Cheap Trick: Rick Nielsen (guitar, guitars, keyboards, background vocals); Tom Petersson (guitar, bass guitar, background vocals); Bun E. Carlos (drums, cymbals, background vocals); Robin Zander.

Additional personnel: Robin Zander (vocals, guitar, keyboards); George Doering (acoustic guitar); Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (keyboards); Luis Conte (percussion); Bon Harris (programming); Sydney Perkins, Mike Dimkish, Max Raymond, Linus Dotson, Justin Berger-Davis, Jacob Brawer, Eric Skodis, Crestview Kids Choir, Ava Raymond, Noah Herdon, Zoe Berger-Davis, Westy Perkins, Jason Falkner, Julian Raymond, Todd Youth, Wayne Kramer , Gannin Arnold.

Audio Mixer: Chris Lord-Alge.

Audio Remasterer: Brian "Big Bass" Gardener.

Recording information: Henson Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Panda Studios; The Record Company Studios.

Photographer: Mike Graham .

Arrangers: Julian Raymond; Bennett Salvay.

If calling their fifteenth studio album THE LATEST doesn't exactly suggest enthusiasm on the part of Cheap Trick, keep in mind that the band has never shown much enthusiasm for album titles anyway, titling two albums after their band and one after their hometown of Rockford, IL. The THE LATEST follows 2006's ROCKFORD by three years and does indeed offer the latest spin on the band's classic power pop, offering another collection of 13 guitar-heavy pop tunes. After the brief, ominous opener "Sleep Forever," a misleading slice of spacy, hazy, mood rock fades away, Cheap Trick tear into the overlooked Slade gem "When the Lights Are Out," suggesting that THE LATEST will be a high-octane rock-fest, but apart from a handful of other moments--including the raging "Sick Man of Europe" and the "Slow Down" revamp "California Girl"--a lot of the record consists of thick Beatlesque psychedelia, an appealing shift in tactics that makes this something a little bit different than yet another Cheap Trick record.

If calling their fifteenth studio album The Latest doesn't exactly suggest enthusiasm on the part of Cheap Trick, keep in mind that the band has never shown much enthusiasm for album titles anyway, titling two albums after their band and one after their hometown of Rockford, IL. The Latest follows 2006's Rockford by three years and does indeed offer the latest spin on the band's classic power pop, flowing naturally from that quite excellent back-to-basics set, offering another collection of 13 guitar-heavy pop tunes. After the brief, ominous opener "Sleep Forever," a misleading slice of spacy, hazy, mood rock fades away, Cheap Trick tear into the overlooked Slade gem "When the Lights Are Out," suggesting that The Latest will be a high-octane rock-fest, but apart from a handful of other moments -- including the raging "Sick Man of Europe" and the "Slow Down" revamp "California Girl" -- a lot of the record consists of thick Beatlesque psychedelia, an appealing shift in tactics that makes this something a little bit different than yet another Cheap Trick record. That said, reinvention isn't the order of the day, staying true to the spirit of their classic '70s trilogy is, and the band acquits themselves admirably, turning out a tight, tuneful collection of proudly unfashionable power pop. And if the best song here is a cover of Slade's "When the Lights Are Out," well, it could be argued that the Move's "California Man" was the best song on Heaven Tonight, too. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Spin (p.86) - "[T]he band gamely surfs Beatles-besotted power pop and arena-rock Bic-flickers. Even the power ballad 'Smile' is a welcome gloppy respite..."