Cheap Trick - One On One • CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

Baker's acquiescent production. Not even the solid rhythm section of Bun E. Carlos and new bassist Jon Brant stands a chance against that kind of aural firepower.

There are some tantalizing moments, however. "She's Tight," with a guitar line right out of Eddie Cochran's "Something Else," is a spirited, though moderated, rocker; the Tourists-style sound of "Time Is Runnin'" is similarly pleasing. But the cream of the crop is the ballad "If You Want My Love." Boasting a smashing guitar attack (and a middle eight on loan from the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"), the tune is easily Cheap Trick's best slow song since "Take Me I'm Yours" and a stunning example of what this band can do when it forgets about being commercial in these days when heavy metal rules the world. "Reputation is a fragile thing," says One on One's title song. Ain't it the truth. (RS 373)

CHRISTOPHER CONNELLY

It's a fact that when Cheap Trick peels off a good tune, nobody can touch them. And on this 1982 album, they deliver not one, but two fantastic Cheap Trick numbers. Sure the rest of it is a little, uh, weak, but the Beatles-perfect "If You Want My Love" and the gloriously lurid "She's Tight" both rule. Even "I Want You" and the title cut will appeal to the diehards.