The Joy of Discovering an Old Album from a Favorite Band

Music has the power to elicit countless emotions. The joy of discovering an old album from your favorite band is one of them.

My first favorite band was Cheap Trick. I've written a ton about them in my time here at ROCK 92.9. From seeing them at Avalon decades ago to seeing them at Boston Calling just last year, from flashing back to their Great Woods set from '97 to the anniversary of their seminal at Budokan. Hell, I even got to interview Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson a few years back. The band has been a constant in my life for, well, most of my life.

That all started back in the late '80s. Thanks to MTV, I was starting to build my own musical identity outside of my parents record collection and what they put on the radio. I caught this Cheap Trick set from MTV Spring Break in 1989, and it clicked with me. "Wait, this is that band with the guy with the wacky guitar in that one music video. They're really good!" Back then, I was spending the lion's share of my paper route money on cassettes at Strawberries Records & Tapes on Rt. 1 in Saugus. You can probably guess what I was buying next.

Cheap Trick's MTV Spring Break set was part of their tour in support of 1988's Lap of Luxury. That's the album that has their cover of "Don't Be Cruel" and their monster ballad "The Flame." Those were MTV, too. So I bought that new tape and the tape for One on One, which had "She's Tight," the song I referenced above. My 12-yr-old brain was new to the concept of a band having a back catalog. "Wait, they've been around since the '70s?" Like, before I was born?"

From there I moved on to the band's 1978 album Heaven Tonight. I wore all three tapes out, but that's the one that really resonated with me. These weren't "new" songs, but they were new to me. They're great songs and I love them, but I also loved and was excited by the idea that there was even more out there to discover. All these years later, I'm still chasing that thrill and constantly finding joy in discovering not only new songs by new artists, but old songs from artists I've gotten to know.

Heaven Tonight just turned 45, so let's rediscover a few tracks together.

The leadoff cut. Still one of my all-time faves by the band.

The Cheap Trick take of the old Roy Wood tune, of ELO fame.

The B-side to "Surrender." Learn German with Cheap Trick!

I don't need to tell you how much this song speaks to me.

The band always has a way with a ballad, and the title track is one of their top efforts.