I saw Cheap Trick play a club show a couple of years back and to this day I still kick myself for not hopping on the bandwagon earlier. You see, when I was in high school, Cheap Trick was riding tall in the saddle thanks to a little comeback tune called "The Flame." Remember "The Flame?" It's right up there with Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is" for '80s touchstones that need a little less touching. "The Flame" was a schmaltzy ballad custom- made for teenage girls the world over. Their follow up hit, a half- assed cover of Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel," was custom- made for laughter. Subsequent releases saw the Trick slip even further down the rock and roll food chain, settling in for a long snooze next to Paula Abdul.

But there I was just a couple of years back, rocking out like no one's business. What else do you expect from a band that continues to play live even though their salad days-- almost 20 years ago-- consisted of playing nearly 300 shows a year. What could have been nap time has turned into a second coming. Cheap Trick is enjoying a renaissance thanks to the reissues of their seminal albums: this self- titled debut, In Color, Heaven Tonight, and the full- length version of At Budokan.

Okay, we all know Budokan, but I only heard their debut for the first time about a week ago. I've got a lot more self- kicking to do, judging by how I unabashedly think this disc KICKS ASS! That's right-- I've resorted to the capitals and blanket statements that you, the idiot who doesn't know how to write the elegant commentary that I do, paste the Internet with. I understand your monosyballic jubilation-- sometimes, that's all it takes.

What really gets me going is how fresh this still sounds. You may not know this, but when Cheap Trick was first released, people shrugged. "Is it pop? Metal? Hey, pass the yams, I'm tired of thinking. Better yet, bring a fork-- whatever it's called, you'll eat this shit up!" Like the ugly girl who became beautiful, this sore- thumb batch has blossomed into the double-D prom queen of rock and roll. "Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School" is a perfect example. What could have been a dumb anthem about a pedophile is instead an asymetrical cruncher augmented by antsy bleecher stomping, a jew's harp, and curveball chord changes. "Taxman, Mr. Thief," on the other hand, is a pretty straight- forward pop song that manages to go from minor chord ranting to major chord pleasantries. The punk side of Cheap Trick comes out on "He's a Whore," which both lyrically and musically foretold the entire career of Green Day. "Elo Kiddies" still sounds like a rip off of Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part II," but so what? The ballad "Mandocello" doesn't, and it succeeds where "The Flame" failed.

Since it's a re-issue, let's not forget the extras, like early versions of "I Want You to Want Me" and "Look Out." The very last cut is "I Dig Go Go Girls," a track that reminds one of early David Bowie crossed with laughing gas. It's about as bizarre as anything else out there today, much like the suspicious looking bulge frontman Robin Zander sports on the back cover. It's also twenty times more exciting than any of the albums that have flown across my desk and directly into the cut-out bins. I'll see you at the record store inbetween the Charlatans UK and Chic. I've got a few more discs to buy.

-Jason Josephes