Here, then, are the six Cheap Trick solos and side
projects. Feel free to leave a comment
if you feel like I'm missing something, but I think this about covers it. If who's involved isn't immediately obvious
from the record's artist credit, I've indicated it in brackets after the album
title, [like this].
Fuse, Fuse [Rick Nielsen, Tom Petersson] (Epic,
1969)
Famous mainly for having a back cover that features a photo
of Rick Nielsen without a baseball cap,
this garagey tribute to early Deep Purple doesn't really do much to encourage
repeat listens. Maybe the problem is the
fact that Capless Rick mostly plays keyboards not guitar, or maybe it's the
fact that Petersson hasn't yet added the second "s" to his surname,
or maybe it's the awful singer. Whatever
the cause, there is simply no way this would be remembered at all, even by the
parents of those involved, had two of the band members not later become famous. Sez Rick: "The guys we were with were
all rinky dinks; they’re probably pumping gas now." That about sums it up. Issued on CD in 2001 with two extra tracks
from a pre-LP single; I'll let you judge whether or not that constitutes a
bonus.
Tom Petersson, Tom Peterson and Another Language (Enigma,
1984)
Anybody reasonably familiar with the Dream Police album would probably have the same reaction upon
learning that Peterson (apparently, he saves the extra "s" for Cheap
Trick alone) released a solo EP during his time away from the band: "His
slight, nasal voice is charming enough
on 'I Know What I Want' but really, an entire half-album of
it?" Joke's on you, Chief: two
songs of hearing his then-wife Dagmar sing and you'll be swearing that Tom's slight, nasal voice is right up there with Zander himself. The songs themselves are alright new-wave
pop: nothing special, but hardly abysmal.
But Dagmar...wow. Ever wondered
why there was no German Blondie? Here's
an excruciating, twenty-five minute answer to that quandary for you.
Robin Zander, Robin Zander (Interscope, 1993)
It could use more of a unified songwriting presence, but
Zander's solo debut offers proof positive to anyone who might need it as to the
versatility of his voice. Leaving the
harder-rocking sides of his musical personality to his day gig is a smart idea:
the assembled session players here, many of them big names, wouldn't make
nearly as great a loud rock band as Cheap Trick, but they do make a fine pop
ensemble. When the material is
top-shelf, this does what a good solo album should do: give us a glimpse at a
different set of a musician's talents and tastes.
Swag, Catch-All [Tom Petersson] (Pug/Yep Roc,
2001)
Winning, only slightly twangy power-pop featuring Petersson
on bass (maybe it's that he only uses the two "s"'s in his name when
involved in something that doesn't suck) and various members of the Mavericks,
amongst others. Sounds exactly like the
pedigree would lead you to imagine.
High-quality, enjoyable stuff; especially recommended to power-pop heads,
even if it does get a bit same-y by disc's end.
Tinted Windows, Tinted Windows [Bun E. Carlos] (S-Curve,
2009)
Talk about your pleasant surprises: this is hands-down my
favorite Cheap Trick offshoot. If,
before its release, you'd told me that I'd think so highly of an album
featuring that kid from Hanson on
vocals, I'd have gladly informed you of your mental deficiency, but hearing is
believing. This half-retro, half-modern
hard rock record, also featuring ex-Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and
Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger on bass, is a through-and-through
delight: windows-down on the highway loud rock of the finest caliber. Much of that has to do with Taylor Hanson,
actually: all growed up now, the kid's got an absolutely fantastic voice for
this sort of thing. Fantastic enough, in
fact, that I always tell myself that I'm going to download one of Hanson's
big-boy albums and give it a spin when I'm listening to Tinted Windows...and always chicken out just before pulling the
trigger on downloading a Hanson album,
if you know what I mean. This is not
fair, of course, but neither is life. Tinted Windows on the other hand is more
than fair: it's a guaranteed smile in thirty-five minutes' time. What more could you want from your
entertainment dollar?
Robin Zander, Countryside Blvd. (Big3, 2011,
sorta)
The magical disappearing solo album. Discussed at length here and here (although the "purchase" link in the latter one is long dead); six months later, I
feel the same way about it.
Next week: Compilations - why, dear god, must they all suck
in some way?
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