Good question.
Really, it’s not that you’re missing anything.
For years I used to at least pretend to eschew blue-eyed soul, bubblegum and powerpop because I was above it, it wasn’t cool or all that hip. Basically, even when I was “cool” I used to be fenced in by what other people thought of about my choice in music.
Cheap Trick is really just a very good powerpop band, no more, no less.
Rick Nielson is a pretty good guitarist and one of the biggest hams in the entertainment industry. Carlos is merely a very steady 2/4 drummer, but he looks like he should be working in the produce section of your local grocery store. I will say that Robin Zander is an exceptional vocalist with a tremendous range.
Here’s the really cool part, and it’s something that I just happen to know about Cheap Trick from friends that know and have met them;
They make lots of money doing something that they love to do
They know that it makes lots of people happy and they enjoy that part of the job.
They know that they are the luckiest people on the planet to be doing it!
In today’s day and age of snotty celebs and rotten to the core and pretensious prima donas, who think they are special, better and above the people that they perform for Cheap Trick is a breath of fresh air.
I dig their tunes and I dig their tude. It ain’t rocket science ~ it’s just rock n’ roll! Carl Palmer, Dave Grohl, Stewart Copeland and Neil Pert are great, too, if you like hitting as many pieces of stuff in a 32nd of a second that you can. Not my thing. The rhythm should support and drive the elements of melody and harmony. Not capture our attention, in and of themselves.
I think that’s okay. But I’ll take the like of a merely adequate power drummer such as Bunn E. Carlos, Tom Ardolino and Ringo Starr, all the same.
Plus, my sister picked up a guitar pick at a Cheap Trick show with Neilson's unmistakeable mug on it. That was probably 30 years ago, and I remember how cool I thought that was -- it was like, "yeah, this guy's hamming it up and it's fun."
I just didn't understand why people say Bun E Carlos is a such a legendary drummer.
I played a little kit, and I know who I like, and it is NOT all about speed -- I like Buddy Rich and I like Ringo Starr. But I can't bring myself to say that Ringo Starr is legendary. He's a founding father, that's for sure, and not standing out can speak volumes about talent, too. But I just don't hear surpassing mastery of the medium.