Trick At Budokan" live album that was initially only available in the US market as a Japanese import.
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Having said that, it's sometimes easy to forget that the "Budokan" album is not necessarily remembered for being a great collection of songs performed live inasmuch as it was a great live performance of a collection of songs. To this end I much prefer "Music For Hangovers" as being a far better representation of the band's songwriting abilities coupled equally with their musical prowess. Twenty years beyond the "Budokan" show it's obvious that Cheap Trick hasn't lost their desire to put on a terrific live show, but the track listing from the "Hangovers" set so thoroughly exceeds the songs from the "Budokan" performance that this CD could more reasonably be considered a "best of" compilation from the first half of the band's career (1983's excellent "I Can't Take It" is the most recent song included in the set, and the live version of "Mandocello" alone makes this CD a necessity for any Cheap Trick fan).
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In terms of the sound of the recording, the main issue I had with the "Budokan" recording was the poor (i. e. , BURIED) mix of Tom Petersson's bass. The 12-string bass is one of the most amazing sounding musical instruments there is; it can enable a competent player (like Petersson) to sound like a one-man symphony (listen to the intro to "Gonna Raise Hell" for the full effect). On this recording the bass is mixed absolutely correctly to give it a proper voice in an outstanding electric chorus. In addition to a good sound mix, the band's decision for a more "stripped down" approach (in contrast to the self-indulgent extravangance of the "Silver" concert recorded a year later) to the songs they play means that you hear the band sounding essentially the same as they do on their (doomed) "Cheap Trick" Red Ant release from 1997; there is one semi-acoustic re-interpretation of "Oh Caroline", but the listener is not subjected to an entire "acoustic set" and generally gets to kick back and crank it up with some basic, four-on-the-floor American-played, British-influenced rock and roll. It's a tremendous accomplishment by a great band that I can't recommend enough.

Docked Two Stars for Song Selection
The problem with "Music For Hangovers" is in the song choices. This is Cheap Trick live, so it don'git much better. Only four of the CD's 14 selections are from albums other than the first three. By the time this album was released, The Trick had a long established catolog of great material. If the concept of the tour was to play one of the first three albums in its entirely complete of a three night stay. I wish they'd have given us a three CD set instead.

That said, the album plays like a long lost set from the Cheap Trick seventies glory days and THAT says a lot. Seeing that "Silver" was released barely two years later, "Music For Hangovers" can be bypassed by the causal CT fan.

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The material on this disc is recorded from several shows in Chicago back in 1998 when the band was booking various clubs around the nation for four nights and playing complete albums live, included were the albums "In Color","Budokan" "Cheap Trick" and "Heaven Tonight. What a deal! One of best rock n roll bands in the world recorded live and availble. An added bonus to this recording is the inclusion of Billy Corgin of Smashing Pumkins fame adding his guitar skills on the song "Mandecello. " The only let down on this disc is the song "The Ballad of T. V. Violence" which tends to drag on as does the final song "Gonna Raise Hell. " Some of the songs could use the keyboards that were present on the recorded versions, but the band's tightness and talent make up for the lack of piano and synthesiser on the live tracks.
This cd is a complete joy. After 25 plus years Cheap Trick is still enthusiastic about their music and its shows on this cd and on their Silver Annivesary disc.
Cheap Trick reminds me of Chuck Berry in that their songs deal with the joys and angst of adolescene. (The comparison to the Beatles is always inevitable)and when I listen to this band I am immediatly taken back to my high school days and the trials and tribulations of being young. Rock on Cheap Trick may you never grow old.

You can see a complete list of all Cheap Trick discography, or go back to the Cheap Trick tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.