Next Position Please (1983)


 
1.I Can't Take It 2.Borderline 3.I Don't Love Here Anymore 4.Next Position Please 5.Younger Girls 6.Dancing the Night Away 7.You Talk Too Much * 8.3-D 9.You Say Jump 10.Y.O.Y.O.Y. 11.Won't Take No For An Answer 12.Heaven's Falling 13.Invaders of the Heart 14.Don't Make our Love a Crime * 15.Twisted Heart # 16.Don't Hit Me with Love # * Not on the original LP album # Only available for download

 

Cheap Trick had a habit for most of the 1980s of changing up their style every time they released a new album. The main reason was probably because they were trying desperately to recapture the magic of the 1970s. Nowhere is that change so drastic as in the case of this album versus its predecessor. Whereas One On One focused more on "power" than "pop", this one tends to do exactly the opposite. Hard rock lovers beware. You may want to start elsewhere.

Todd Rundgren, who had success himself both as a solo artist and in his band, Utopia, was chosen to produce this album. To sum it up, this album sounds a lot like a Todd Rundgren album. Not that that's a bad thing. The band is actually able to show off the fact that they can write some catchy tunes without having to blow you away with powerful, screaming electric guitars. Also, you can't really blame the band for going in every direction possible. To be frank, their records weren't selling that well anymore.

The best known track here is a Robin Zander penned tune I Can't Take It. It was released as the band's single for the album and also a video. It failed to chart, however, but longtime fans of the band regard it as a great little number that still appears in the band's set lists from time to time. Most of the album follows the same formula. There's a sweet balad, Y.O.Y.O.Y., and Rungren even gives the band one of his own songs - Heaven's Falling, which is a great overlooked song on the album. The only disappointment here is a cover of The Motor's Dancing the Night Away that the record company forced the guys to record in the hopes of making a hit. The band (and Rundgren) hated it, and Rundgren refused to produce it. It's a little odd, because The Motors version is quite good and sounds very "Cheap Trickish", yet it's a bomb here. Maybe they intentionally made it bad?

History would later tell us that there were a lot of tensions with the record label during the sessions. Depending on which version of the release you have (Album, Cassette, CD, or I-Tune Download) there are different songs featured here that makes it confusing for even the most dedicated fan. Two songs, You Talk Too Much and Don't Make Our Love a Crime were left off the album because of time constraints (they were included on the cassette). The above mentioned Dancing the Night Away and You Say Jump were "substituted" for two other songs, Twisted Heart and Don't Hit Me with Love at the label's insistence. Years later, the two songs that were left off were available for download, so there's actually sixteen songs on here as opposed to twelve that were on the original album. It's worth it to get all sixteen. Another good release that was ignored by most everyone at the time.


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