Cheap Trick Bang Zoom Crazy...Hello on LP

17th Studio Effort & First New Album in More Than 5 Years!

Cheap Trick is part of the very fiber of American music, inspiring and delighting generations with their unique union of massive melodies and razorblade riffs, their own special brand of mischievous wit and maximum rock ‘n' roll. Frontlined since 1974 by Robin Zander (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead guitar), and Tom Petersson (bass guitar), the Rockford, IL-born band is set to impact still another era with the spectacular new Bang Zoom Crazy...Hello, their seventeenth studio collection and first in more than five years.

Co-produced by Cheap Trick and Grammy Award winner Julian Raymond (Glen Campbell, Fastball), songs like "Heart On The Line" and the turbulent first single, "When I Wake Up Tomorrow," are deeply connected to the band's own irrepressible history just as they accelerate their trademark sound and vision into the now. The glorious "Long Time No See Ya" marks another in a long line of salutations spanning "ELO Kiddies" and "Hello There" to "Goodnight" and "Say Goodbye," while the piledriving "Do You Believe Me" showcases dueling solos from Nielsen and six-string icon Wayne Kramer – a milestone meeting of the long established Midwestern mutual appreciation society between Cheap Trick and the mighty MC5. 

Bang Zoom Crazy...Hello proves Cheap Trick to be as energetic and idiosyncratically irresistible as ever before, a callback to their classic canon yet somehow as inventive and exciting as a bunch of crazy kids just coming out of the garage. All three original members cite drummer Daxx Nielsen as the most significant contemporary influence on Cheap Trick's current creativity. A musical polymath who has played with artists spanning Dick Dale to Brandi Carlisle, the younger Nielsen was the obvious choice when the seemingly irreplaceable Bun E. Carlos retired from active touring and recording with the band he co-founded. Daxx's innate virtuosity and spirited musicianship were propulsive in more ways than the usual, inspiring fresh energy while also keeping the band in touch with its roots.

After more than half a decade away from the studio, Cheap Trick was fired up and ridiculously prolific, cranking out close to 30 new tunes over two pair of sessions in Los Angeles and Nashville. Tracks like "No Direction Home" hit hard as a teenage crush's kiss, affirming the eternal strength of Cheap Trick's smart, sly, sometimes sarcastic songcraft. Each member has skin in the songwriting game, contributing elements – a riff, a chorus, a hook that won't stop – which are then jammed into three-and-a-half minute pop perfection by the entire unit, ensuring everybody's respective two cents are represented in every finished tune.

Cheap Trick are of course a indisputable institution, beloved for their instantly identifiable, hugely influential, powerhouse pop rock ‘n' roll. The constant core of the band remains one of a kind – three guys, four chords, and tunes that will last in perpetuity, from "He's A Whore," "California Man" and "Dream Police" to "Surrender," "I Want You To Want Me" and the worldwide #1 hit single, "The Flame."

"The songs are why everybody knows Cheap Trick," Nielsen says. "We have some good songs. ‘I Want You To Want Me" has been around for 40 years but people still love it. And even if you're sick of it, it's over in three minutes! The songs are still relevant, they still have the right words and the right emotion to move 99% of all humans."