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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