CHEAP TRICKdoing a BEATLES "tribute"? Sure makes sense to me. There's no denying THE BEATLES had a massive influence on the band, so this is really a no-brainer. But it's THE BEATLES...you're treading on shaky ground when you decide to cover ONE song by them, let alone perform the album that even John Lennon said was pretty much impossible to reproduce live. That may have been true with only the FAB FOUR onstage pre-backing tape technology back in 1967, but today, with guest backing musicians, CHEAP TRICK has done it and done it well. The band definitely makes an attempt to include all of the little details in the performance, using Sitars, backup singers, etc...and they even tapped Geoff Emerick, studio engineer of THE BEATLES, to mix the live sound and the CD/DVD. But make no mistake, this is CHEAP TRICK doing THE BEATLES, and they put their stamp on all of it in some way or another. The band did a series of shows in NYC and Los Angeles, and these recordings are culled from the West Coast gig. The band recently did a stint in Vegas revisiting the whole production again. You can check out photos from it at www.cheaptrick.com.

The performances are stellar-Robin Zander shines on this...especially on "She's Leaving Home", which gave me goosebumps. Rick Nielsen restrains his zany guitar pyrotechnics to really nail the solos and guitar work faithfully, adding his flash where needed, Bun E. Carlos on a vintage looking Ringo Starr Oyster Shell Ludwig drum kit is rock solid, adding the appropriate oomph to the backbeat, and Tom Petersson gets kudos for reproducing the deceptively challenging and innovative bass parts of Paul Mccartney.

"A Day In The Life" is simply amazing, and songs like "Getting Better", "Good Morning Good Morning", and "Sgt. Pepper" get the balls out rock treatment to great effect. "Lucy In The Sky" to me sounds a bit like a studio recording with overdubbed crowd noise for some reason...it's TOO clear and perfect sounding...missing the ambience of the other live songs...maybe it's just me. One cool tidbit on that song is that the band segways at the end into "Oh Claire", the little short song on the "Heaven Tonight" album sung in Japanese...very cool twist. The song titled simply "Medley Song" is actually the finale to the "Abbey Road" album of "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End" and it is stunning. "Golden Slumbers" is gorgeous, and these are such great songs to begin with, to hear TRICK do this is a real pleasure. This project could have been a train wreck, but it's the complete opposite.

There is also a DVD companion piece that was released simultaneously with this CD, and there's not much to say about it except that it's recorded excellently, and I watched it a few times which is unusual for me when it comes to a concert film that isn't something vintage like a KISS show from the 70s or something along those lines. It's your basic straight-forward performance video with some extras consisting of interviews with the band on the experience and the BEATLES connection to them and the band. The band is funny in a dry humor way that is typical of their interviews and is entertaining to watch. When watching the concert footage, I was trying to figure out who the guest backing vocalists were(I didn't read the credits first obviously)...a sexy blond in a tight red dress and some Tom Waites meets Beck hipster doofus looking dude, I had no clue. Turns out the female was Joan Osbourne, who you may remember had a hit in the mid 1990's with a song called "If God Was One Of Us"…she's obviously had a Style Network makeover since then. She handled the lead vocals on "Lovely Rita". The dude is Ian Ball from a band called GOMEZ and he sang lead on a few tunes as well ("When I'm Sixty-Four" is one of them). I'm scratching my head going "Robin freakin Zander is onstage and you've got these 2 taking lead vocals?? Why? " But they did a good job none the less. Bottom line-both of these releases are worth picking up if you are a fan of either band.