Released May 1978 (1978-05) | Length 43:42 Release date May 1978 | |
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Similar Cheap Trick albums, Power pop albums | ||
Cheap trick surrender
Heaven Tonight is Cheap Trick's third studio album, released in 1978. The album was remastered and released with bonus tracks on Sony's Epic/Legacy imprint in 1998. The album cover features lead singer Robin Zander and bassist Tom Petersson.
Contents
- Cheap trick surrender
- Cheap trick heaven tonight
- Overview
- Track listing
- Side one
- Side two
- Bonus tracks 1998 Reissue
- Band members
- Additional musicians
- Production
- Songs
- References
Heaven Tonight is considered Cheap Trick's best album by many fans and critics. While their debut album Cheap Trick showed the band's darker, rawer side and In Color explored a lighter, more pop-oriented persona, Heaven Tonight combined both elements to produce a hook-filled pop-rock album with an attitude. Popular songs from this album include the anthemic "Surrender", "Auf Wiedersehen", the title track, and a cover of The Move's "California Man".
Heaven Tonight is also known as the first album ever recorded with a 12-string electric bass.
Cheap trick heaven tonight
Overview
This was the second Cheap Trick album to feature Robin Zander and Tom Petersson on the front cover and Bun E. Carlos and Rick Nielsen on the back. While the front cover has Zander and Petersson standing in front of a nondescript background, the back cover portion (part of a continuous, wrap-around shot on the original LP) reveals that they are standing inside a public restroom where Nielsen is brushing his teeth and Carlos is fixing his tie in the mirror. Nielsen has a cassette copy of the band's previous album, In Color sticking out of his back pocket. At the suggestion of the record company, the album was originally to be called American Standard; the cover photography was intended to play upon the secondary association with the well-known manufacturer of plumbing fixtures. The band were less pleased with the idea and opted for the release title, but the cover design remained.
"Surrender" was the only song from this album released on the original version of the 1979 live album Cheap Trick at Budokan. On the 1998 reissue At Budokan: The Complete Concert, three additional songs from this album were included - "Auf Wiedersehen", "High Roller" and "California Man".
"Oh Claire" is a one-minute live jam with "Oh, Konnichiwa" as the only lyrics. The title is a pun on Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where the band used to play frequently in their pre-stardom days. Cheap Trick wrote a similarly titled song, "O Claire," for their 2006 album Rockford. "How Are You" contains, in its second verse, the extract of "The Lord's Prayer", sped up 10 times.
"Surrender" is featured as a playable song on the video game Guitar Hero II with the outro from At Budokan used in the game.
Track listing
All songs written by Rick Nielsen, except where noted.
Side one
- "Surrender" – 4:16
- "On Top of the World" – 4:01
- "California Man" (Roy Wood) – 3:44
- "High Roller" (Nielsen, Tom Petersson, Robin Zander) – 3:58
- "Auf Wiedersehen" (Nielsen, Petersson) – 3:42
Side two
- "Takin' Me Back" – 4:52
- "On the Radio" – 4:33
- "Heaven Tonight" (Nielsen, Petersson) – 5:25
- "Stiff Competition" – 3:40
- "How Are You" (Nielsen, Petersson) – 4:21
- "Oh Claire" (Bun E. Carlos, Nielsen, Petersson, Zander) – 1:10 (not listed on LP label or album cover)
Bonus tracks (1998 Reissue)
- "Stiff Competition" (outtake) – 4:03
- "Surrender" (outtake) – 4:52
Band members
Additional musicians
Production
Songs
1Surrender4:14
2On Top of the World4:01
3California Man3:45