did the Dream Police, errrm, Thought Police wipe it? I did read the last postings, yup, granted Herr Petersson had probably smoked something ahead of that gig the way he kept bursting into laughter.
I do have the last two Cheap Trick albums which compositionally I do not find any worse than their heyday stuff, quirky powerpop is not entirely my cup of tea, but they know how to do it. They just don't strike me as a very disciplined and tight live outfit. There are bands like Iron Maiden (and I prefer any Cheap Trick album to any Iron Maiden one, make no mistake) which no matter how knackered they are on the seventh day of the seventh month of their seven year tour always give a sterling live performance, call them "work ethic" bands, as uncool as that may sound. Priest are like that too, I've seen them with Glenn Tipton feverish and Haldford's voice a mere croak, but they still gave their relative best that night.