Album review : CHEAP TRICK – All Washed Up

BMG [Release date 14.11.25]

Cheap Trick’s best since Rockford.

Some people thought it was all over, thus the tongue-in-cheek title.

It’s no exaggeration to call this 40 minute album’s worth of expertly crafted songs a heavy hitting tour de force.

It’s got muscle and blood. It’s got heartstopping hooks.

It’s got moments of bliss popping up all through the album’s emotional epics: ‘Best Thing’s ode to innocence, and the beautifully orchestrated heartbreak of ‘Love Gone’.

Makes you wonder what life affirming event has happened to them between their previous album and now.

Standout tracks? There are many.

The title track is clearly a blood relation of Alice Cooper’s down and dirty dynamics, and ‘All Wrong Long Gone’ sounds like Mike Campbell riffing sparingly to the hook driven simplicity of AC/DC. ‘The Riff That Won’t Quit’ runs in the room and beats you up for 3 minutes. But in a nice way.

The repeating lyric “get it on, get it on” on the trippy, slow moving yet deliciously soulful ‘Bet It All’ makes you think there’s a reference to Bolan in there somewhere.

The hi-def pop of the Petty meets Lennon ‘Long Way To Worcester’ has so many slickly polished harmonies, you can see your reflection in them.

‘Twelve Gates’ never feels like it’s too much or not enough. Zander and Nielsen primarily lock onto a layered, FM radio friendly slice of Cheap Trick genius, confirming that their knack for melody is alive and well.

All Washed Up is an almost perfect album. Rumbling rock, a bit of pop and a few romantic moments, all combined concisely and excitingly. Hard To Beat. ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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