Music For Hangovers (1999)


 
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

 

There comes a point in every band's life when they’re either chasing the future or reckoning with the past. With Music for Hangovers, Cheap Trick finally leaned into the latter, and it suits them remarkably well. Recorded over four nights at Chicago’s House of Blues in 1998, the conceit was simple yet potent: perform each of their first four albums in full (including At Budokan), one night at a time, and remind everyone just how good they were before the 1980s got complicated.

By this time, Cheap Trick were no longer radio staples or chart threats. What they were, however, was still a formidable live band with an enviable back catalogue. The performances captured here have a relaxed authority—the sound of a band finally comfortable with its own legend. Each track carries with it the punch of nostalgia, yes, but also a muscular reminder of the band’s original vitality. Songs like Taxman, Mr. Thief and If You Want My Love are given room to breathe in versions that more closely reflect their original intentions—before the scissors of radio formatting and label mandates got involved.

The band was never more self-aware than on this release. It’s as if they acknowledged the inevitable hangover that follows a decade’s worth of major label compromises. But instead of hiding from it, they played it live. That’s not just brave— it’s rock and roll honesty at its finest.

If there’s a quibble, it’s the brevity. The shows themselves barely stretched beyond 75 minutes, a far cry from marathon Springsteen epics. Some blame the time limit on Bun E. Carlos’s pacing; others speculate it had more to do with internal politics that would later see Daxx Nielsen behind the kit. Whatever the cause, fans are left craving more. A deluxe set capturing the full run—warts, between-song banter, and all—might have turned a great document into a definitive one.

Nevertheless, Music for Hangovers stands as a love letter not just to the band’s beginnings, but to the fans who kept the faith. It's a victory lap done not with swagger, but with style. A reminder that sometimes, the best way forward is to look back—and crank it.

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