AND FOR OUR NEXT TRICK…

“Rock’n’roll moves like a roller-coaster, the same way our career has gone,” offers Robin Zander, Cheap Trick’s lead singer and rhythm guitarist. “We’ve had our ups and downs over the years. We never had goals, we just keep on doing what we do because we love it. What can I say? I like rock songs with good energy.”

Zander is trying to account for a couple of things. Firstly, the longevity of Cheap Trick, the band he’s fronted with dashing elan since 1974. Then there’s the uncurbed intensity and verve of the band’s latest album In Another World, which distils everything that Cheap Trick do best – punchy pop-metal, great ballads, hooks, harmonies, glam-bam rock’n’roll – into 50 wondrous minutes.

The album also crowns a prolific late-career surge that has yielded four albums in nearly as many years. “We actually enjoy the challenge of recording,” explains flamboyant lead guitarist Rick Nielsen, he of the trademark baseball cap, bow tie and crazy stage moves. “There’s thirteen songs on and we probably had at least another half dozen on top of that. In the same time frame we also did a Beatles out.”