Is it me, or is the new Cheap Trick album recorded/mastered very badly??

Geoff, grab In Color or Heaven Tonight and get set for some great power pop.....don't be fooled by their 80's fluffy hits....they could rock.

 

The Dream Police was released after Budukon and was definately a million seller.

 

From Teenage Wildlife Bowie fan site FAQ
( http://www.teenagewildlife.com/info/faq/19.html) :

"In 1995, the BBC reported that Bowie had achieved lifetime CD sales of 72 million.
It is not known exactly how many albums Bowie has sold in his lifetime, but it is thought to be in the region of 110-120 million.
Bowie sold more records in the 80s than he did in the 70s, and has already sold more in the 90s than he did in the 80s. Most of these sales in the 90s have been of his back catalogue. "

I guess that those RIAA figures are for USA only, and Bowie has sold most of his records in other countries?

His latest album (Reality) is Top 10 hit in 19 countries around the world, but only #29 in the US chart, so maybe it's just that Bowie isn't big in the USA.

 

As I said in another thread RIAA stats mean squat! Figures were not calculated till much later in the 60's early 70's.....and it's USA only.....which, I hate to say, is not the music light bulb that the world revolves around.

 

In response to the original question, to my ears, the album sounds pretty good. Much better than their '82 Epic release, "One on One"! And creatively, it's one of the best things they've done in many years.

 

Sorry, Rick....nice thread re-hijack!

 

Yeah, they're playing up in Redding, CA at Win-River casino this Tuesday. Tickets have been on sale for like a year. My sister lives up there and I would maybe go except that it's a 3 1/2 hour drive and it is also election day.
I've seen them a couple of times over the last 3-4 years and they sounded pretty good to me.

 

I'm sure these figures are not inflated at all.... 72 million CDs ? On what planet? The only true fact in that puff piece is that most of his 90's sales are back catalog because his new records sell almost nothing.
David Bowie has been a genius at the smart scam of over-inflated label and publishing deals and then taking that cash and investing it. You just sucker a record exec who doesn't look at past sales figures and wants the prestige of Bowie and presto! Example : Ryko wouldn't be a shell company practically selling CDs out of their closet today if he sold anywhere near those numbers of CDs' Plus he negotiates a very high royalty rate the keeps the label from profiting even if his records do sell. And they don't....
Those RIAA figures are for the US only but on average ,and with few exceptions, if your triple those it gives you a good idea of what anyones world-wide sales are. Yes. There are artists that are huge internationally,certainly ABBA comes to mind, that buck that formula but most don't.
Most Vanguard ,legacy or pathfinder artists just do not sell the amount of records we (or their publicists) think they do! Too bad we don't have instant soundscan access here or we could really strip some emperors!

 

OK, you guys are going too far. You're dissin the Trick, and I'm not gonna sit around and take it. These guys aren't hitting the clubs with one original member and 3 jerks calling themselves by the name of Cheap Trick. All original members in the band. They play 150-200 gigs a year and get somewhere between 5-15k a gig. What is sad aout that ? No, they aren't top of the chart hit machines anyone. But since they never got too full of themselves, there wasn't as far to fall. They have always been a kickass live band, and the past few times I have seen them in Chicago they sounded better than ever. Maybe they got up for hometown area shows or big city shows more, who knows.

What is really sad is bands that cannot stand each other going back out to play in barns and ask people to pay 2 bills or more for the privelege of financing their pensions.

Also, do not underestimate the income from songwriting royalties, and songs appearing in movies, soundtracks and compilations. I remember reading how Nick Lowe made .5 million dollars from Whats So Funny Bout Peace Love and Understanding because it was covered on the soundtrack for My Bodyguard. Also, in an interview Leslie West from Mountain said that Miller Beer using Mississippi Queen on one of their commercials a few years ago paid for his wifes new Jaguar. And he was one of 4 credited writers on the song. Not bad boys.

As far as the sound of the new album, I haven't picked it up yet, been waiting for the supposed vinyl release, although maybe that isn't worth it if the recorded sound is crappy. Their last album, which was excellent musically, was only so so sounding as well. Money should have nothing to do with the recorded sound quality in this day and age. It's more likely
bad production choices. How else would you explain R.E.M. not having a good sounding album since the first two ?

 

One more note on the SAD Cheap Trick, you know, the equivalents of Eddie Money and Loverboy. They were originally to be the studio band on John Lennons album that became Double Fantasy.
They worked with him in the studio and demoed some basic tracks. And by all accounts they were rockin blues sounding songs.
Until Yoko with her typical b.s. intrusions into Johns art, decided that since CT was popular at the time, they were a threat to John and "just trynig to ride his coat tails". So she intervened with her great work.

 

Spot.....you are definitely passionate!
I think only one person was dissing them, and Bowie as well. I wore out In Color and Heaven Tonight.......you don't have to convince me!

 

YES!!!

 

The experience I had was the other night. I put on the title track, "Scent Of a Woman" and turned the volume up LOUD. I was demoing my system for a friend of mine. I kept expecting it to open up and ROCK, but it had this restrained and murky quality that just didn't do it for me. It wasn't very clear either. The next track I put on was a track from Steve's "Who's Next" and it sounded INCREDIBLE. That was how I determined that the problem wasn't with my stereo.

 

Lets car-pool. I'll pay for gas, you drive.

 

It's already out on vinyl. If you get it, let us know how it sounds:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2562047213&category=1077

I'll tell you something, though. If you like good power pop and you are into Cheap Trick, don't wait for this sucker to arrive in the mail. This album is GREAT! Go buy yourself a cd TODAY.

 

I don't think that particular person was dissing them. He was just bringing things into perspective and hi-jacking the thread for whatever reason.

 

Hmm...What do you base THAT info on??
USA: around 250-260 million people
Rest of the world: around 5,750 million.

That's over 20 times more people!
Give me the FACT'S of what you say or I believe what BBC say's about this.

 

If you go to www.cheaptrick.com and click on the Merchandise link you can buy Special One on vinyl. It is available on 5 different colors at $18.99 each, or the entire set for $75.00.

 

These guys play everything from an opening of an envelope to a Fourth of July show outside Philly that probably had 20K people there.
I have seen these guys a good 6 or 7 times. They DELIVER EVERY TIME. They are at the top of their game as musicians and I don't care if they play in front of 10 people (my girlfriend saw them at a private show for Marlboro with about that many people) or 10,000, they play their hearts out like it's a "festival crowd" every time.

Robin Zander even sang and played rhythm guitar on a track on my friend's band's CD and they are virtually unknown. I asked him about it at CTs Q&A during their 3-night stand tour stop in Boston (all three sold out I think) and he basically said he did it for the money because, "I the need money." The funniest part of it all was that no one in the room, including the band, even knew what I was talking about. When he referred to it as "that thing I did," the band knew what it was. My friend is a bit of a nutty fan. He even had Bruce Kulick of KI$$ on it too. I guess so he could be part of the extended discography of both bands.

BTW, the record might sound a bit strange because there are many different producers on it, possibly effecting the sound quality somewhat.

 

I meant to post this earlier and was reminded by a recent review in Stereophile (or was it the Absolute Sound. In any case, I actually think the album sounds pretty good. The review points out that they used several producers (which I didn't notice) and gave it high marks for both sound as well as content.

Anyway, great album. Post your reviews for those who purchased the vinyl.

 

Of course they did. That's the whole point. If there was unanimous agreement on how ****ty most modern releases sound, this board probably wouldn't even exist. In addition, I am about as impressed with Stereophile in general as I am with the mastering on the album.

 

I think you may have become spoiled by our fearless leader's work. While the new Cheap Trick cd will not win any "Recording/mastering of the year" award, it doesn't have that recorded over the max and compressed to hell sound that a lot of new recording do.

I like this album and didn't find the recording quality to get in the way of its enjoyment.

 

Oh, I'm definitely spoiled by Steve's work.....that's for sure. Sometimes I can't even stand to listen to cds that he didn't master, though unfortunately I don't have much choice. I'm just glad that I have most of his catalog. The problem with the Cheap Trick album is that yes, it could have been worse, BUT it don't breath, it don't rock, and it sounds HORRIBLY flat(and I don't mean un-EQed) and digital to my ears. It's just a shame, that's all. The songs are so STRONG that it makes me wish it was done better.