Album Review: All Washed Up by Cheap Trick

It's a self-deprecating remark that sums up the wry humour that has always set Cheap Trick apart from the crowd. That wit, and their sometimes outright weirdness, helped place them in a zone where they shared some of the cartoon-archetype status the Ramones achieved. Looking back to 1977 and that wonderfully spiky debut, it's no surprise they faced some hostile audiences who preferred their 'rock' a little more on the straightforward side.

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When you think of power pop or bubblegum metal, one of the first names that springs to mind is Cheap Trick. Originally out of Rockford, Illinois, the roots of the band stretch back to 1967 with Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson's Fuse. After the usual comings-and-goings guitarist Nielsen, bassist Petersson, drummer Bun E. Carlos and frontman Randy Hogan became Cheap Trick in 1973; the following year Robin Zander took over front and centre, and after a modicum of success, three albums and six years' slog the band became an overnight sensation with the release of Cheap Trick At Budokan.

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