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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1981)
SOfJOS uBjajoj. sBLii-iq islu&ul^ FOCUS ON: REVIEWS Cheap Trick album takes a step back By Geoff Hackett Battalion Reporter Cheap Trick certainly is a strange bunch. Its popularity in the United States came at a time when the bands that were reaching the top were all of the new wave persuasion. Its sound was almost archaic compared to the new breed of rockers. But still the group pushed onward. With the new Epic release, “All Shook Up,” this Northern Illinois-based band takes a giant step backwards. While they have often been compared to the Beatles musically, this time Cheap Trick attempts to convince themselves that they are the Fab Four. Part of this sound is attributable to their coupling with long time Beatle producer George Martin. Recorded at George's Air Studios in Montserrat and London, the band also uses former Beatle engineer Geoff Emerick. The band has taken on a new sound unlike any of their previous albums. The opening cut, "Stop This Game" be gins with the same brooding note that closed "A Day in the Life" from the "Sergeant Pepper" LP. It's almost as if no thing has happened since that album's re lease 15 years ago. "Stop This Game" also has the overlapping, re-recorded sound that was noticeable on the Beatles' mid sixties releases. Whether or not vocalist Robin Zander is attempting consciously to sound like both John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the fact remains that in doing so he has lost a lot of his own style that matured with "Dream Police." This is particularly noticeable in "Stop This Game," "Can't Stop It But I'm Gonna Try" and "World's Greatest Lover." The latter tune is particularly Beatle-like, both in production and musical style. What does it all mean? Rick Nielsen, showman-guitarist extroir- dinaire, still shows his virtuosity on the new album, but his solos and breaks are a little more refined than previous efforts. There are no "showcase" tunes a la "Gonna Raise Hell" and "Need Your Love." Some of his work still borders on the maniacal but he fails to take that one step over into weird ness. There is one exception. "The High Priest of Rhythmic Noise" takes the prize as most bizarre. Above a complex musical track, Nielsen intones a vocal line augmented with the metallic fuzziness of Kiss' "God of Thunder. Again, what does it mean? ,, ^ < ? m Peterson's farewell appearance with me band (he left upon completion of this album) is more of the same stuff that he was noted for on earlier Cheap Trick releases. records His eight- and twelve-string bass lines pro- vide most of the rythym tracks that Nielsen and Zander noodle over. This is in evidence on both Love Comes Tumblin' Down" and „ or Throat (Use Your Imagina- Bun E. Carlos, the chain-smoking drum- er, is the member of the band who has c a ng e d m style the most. At one time con- "L n * down basic back beats, on "All ° p Carlos has become somewhat of a Rick Nielsen type scene stealer. The final cut "Who D'King" gives Carlson the plat form for performance that he never got oh record. Still, with its jungle-like syncopa tion, "Who D'King" is remarkably stale — almost a throw away. The best numbers on "All Shook Up" are "Baby Loves to Rock" and "I Love You Baby, But I Hate Your Friends." On these two songs Cheap Trick returns to their tried-and-true formula of somewhat adoles- cent lyrics over a brain-pounding in strumental track. This is what Cheap Trick should stick to. While it is true that formula can lead to stagnation, in this case no other band has ventured into Cheap Trick's niche. There is no need for them to recover the Beatles' familiar territory. Cheap Trick's main problem is with the critics of the so-called "rock press." Their fans love them and, more often than not, the critics despise them. They are called infantile, boring and classless. With the re lease of "All Shook Up" their originality is now in question. But as long as people buy, what does it matter? What does it mean, anyway? Together again: Pryor and Wilder Actors deserve talent showcase By Kathleen McElroy Battalion Staff Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, separately, are the two funniest movie comedians since the death of Peter Sellers. However, their reputation as a team may suffer due to the weak plots of two movies they recently co-starred in: "Stir Crazy" and "Silver Streak." Wilder was best in his first major film, a Mel Brooks comedy called "The Producers." Brooks also fea tured Wilder in other comedies such as "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein." His out standing lead role was that of Wil lie Wonka the candymaker in the movie of basically the same name. The film was a commercial and artistic success because of Wilder's breezy personality as Wonka, making the film worth seeing in spite of that idiotic song, "The Candy Man." Pryor, who is lucky to be alive after suffering major bums over most of his body last summer, is a better actor than most critics give him credit for. Although "Live in Concert" was his best film, Pryor also excelled in "Bingo Long and the All-Star Players," when he played a black pretending to be Cuoan. Together, Pryor and Wilder have a comedic force equalled only by Walter Matthau and Jack Lem mon. But where Matthau and Lemmon had a non-physical, cold relationship on the screen, Pryor and Wilder display a platonic re lationship that includes grabbing, hugging, and physically protect ing each other from the outside world. It's refreshing to see men actually act like close friends, in stead of making the dialogue indi cate it. But Matthau and Lemmon had one gigantic advantage over Wil der and Pryor. Well-written scripts like "The Odd Couple" and "The Fortune Cookie" consumed every bit of talent Matthau and Lemmon had, making the films almost flaw less in intent and execution. But poor Wilder and Pryor. MOVIES Once again, another movie I be lieved produced only to showcase the comedians' talents, has fallen short. Not by much, but still defi nitely not as great — not even as good — as it should have been. The first time the comedians acted together the result was "Sil ver Streak," in which Wilder and Pryor tried to protect themselves from killers who were after letters that would prove an art dealer was selling forgeries. Somehow the let ters fall into Wilder's possession. I've seen that movie twice and I never remember the plot because it's stupid. But I can recite all the lines and imitate all the gestures Wilder and Pryor used in the fun ny, pure comedy scenes. Now it's "Stir Crazy." This time Wilder and Pryor leave New York to go west. But when they stop in an unnamed Sunbelt state and find jobs as woodpeckers, our heroes are arrested, arraigned, tried and sentenced to prison — all in one day. The plot doesn't get any better. "Stir Crazy" is still an extremely funny movie. Crisp New York scenes nicely establish the charac ters: Wilder as Skip Donahue, who sees good in everything. He's pro tected by Pryor as Harry Monroe, who sees good in living a long life. The movie is only funny in parts. After a hilarious sequence in which Wilder proves how tough he is to the prototypical Southern prison guard, the whole second half of the movie is glacier-slow. Any minute an avalanche of good humor is expected, but the film still drags on. Writer Bruce Jay Freidman has given director Sid ney Portier an incidental plot con structed as if to satisfy some rigid convention of drama. And Portier is almost obsessed with unneces sary detail, while persisting with obviously unworkable scenes. The reason people go to this movie is to see Wilder and Pryor— not to see a prison breakout that takes more than twenty minutes to develop. Both movies starring Wilder and Pryor have been commercially suc cessful, and I hope they have a chance to act in a third joint per formance — only not another un believable plot that just gets in the way of their talents. Give them character studies or psychological developments. Or preferably, just let them go stir crazy. FOCUS Editor Cathy Saathoff Assistant Editor Susan Hopkins Staff Writer....... Kathleen McElroy Focus will accept any items submitted for publication, although the decision to publish lies solely with the editor. Deadline is 5 p.m. the Thursday before publication. Aggie Cinema has lined up a batch of films and packaged them as the International and Classics Film Series. See what's in store for your Wednes day evening viewing. By Stephen Bonin The Taiwanese Club of Texas A&M University cele brated Chinese New Year a bit early this year. The festivities included traditional foods, dances and a dragon. By Susan Hopkins The Shake Russell/Dana Cooper Band is planning a new album. The group will be in Bryan next week, performing some of their new songs. By Sharon Renfrew 45 ...8 35 On the cover: Taiwanese children from local elementary schools bring in the new year with a papier-mache and cloth dragon. The dragon is a traditional symbol of the emperor or king, but today's democratic China sees it as a sym bol of prosperity for the Chinese people. Cover photo by Craig Atchison, § ?T5- i* CL S* ' (0 vw ^ 4):