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Customer Reviews of Busted

Middle aged pap from Cheap Trick
This was another of the albums where the press release claimed they were getting back to their roots to make the rock album we'd been waiting for since the turn of the 80's. Guess what? I'm starting to think that press releases are just ginned up by the record company to drum up advance interest in their product because NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH in the case of "Busted". All it did was give us three actively bad CT albums in a row. In baseball, that's a strikeout, but music fans are more forgiving. I still faithfully pick up each CT release and have even kept this bowl-swirler around just to keep my set complete, but the dust that sits on it could qualify as "vintage". Maybe I should sell it on Ebay.

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Busted But Not Beaten
So much outside influence had been exerted on "Lap Of Luxury," that you can almost hear the clashing of swords on "Busted." Cheap Trick wanted more control over the sound, Epic Records wanted another "Flame." Between the marketers and the musicians, some sort of balanced was reached. The end result is a album that is good but not inspired, and manages not to become a total bow wow ala "The Doctor."

"Back'N'Blue" is the closest thing to a Stones knock off that Cheap Trick has ever attempted. It totally out rocks anything else on the CD. Almost as if to balance that kind of power, the title track sounds like a piece of modern rock radio piffle. "Can't Stop Falling Into Love" was the band's attempt at writing a hit ballad (it made the top twenty), the label honchos served up another Diane Warren contender with "When You Need Someone."

What all parties seemed to miss (or at least until the "Authorized Greatest Hits" was released) was that the best song here was "Walk Away." This was the kind of song I longed to hear on my radio during those times, a near perfect power-pop-rock confection featuring the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde. Although you can do better in your Cheap Trick CD collection, "Busted" is worth having on that single song alone.

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Does its Best to Make Up For "Lap of Luxury"'s Flaws
Cheap Trick's previous record, 1988's "Lap of Luxury" sure brought them out of an eight-year commercial slump, but its reliance on session writers was disappointing. But thankfully in 1990, Cheap Trick released "Busted." The album scaled the similar platinum status as its predecessor, but more importantly, it re-introduced the band's fans to Cheap Trick's innovative originality.
Though their label, Epic, had it in their heads to control track selection, the band does their best with an otherwise bleak situation, by pouring their unique musical combination of cynycial glam, pop, heavy blistering rock, and emotionally vivid tunes. "Busted" is (so far) the best example of Cheap Trick keeping in step with the times (while avoiding conformity) without completely losing their uncompromising flare. In some places, such as 'Walk Away' and 'Had to Make You Mine,' fans are reminded of the pop loved by screaming teenage girls, as reflected in 70's albums "Heaven Tonight" and "Live at Budokan." The hit 'Can't Stop Fallin' Into Love' is one of the few good early 90's pop-rock songs, while excellent tunes such as 'Back 'N Blue,' 'Busted,' 'You Drive I'll Steer' and a version of Roy Wood's 'Rock and Roll Tonight' re-confirm Cheap Trick's hard rocking talent and witty humor.
While "Busted" was a disappointment to the fans who were stuck in the 70's, it still proves their broad range of musical territory and rock-n-roll progression.