Heaven Tonight

iTunes Editors’ Notes

Having redefined ‘arena rock’ as a radio-friendly pop-infused effort with enough volume and aggression to keep Frisbees airborne with their first two 1977 studio albums, Midwestern favorites Cheap Trick needed an actual radio hit to legitimize their presence. “Surrender,” the opening cut of their third studio album, 1978’s Heaven Tonight, where the singer catches his parents making out on the couch to his Kiss records, distilled the group’s every ambition into four brilliant minutes, and the rest of the album holds its own. Producer Tom Werman expands the band’s attack with additional keyboards and a multitude of studio effects. A cover of the Move’s “California Man” acknowledges one of the group’s main influences; “On Top of the World” is a great tip of the hat to ELO. “High Roller,” “Auf Wiedersehen” and “Stiff Competition” showcase guitarist Rick Nielsen’s spectacular and self-effacing guitar hero poses with economical riffs that knowingly parody while also expanding the role for hard rock guitar players in bedrooms worldwide. The title track portends the atmospheric power ballad that would dominate the charts — without Cheap Trick — throughout the latter half of the ‘80s.