Cheap Trick

Several rock bands were "darlings" of early MTV -- Def Leppard, Loverboy, and Mötley Crüe immediately come to mind, as well as Cheap Trick. Unlike the other then up-and-coming aforementioned bands, Cheap Trick had been filming promo videos since the late '70s, and was already an arena-headlining veteran act. The 1990 home video compilation Every Trick in the Book collects almost all of the group's videos from 1979's Live at Budokan set up until Busted over a decade later, containing many of the band's biggest hits. Highlights include great in-concert readings of "Surrender," "I Want You to Want Me," and "Ain't That a Shame" -- the first two of these clips taken from the band's legendary 1978 concerts in Japan, while the third is a fiery performance from the 1980 Grammy Awards. Other standouts include a "video trilogy" from 1979's Dream Police -- the title track, "Way of the World," and "Voices," as well as the early MTV nuggets "She's Tight," "If You Want My Love," and "Tonight It's You," plus their big pop hits from 1988, "The Flame" and "Don't Be Cruel." Although not a definitive collection of the videos Cheap Trick had issued up until 1990 (longtime fans will notice that videos made for the band's classic 1977 self-titled debut and the humorous "Up the Creek" clip from 1983 are missing), Every Trick in the Book is a highly recommended collection of video snapshots of the band, and will create quite a stir of déjà vu for early MTV viewers. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi