Cheap Trick - Lap Of Luxury (1988/2015) [Hi-Res]

This was Cheap Trick's comeback album after a commercially fallow period, and deservedly so. The songs (not all penned solely by the band, which some hardcore fans objected to) are almost uniformly smart, hooky pop rockers in the best Trick tradition.

The album yielded two hits, a clever cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" (done somewhat in the style of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love,") and the power ballad "The Flame," which holds up better than you might expect. Other highlights include the opening "Let Go," a fantastic rocker mixing the riff from the Beatles "If I Needed Someone" with glam-rock saxophones in the chorus, and the attractively Cars-ish "Space."

„Cheap Trick's comeback album is by no means a return to the creativity and vitality of their glory days. But even though Lap of Luxury is largely formulaic, the band's strongest collection of material in some time fills that late-'80s pop-metal formula quite well. Combining grandly romantic power ballads ("Ghost Town") with catchy hard rockers ("Never Had a Lot to Lose"), Lap of Luxury consistently delivers strong hooks and well-crafted songs, proving that Cheap Trick were still capable of outdoing many of the bands they helped inspire. The album produced two Top Five singles in a cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" and the band's first number one hit, "The Flame.“ (Steve Huey, AMG)

Robin Zander, lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Rick Nielsen, lead guitar, backing vocals
Tom Petersson, bass, backing vocals
Bun E. Carlos, drums, percussion

Recorded at A&M Studios; One On One Studios; Sound Castle Recording Studios, Los Angeles
Engineered by Phil Kaffel
Produced by Richie Zito

Digitally remastered