CHEAP TRICK: In the Joint – Las Vegas 1995 (CD)

CHEAP TRICK 1995 BROADCAST FROM LAS VEGAS

Cheap Trick left Epic records, the label with which they had had their biggest successes, in 1991, after the disappointing sales of the album Busted. They signed to Warner Brothers in 1993 and released Woke Up With A Monster the following year. Produced by Warner’s Ted Templeman, best known for his work with Van Halen, the title track was issued as the first single and reached No. 16 on the US Mainstream Rock charts.

The album's sales remained poor however and it peaked at only No. 123. By the time of release there had been a variety of significant changes in the band, both musically and appearance-wise. The band quickly parted ways with Warner Bros. and decided it was time to go back to basics. They concentrated on the strength of their live shows, which were always legendary, and they decided to release new recordings on independent labels instead of major companies.

The show featured on this CD is indeed one such legendry performance, recorded for FM broadcast at The Joint - a venue within the Hard Rock Café & Hotel - in Las Vegas on 16th October 1995. With the band on absolutely top form and the set-list a fine melange of old and new, and including a dynamic version of John Lennon’s haunting Cold Turkey – a paean to the pain of quitting heroin, which the band had also recently recorded in the studio for a Lennon tribute album - this concert illustrates perfectly that more than 20 years into a career that is still going strong today, the mighty Cheap Trick were as potent, dynamic and exciting a group as ever they’d been.

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