Cheap Trick and Def Leppard

[TragicMagic]

Hi
Ok.. let me say first off that while I do like some Cheap Trick tunes (actually as it turns out - a couple more than I thought / remembered) and only have copies of Def Leppard songs by default through some compilation albums, that I am not a classic fan of either of these bands.

Having said that, I went and saw them play live last night thanks to a spare corporate event ticket I acquired.

Cheap trick were 'on first' and as a result suffered a little on the production and sound side of things, but I must give them credit - they did well. If nothing else it made me remember the song "Surrender" which I really like .. but forgot all about.. and also the realisation that the Theme Song to That 70's Show is also one of theirs!

Def Leppard sounded really good. I still am not a fan of thier lyrical content and it hasn't inspired me to buy any of their albums or anything, but huge credit to them for keeping it together. I enjoyed the concert even without being a fan. If nothing else, I now have even more respect for the drummer for doing everything with 1 arm and 2 feet.. with his left foot having 4 pedals.. one of them is actually a subsititute snare.. (hence he can do snare work using his right arm and left foot together!)

Anyway - has anyone else seen either of these bands recently? If so.. what did you guys think?

TM

[New Wave Garth]

I saw Cheap Trick back in '78 or '79 and liked it, but have never really been a huge fan.

Nothing could ever persuade me to see Def Leppard. When I first heard of that band back in about '81 or so, I listened to about 30 seconds of one song and knew that I would rather have my eardrums punctured with a rusty nail than ever listen to their stuff again.

[i]New Wave or nothing![/i]

[bigwavedave]

I was a so so fan of Cheap Trick when they were popular, but really loved the early Def Leppard (High and Dry helped usher in what was referred to at the time as "the new wave of Heavy Metal").

Although I saw Def Lep at the height of their popularity ('88), I hadn't seen Cheap Trick until a friend convinced me to go about 7-8 years ago. I must say, I was blown away by Robbyn Zander's vocals; the man is one of the best power vocalists in rock. Check out the older track "Tonight It's You" for how good he sounded then, and still sounds now in my opinion.

[Kathy]

It's a shame some people only know Cheap trick for their ballad "The Flame". They have so many great songs prior to that. As for Def Leppard I'll say this much about them. High & Dry and Pyromania are great albums.

[enzfan]

I like a lot of Cheaptrick songs but "Voices" is just about my fav. Regardless if you like Def Leppard or not Pyromania put pop metal on the map, especially when "Photograph" blew up on MTV.

[club80]

I never liked Def Leppard. I did, however, like a couple of Cheap Trick songs ("The Dream Police" and "Surrender" come to mind). While I was never a big enough fan to buy a ticket to see them, I always thought they were probably an excellent live act.

We didn't sell a lot of records, but somehow we left an impression.
-Johnny Ramone-

[latebar]

Im very into Def Leppard, but not Cheap Trick tho, sorry.

Very into Journey, Motley Crue, Scorpions, GnR, Skid Row, Bon Jovi etc etc

[oldwaver]

I like the first two Def Leppard albums; they're more harder rock (good or bad, depending on your opinion) than their subsequent pop-metal records; I didn't care for them much after "Pyromania". As for Cheap Trick, they're one of my favorite bands. You can pretty much rely on their albums having at least a couple of catchy tunes.

[SallyLightfoot]

>> also the realisation that the Theme Song to That 70's Show is also one of theirs!

The theme song to That 70's Show is performed by Cheap Trick, but it is a cover of the song 'On the Street' by the highly influential band, Big Star. Big Star influenced a lot of 80's bands (paisley underground) such as the Bangles, REM, the Posies. Anyone curious about Big Star should absolutely do so, starting with the album '#1 Record', which features 'On the Street'. If I had to pick one song that pretty much anyone would like, I'd go for 'September Gurls."

Cheap Trick's first three albums (Cheap Trick, In Color, Heaven Tonight) are a real tour-de-force. Budokan and Dream Police are also worth having. Great songwriting, amazing vocals, great guitars.

[hisoka866]

[8)]
this is a rehash of that american vs british music
comparison...def leppard music is distinctly different,
same for rick nielsen and his gang..i love these two.
so it's status quo!!(in my opinion).
[;)]