Cheap Trick Planning to Release New Version of 'In Color'

I've actually heard this recording and can attest that it's truly awesome. Can't wait for an official release! I do a writeup of it over at:

http://rsmithing.com/2012/01/17/cheap-trick-in-color-1998-the-albini-sessions-pure-awesome/

I'd love to know anyone's thoughts on it in a blog comment at my place if you're up for that. Thanks!

I really wish I could have been part of this discussion when Tom Werman was on here bantering.
that being said, I believe there are 2 sides to this story.
1) Cheap Trick's debut record having tanked upon release, I assume put them in a less than favorable bargaining position with Epic as to the direction of the follow-up. as amazing as that first record was, one can only conclude that the powers that be at Epic decided to change course and try to make a 'toned down' radio friendly, am top 40 record.
Congratulations Mr. Werman. mission accomplished. the guitars tones are a little cleaner. Tom Petersson's 37 string farty sounding bass is absent. The vocals are a little more upfront in the mix. the outside instrumentation (i.e. I Want You To Want Me) is more prominent than would be expected for a 'hard rock' band in the 70's. and the catchy choruses really lent themselves to that sort of production. all in all it is what is, a slickly produced pop/rock record that Epic hoped might garner some radio play.

now for the other side

2) over the years Cheap Trick has tried many things to recapture that Budokan success as they helplessly watched it slip away. although they did have a comeback after a long dry spell it was at the cost of their reputation as a 'rock & roll' band.
after the 2nd wave of success waned they finally got it through their thick skulls that the only thing their 'loyal' fan-base wanted to hear was them turning up the Sound City's and rocking... and more specifically rocking those 1st three records. while traipsing through the County Fairs and Indian Casino's playing those (In Color) songs I think it occurred to them that the original 'rocking' arrangements were more in tune with what the fans wanted and that being said they had to point the finger at the 'responsible' party. I applaud them for wanting to re-record that record and give it more continuity with the debut and Heaven Tonight. I've actually had a bootleg copy of the Albini redux for years. it's on my iPod and I listen to it on occasion and dig it. that does'nt mean the original sucks. it's just a different take, that's all.
I think they would come off less douchey about it if they just said, 'hey. in the 70's Epic wanted poppier versions of our demos for the 2nd record and so that's what we recorded. now we wanna record a companion piece that shows the other side of those same songs just like we play 'em live. hope the fans like it.'

just for the record, I am a huge CT fan and own everything they've ever recorded. I also LOVE the last 3 records they've done...but for them to truck out Werman's production on 'In Color' as a black mark on their catalogue is a bit of a stretch for me. if that's the case then their should be a public beheading for the responsible parties involved with 'The Doctor'.

I really don't get this. I loved the original "In Color" and I also like the Albini mix. The original is CT's best studio album so I don't understand why they seem upset. Yes, we would all like to rewrite history and do things differently but in the end every thing is different but not necessarily better. And yes I will buy the revised version when it's released.

For all of you who are dissing the band you've got it all wrong. No one ever said TW is a bad producer. After all he produced Heaven Tonight and Dream Police but when you put In Color against those albums it really sucks in terms of quality. The songs are great but the overall production and mix is not very good. It sounds that TW has sour grapes because the band wants to re-record one of his produced albums. If you ever seen the band live you'll know how such songs as Hello There, Clock Stikes Ten, Downed, etc. should really sound.

Those who think CT is doing this for money are just naive. They starting re-recording this album in 1998 and it's now 2010, and only a few days left, so if they needed the money I'm sure they would have completed this album 12 years ago. They're probably more popular now than in 1998 so I don't think they're doing this for money or fame. Most people who know music know what influence they have had in rock music. For the person who thinks all they do are state fairs they were in the UK last month playing to sold out shows. The last I heard the UK does not have state fairs.

TW produced In Color is a good album. SA produced In Color is probably going to be a great album. They're going to be the same songs just produced and mixed better that's all. Just relax and enjoy it!

I'm SO dissappointed in Cheap Trick who seem to have lost their aging little minds. What a bunch of spoiled ungrateful rich little f-kers.

After reading this sh-t I can barely stand them. It was better when I didn't know what they were like. I should have kept myself in the dark.

They should be eternally grateful to TW for being instrumental in getting their records to sell millions. I Want You To Want Me on the album is one incarnation of the song, and there's no way they couldn't have steered the production of it or any other song in whatever direction they wanted. And.. the album versino is and always was more interesting than the stripped down live version(s) which have only one thing over the studio version: the guitar is more prominent..only because there's NOTHING else going on!

I thought the album version reminded me of The Beatles and was very appealing, evocative, clever... And that the live version was done that way for lack of the ability to produce something closer to the album. It was ALWAYS somewhat of a disappointment to me to hear the stripped down live version.
FACT IS, Cheap Trick are disappointed that they weren't even bigger, and they are trying to blame someone so that they don't have to take responsibility.
They should just sh-t up and be good lads and have a grateful attitude for their wonderful ride and opportunity.

I grew up on Cheap Trick...I have everything they have done...bootlegs,posters,imports,etc..its in my Cheap Trick shrine in our bonus room. I think Robin Zander is the most underrated lead singer in the history rock. Tom lives here in Nashville and his Waterstone Bass company is also located here. Guess I'm bias to them...I just think for a band to stay together 30 years and still tour,write and produce music nowadays is amazing!!! Cheap Trick is America's underdog of rock history...WAKE UP AND PUT THEM IN THE HALL OF FAME!!!

I am 49, was 16 in '77, got Cheap Trick then, get them now. I recently purchased the remastered first 4 albums and listened to them 4+ times each and then went back and listened to some select tracks.
Whatever the reasons for the IN COLOR re-recordings and the Werman/CT bad-mouthing, I've just got to say that as a fan of the music, IN COLOR is just fine the way it is. It is-what-it-is and it's pretty damn good. If the band wants to re-record the record, for whatever motivation, I think it would be interesting to hear how 33 years of the business might have changed their musical perceptions and I'll listen to what they put out.
It is in poor taste to the fans, to TW, to CT and their legacy to continue criticizing what is now history. Take the high road and just put a new album out and move on. Declare peace please.

Thank you Joey, because you do bring up a pivital point about aged vocalists. It can be so painful a thing to realize an artist's chops are gone.

But the unintended humor flows freely from Kevintonight, who seems to think he understands how money is made in the present-day business. Your insights are over 30 years old and obsolete, Kevin. Try talking to peeps currently *in* the business, lest your self-made hole sinks a few feet further. Otherwise .. I'm afraid to say the only one you're embarassing with such incorrect data would be yourself.

Writing with a death-grip clenched around the point that only you can be right -- when music involves such an immense amount of personal subjectivity -- is merely ludicrous, a waste of time. The industry has multiple methods of tallying exact numbers of spins a version has -- and Werner's version is greater than a 90% preference over Budokan. Even your comments of unit distrubution (and more importantly, profit) are all outdated by decades. It's a new century Kevin. Tear the foil off your windows and see how vastly different it is from what you report, much of which is just incorrect.

I'm not correcting you on purpose; you've made the mistakes, now the onus is upon you to find out why your comments fly so far off the mark. My apologies for correcting you, but someone simply had to.

Regards,

Mixtress Becky

Could it be as simple as the members of Cheap Trick liked the material on In Color and want to put a more current, up to date spin on it, or am I over-simplifying things?

Tom, I totally understand about Dream Police being in the can already. OK, that's fine. That still doesn't keep you from taking a little time and perhaps using a dash of that money they made from Budokan and perhaps remixing some aspects of Dream Police or just scrapping the recordings and doing something a little more raw. The band had to have been in a different place musically and personally by then so a song or three could've been added or rerecorded to more reflect how they were seeing things by that time. When they finally started playing Dream Police material, it had to be like playing old songs right out of the gate.
CH67, I'm completely with you on that rerecording Hello There for Rock Band or Dream Police for a commercial is totally for the money. There's a chance of high replay on a commercial and when you're paid every time something gets played, that equals damn good money. The In Color thing is a bit different. I don't think anyone has any real expectations of a rerecorded In Color to break any records with Billboard so I think that even with a high financial yield per unit sold, it's still not likely to sell a lot even as a stand alone product. If they were smart, they'd try and hook it onto something that is likely to move more units than what the core fans will buy but it looks like it's coming out as a stand-alone piece.
It's more and more apparent that they are taking control of their sonic legacy and trying to right some perceived wrongs and hope to make a little money at the same time. They've always made most of their money from touring and now that's the norm with most bands, they at least have the luxury of recording music independently and reaping the most they can from it. Cheap Trick is really one of the hardest working bands out there right now. Just remember every time you see them play at the Arkansas Rib Festival, they're making a really good chunk of change from that thing.
The way I see it, standing on stage playing the music you love and smelling world-class BBQ to 15,000-20,000 people who like your music is sure as hell of a lot better than sitting in a cubicle developing carpal tunnel and a spare tire and listening to the crazy receptionist snerk every minute, on the minute 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.