In terms of scope, I'll be discussing all of the band's
major US compilations, as well as a good sampling of some prominent '90s
imports; by the turn of the century, Sony Music had begun to standardize their
archival releases between markets. As a
result, most of what's come out since 1999 or so is more or less the same in
every market, give or take a bonus track or two.
Things purposely omitted, by way of saving me a migraine,
are as follows:
* Promo Only
discs. There's billions of 'em,
going all the way back to the 1978 From
Tokyo to You sampler, and I just don't have enough hours in my day to go
inter-trolling for track listings for them all.
If you're looking for what rarities might be buried on some of them,
leave a comment or email me and I'll do my best to help you out.
*
"Truck-Stop" compilations, by which I mean the sort of el cheapo
cassettes, and later CDs, more likely to be found in an highway rest area's
gift shop than from a traditional music retailer. Like promos, there have been many of these
issued over the years. Generally
speaking, they'll feature one or two hits alongside eight or nine other titles
seemingly pulled from a hat, all topped off with a generic album title and a
fuzzy, poorly reproduced band photograph on the cover. Thanks but no thanks, Sony.
* More obscure
import-only compilations. Look, I
grant you that it's somewhat possible that, say, Sony Music in Honduras once
managed to offer up the perfect Cheap
Trick compilation. Some things, dear
readers, were just meant to remain mysteries...unless you feel so strongly
about something that's missing from this list that you just need to use the
comments box to let me know about it.
* One-off appearances
on soundtracks or various artists compilations.
I love Cheap Trick. They're
my favorite band on the planet. Because
I love them so, I don't really want to have to discuss the likes of
"Spring Break" or "Up the Creek". You can call me a hopeless fan-boy for this
if you must.
Lastly before we proceed, a word about
"hits". According to Billboard magazine, Cheap Trick placed
the following singles on the US Hot 100: "I Want You to Want Me"
(#7), "Ain't That a Shame" (#35), "Dream Police" (#26),
"Voices" (#32), "Everything Works if You Let It" (#44),
"Stop This Game" (#48), "If You Want My Love" (#45),
"She's Tight" (#65), "Tonight It's You" (#44), "The
Flame" (#1), "Don't Be Cruel" (#4), "Ghost Town"
(#33), "Never Had a Lot to Lose" (#75), "Can't Stop Fallin' Into
Love" (#12), and "Wherever Would I Be" (#50). It would stand to reason that the above would
form the core of anything billing itself as a Greatest Hits compilation. Spoiler alert: not a single one of 'em has them all.
Unless otherwise mentioned, "I Want You to Want
Me" is the live version from At Budokan on all of these compilations,
regardless of whether or not I've noted it as such in the track lists. That's about it for the fine print. Drum roll, please...
The Greatest Hits (Epic, 1991)
Magical Mystery Tour /
Dream Police / Don't Be Cruel / Tonight It's You / She's Tight / I Want You to
Want Me / If You Want My Love / Ain't That a Shame / Surrender / The Flame / I Can't Take It / Can't Stop
Fallin' Into Love / Voices
Japan added a second disc: Hello There / On Top of the World / ELO Kiddies / Hot Love / Big Eyes /
Clock Strikes Ten / California Man / Stop This Game / I Know What I Want / Just
Got Back / The Doctor / High Roller / Gonna Raise Hell / Speak Now or Forever
Hold Your Peace / Day Tripper
2003 Remaster added a bonus track: Clock Strikes Ten
Largely reviled by serious fans for its pop-centric lack of
scope, this moldy oldie is mostly a victim of the passage of time. Thirteen songs clocking in at just under 55
minutes was par for the course in 1991 terms; of course, now it seems
hopelessly skimpy. Still, there's
something to be said in this one's favor: when it comes to including the band's
actual chart hits, in the exact versions that were hits, The Greatest Hits still has just about the highest concentration of
them in one place. Obviously, the
Japanese two-disc'er presents a much more rounded view of the band's career,
but good luck finding one for less than triple digits on the used market. Personally I never have, but I can console my
wounded collector's ego with the fact that I do own the uber-rare vinyl
pressing, issued once in Holland and nowhere else.
The Collection (Castle Music UK, 1991)
Daddy Should Have
Stayed in High School / I Want You to Want Me (*studio version*) / Clock Strikes Ten / Hello There
/ Surrender / Ain't That a Shame / Dream Police / The House is Rockin' (With
Domestic Problems) / I Know What I Want / Stop This Game / Day Tripper / If You
Want My Love / Next Position Please / Standing on the Edge / Good Girls Go to
Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere) / The Flame / Don't Be Cruel / California Man
Around the time The
Greatest Hits served to terminate the band's contract, Sony Music licensed Cheap
Trick's catalog to Castle Records (later to essentially become Sanctuary Music)
in the UK. Hence, the Brits got this
delightfully quirky little curiosity instead of the standard Greatest Hits album. I've always had a soft spot for this one; while
it may be a bit lighter on actual hits than its more famous brother, it does a
pretty good job at being a Cheap Trick
for Dummies to that point. Sure, it
seems a bit wonky at first blush that "Hello There" shows up at track
four rather than in the pole position, but "Daddy Should Have Stayed in
High School"...now there's a way
to open a compilation, folks.
The Hits of Cheap Trick (Pop Shop/Epic Holland, 1991)
I Want You to Want Me
/ Don't Be Cruel / The Flame / Ain't That a Shame / Cover Girl / Dancing the
Night Away / Don't Make Our Love a Crime / Come On, Come On / Heaven Tonight /
Dream Police / Need Your Love / Hot Love / Surrender / Tonight It's You / She's
Tight / If You Want My Love
Well, maybe Holland needed
two Cheap Trick compilations within the same calendar year, who knows? Speaking of "who knows", I don't
know why this exists, who compiled it, or why I even own it. If the band photo featuring Jon Brant on the
cover isn't a tip-off that zero effort went into this thing, then the track
list certainly is. "Dancing the
Night Away"? "Cover
Girl"? "Don't Make Our Love a
Crime"? Seriously, how did they
manage to miss "Up the Creek" while they were at it? Moving on.
Sex, America, Cheap Trick (Epic/Legacy, 1996)
4-CD boxed set:
Utterly essential to anyone with more than a passing
interest in the band, especially at the dirt-cheap, end-of-the-music-industry-special
prices it can now be had for. The songs
lifted verbatim from the band's previous albums are intelligently selected
(and, back in 1996, the sound quality absolutely smoked anything previously
available on CD). More importantly, the
rare and previously unreleased material compiled here is absolutely dazzling,
the polar opposite of the barrel-scrapings trotted out as fan-bait on so many
boxed sets. In particular, much of the
previously unheard mid-80s material is revelatory: whoever made the decisions
as to what made their 80s LPs as opposed to what was left off of them has some
serious 'splainin' to do. Simply put, if
you need more Cheap Trick than just a best-of disc and/or Budokan, then you need this.
You also need it as a physical package rather than just a download: do
not deprive yourself of the fantastic booklet featuring Ira Robbins' excellent
liner notes, as well as the band's track-by-track commentary.
Authorized Greatest Hits (Epic/Legacy, 2000)
I Want You to Want Me
/ Ain't That a Shame / Southern Girls (single version) / Surrender / Stop This
Game / Dream Police / If You Want My Love (alternate bridge version) / Tonight
It's You / Everything Works if You Let It (full-length version) / Mandocello /
I Can't Take It (live) / She's Tight / That '70s Song (based on "In the
Street") / Walk Away (featuring Chrissie Hynde) / Can't Stop Fallin' Into
Love / The Flame (live)
One step up, two steps back: obviously, the track list is
far more comprehensive than its assumedly not-authorized 1991 predecessor. The problem lies in the details: there are
far too many live and alternate versions on here, given that this was issued by
the label that owns the actual hit versions.
"The Flame" is hardly my favorite Cheap Trick moment, but for
a purported Greatest Hits disc to contain
only a live version of the band's sole #1 single when the hit version was
readily available for inclusion is simply ridiculous. I fully understand the aesthetic reasons behind
such a decision: yes, the live version heard here is far more artistically
sound than the over-slick studio version, but it's not at all what someone
buying a Greatest Hits disc is
after. They're after what they're
familiar with from the radio, and this just ain't it. Also, the brief liner notes are so badly
written that they're actually embarrassing: "Authorized Greatest Hits is the ultimate Cheap Trick
compilation. Buy at least four
copies..." Sorry there, slick, but
I got a free promo and called it even. Coulda
been, shoulda been, wasn't.
The Essential Cheap Trick (Epic/Legacy, 2004)
ELO Kiddies (single
version) / Hot Love / He's a Whore / Mandocello (live) / Clock Strikes Ten /
Southern Girls (single version) / Downed / Hello There / Surrender / California
Man / High Roller / Auf Wiedersehen / I Want You to Want Me / Ain't That a
Shame / Takin' Me Back / Dream Police / Voices / Gonna Raise Hell / Way of the
World / Stop This Game / World's Greatest Lover / Everything Works if You Let
It (full version) / She's Tight / If You Want My Love (alternate bridge
version) / I Can't Take It / Tonight It's You / This Time Around / The Flame /
Had to Make You Mine / I Can't Understand It / Walk Away (featuring Chrissie
Hynde) / Woke Up With a Monster / Hard to Tell (live) / Say Goodbye / Scent of
a Woman
2010 "3.0" reissue adds a brief bonus disc: The Ballad of TV Violence (I'm Not the Only
Boy) / Big Eyes (live) / On Top of the World / Heaven Tonight / One on One /
Cover Girl / Standing on the Edge
It's about as close to perfect as something I didn't compile
myself can come, really. Sure, I could
quibble about a couple of omissions: "Oh, Candy", "Never Had a
Lot to Lose", "Time is Runnin'" and "Next Position
Please" come immediately to mind - and honestly, three from Busted and not a single mention that The Doctor ever existed? Really, "It's Only Love" is a
pretty great song, guys. All of that is
the nitpicking of a true believer, though: if the point of a good compilation
is to present the listener with an accurate portrayal of who an artist is and
what they do and leave that listener
thirsty for more at the end, then The
Essential Cheap Trick is a resounding success. If you're looking to start with a
compilation, look no further. (As for
the "3.0" reissue, so long as it remains available for around the
same price as the basic two-disc'er, why not?
They're mostly good songs, although the presence of "Cover
Girl" on more than one of these compilations confuses me.)
Super Hits (Sony/BMG Custom Marketing, 2007)
Surrender / I Want You
to Want Me / The Flame / Can't Stop Falling into Love / Busted / Oh, Candy /
It's Only Love / Way of the World / Heaven Tonight / If You Need Me
Although this cheapie stands on the edge (see what I did
there? ) of being truck-stop fodder, I've seen it and the series from which it
hails available from enough traditional music retailers to mention it
here. Surprisingly - and almost certainly
by accident - all ten of these are good-to-great songs. But really, live a little, wouldya? There are far better compilations available
for not all that much more money, and cheapskates don't generally have nearly
enough fun in this life.
Playlist: The Very Best of Cheap Trick (Epic/Legacy, 2009)
Surrender / I Want You
to Want Me / He's a Whore / On Top of the World / Dream Police / Downed / Oh,
Candy / Way of the World / Southern Girls (single version) / If You Want My
Love / Voices / She's Tight / World's Greatest Lover / Can't Stop Falling into
Love
Super Hits on
steroids; a compilation so banal that I've never bothered nor been tempted to
own it, even as it sits for less than a buck used on Amazon. When faced with declining sales, this type of
schlocky, creativity-free product (it's one of a series) is the sort of thing
that huge labels like Sony have attempted to meet their fate with; is it any
wonder that they're losing the battle?
The Music of Cheap Trick (Epic/Legacy, 2010)
ELO Kiddies / Hot Love
/ He's a Whore / Mandocello / The Ballad of TV Violence (I'm Not the Only Boy)
/ You're All Talk (live) / Clock Strikes Ten / Southern Girls / Downed / Big
Eyes (live) / Surrender / High Roller (alternate version) / Auf Wiedersehen /
Heaven Tonight / I Want You to Want Me / Ain't That a Shame / Takin' Me Back /
Dream Police / Voices / Way of the World / Need Your Love (live) / Stop This
Game / Just Got Back / World's Greatest Lover / Everything Works if You Let It
(full version) / She's Tight / If You Want My Love (alternate bridge version) /
Next Position Please / I Can't Take It / Tonight It's You / Cover Girl / This
Time Around / The Flame / Don't Be Cruel / Never Had a Lot to Lose / Had to
Make You Mine / I Can't Understand It / Can't Stop Falling into Love / Busted /
Walk Away (with Chrissie Hynde) / Day Tripper (live, unedited version)
Playlist on
steroids this time, a not-exactly-generously filled three-disc hybrid of The Essential and Sex, America. Sure, the
songs are nearly all great (again
with "Cover Girl"?!), and the price from third-party sellers is
right, but both of those facts are also true of the two aforementioned
releases. Unlike this, both of those are
high-quality products, created with obvious care. Vote with your wallet.
Setlist: The Very Best of Cheap Trick Live (Epic/Legacy, 2010)
Mrs. Henry / The
Ballad of TV Violence / Can't Hold On / I Want You to Want Me / Need Your Love
/ Surrender / You're All Talk / Downed / I Know What I Want / The Flame / The
House is Rockin' (With Domestic Problems)
All-live-tracks compilation, unimaginatively drawn from the
various Budokan iterations, the Sex America boxed set and bonus tracks
from the remasters. A cool idea,
actually, but horribly botched in execution.
Sony Music's endless-repackaging machine rumbles on undaunted, I guess;
this is another one I've never bothered to acquire. Dear corporate lackeys: please, enough
already.
Next week: goodnight now ladies and gentlemen, that's the
end of the show.
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