''The Latest'' is the sixteenth studio album by the American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

and

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

band

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...

, released on June 23, 2009. The album was produced by Cheap Trick, Julian Raymond, and Howard Willing and was issued on CD, as well as limited pressings on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

and

8-track tape The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic-tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, ...

. ''The Latest'' is the final studio album by the band to feature original drummer Bun E. Carlos who left the band in 2010.

Background

The track "Sleep Forever" was written in memory of a friend who died, "Miss Tomorrow" was originally a B-side from Robin Zander's eponymous 1993 solo album, taken from the "Show Me Heaven" single, while "Sick Man of Europe" was one of the band names used by Nielsen and Petersson in the early 1970s. "Everyday You Make Me Crazy" was originally written by the band as a

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

jingle from 1995 while "Alive" is a re-worked version of "What's in It for You", an outtake from the band's previous 2006 album ''Rockford''. Two music videos were created for songs off the album: one for " When the Lights Are Out" which was released on January 18, 2009, and one for "Sick Man of Europe", which was released on August 13, 2009.

Reception

''The Latest'' debuted at number 78 on ''Billboard'' 200, and number 36 on the Top Rock Albums. The album has sold 24,000 copies in the United States as of March 2016.

Track listing

Personnel

Cheap Trick

* Robin Zander –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

* Rick Nielsen –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

Tom Petersson Thomas John Peterson (born May 9, 1950), better known as Tom Petersson, is an American musician who is best known as the bass guitar player for the rock band Cheap Trick. Career Before joining Cheap Trick, Petersson played in a number of bands ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, background vocals * Bun E. Carlos –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Additional musicians

* Julian Raymond – arrangements, additional musician * Roger Joseph Manning Jr – keyboards * Bon Harris – programming * George Doering –

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

* Luis Conte – programming * Bennett Salvay – orchestration * Jason Falkner – additional musician * Todd Youth – additional musician * Linus of Hollywood – additional musician

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latest Cheap Trick albums 2009 albums Albums produced by Julian Raymond