Elo, kiddies! An out-of-print Cheap Trick box set is coming back to CD as well as a first-time LP adaptation for Music on Vinyl.

The Complete Epic Albums Collection, originally released in 2013 as part of a flurry of similar box sets from Legacy Recordings, captured just nearly everything Rockford's finest put out between 1977 and 1990, including their first 11 studio albums (including the first-time physical release of the "authorized" version of 1983's Next Position Please), an expanded edition of their breakthrough live release At Budokan and the rare EP Found All the Parts, with six of the titles boasting bonus tracks. The new vinyl edition will retain At Budokan: The Complete Concert and Found All the Parts, but will present each studio album as it was originally released, likely retaining the set's remastering by Vic Anesini; everything is pressed on 180-gram crystal clear vinyl and includes a four-page insert. The vinyl set is limited to 1000 copies and will be available March 14.

In their prime, Cheap Trick were a dazzling array of contradictions, combining bright power-pop melodies, brazen punk-adjacent energy and even a few splashes of Beatlesque studio flair. Lead singer Robin Zander and bassist Tom Petersson possessed long hair and model looks that often got them pictured on the front covers of early albums, while mad guitar genius Rick Nielsen - often clad in a Huntz Hall-style cap, bowtie and black-and-white checked patterns - and stalwart drummer Bun E. Carlos (who looked like a New Wave accountant) were often relegated to the rear sleeves. The band's first three albums - a 1977 debut produced by Jack Douglas and the Tom Werman-produced In Color (1977) and Heaven Tonight (1978) couldn't get the quartet arrested in America; however, in Japan, the group were idols who could sell out stadiums. When they toured the country in the spring of '78, they issued a live LP for the local market that soon became an in-demand import and eventually a top-selling domestic title; At Budokan, with its amped-up versions of already-released hits like "I Want You to Want Me" and "Surrender," ultimately went triple platinum and remains one of the group's (and '70s rock's) high watermarks.

The decade after At Budokan was punctuated by highs and lows: the ambitious Dream Police (1978) and All Shook Up (1980), the latter overseen by The Beatles' producer George Martin, expanded the group's sound but not its sales, and Petersson soon left the band, to be replaced by bassist Jon Brant. Despite killer collaborations with established producers - Roy Thomas Baker on One to One (1982), Todd Rundgren on Next Position Please (1983), a returning Jack Douglas for Standing on the Edge (1985) - Cheap Trick had a hard time finding a groove, and were beset by either label clashes (Next Position Please's track list was fussed with by Epic, and the band's preferred line-up didn't get a digital release until decades later) or technical difficulties (Standing on the Edge and The Doctor relied heavily on electronics). The dual inspirations of Petersson's return and the use of some outside songwriters on 1988's Lap of Luxury took the band further afield from their intended sound, but gave the group their biggest chart hits, the chart-topping power ballad "The Flame" and a No. 4 cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel." ("I Want You to Want Me," by comparison, only reached No. 7.) Cheap Trick departed the Epic roster after 1990's Busted, and continue to record and tour; Carlos stopped working with the band in 2010 but settled a lawsuit against his bandmates several years later and reunited with them for a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction and performance in 2016. (Nielsen's son Daxx is the group's drummer, and Zander's son Robin Taylor guests with them in the studio as well.)

Long celebrated by power pop fans and collectors - Real Gone Music put three volumes of their rarities-packed The Epic Archive series from 2015 on CD in 2017, 2018 and 2019 - The Complete Epic Albums Collection is the ultimate Cheap Trick experience, happily back in print for folks to rediscover. Order your copies below and check out the full track list. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

The Complete Epic Albums Collection (originally released as Epic/Legacy 88697 94193-2, 2013 - reissued Music on Vinyl MOVLP3600, 2025)

14LP: Music on Vinyl
14CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

* CD bonus tracks

CD/LP 1: Cheap Trick (Epic PE 34400, 1977)

1. Elo Kiddies
2. Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School
3. Taxman, Mr. Thief
4. Cry, Cry
5. Oh, Candy
6. Hot Love
7. Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
8. He's a Whore
9. Mandocello
10. The Ballad of TV Violence (I'm Not the Only Boy)
11. Lovin' Money *
12. I Want You to Want Me (Early Studio Version) *
13. Lookout (Studio Version) *
14. You're All Talk (Early Studio Version) *
15. I Dig Go-Go Girls (Outtake) *

Tracks 11-12 originally released on Sex, America, Cheap Trick - Epic/Legacy E4K 64398, 1996. Tracks 13-15 originally released on CD reissue - Epic/Legacy EK 65572, 1998

CD/LP 2: In Color (Epic PE 34884, 1977)

1. Hello There
2. Big Eyes
3. Downed
4. I Want You to Want Me
5. You're All Talk
6. Oh Caroline
7. Clock Strikes Ten
8. Southern Girls
9. Come On, Come On
10. So Good to See You
11. Oh Boy (Instrumental Version) *
12. Southern Girls (Ardent Studios Demo) *
13. Come On, Come On (Ardent Studios Demo) *
14. You're All Talk (Live @ The Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles, CA - 6/3-5/1977) *
15. Goodnight (Live @ The Whisky a Go Go, Los Angeles, CA - 6/3-5/1977) *

Track 11 originally released on "I Want You to Want Me" single - Epic 8-50435, 1977. Tracks 12-15 originally released on CD reissue - Epic/Legacy EK 65573, 1998

CD/LP 3: Heaven Tonight (Epic JE 35312, 1978)

1. Surrender
2. On Top of the World
3. California Man
4. High Roller
5. Auf Wiedersehen
6. Takin' Me Back
7. On the Radio
8. Heaven Tonight
9. Stiff Competition
10. How Are You?
11. Oh Claire
12. Stiff Competition (Alternate) *
13. Surrender (Alternate) *

Tracks 12-13 originally released on CD reissue - Epic/Legacy EK 65648, 1998

CD/LP 4-5: At Budokan: The Complete Concert (Epic/Legacy E2K 65527, 1998)

1. Hello There
2. Come On, Come On
3. Elo Kiddies
4. Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
5. Big Eyes
6. Lookout
7. Downed
8. Can't Hold On
9. Oh Caroline
10. Surrender
11. Auf Wiedersehen

1. Need Your Love
2. High Roller
3. Southern Girls
4. I Want You to Want Me
5. California Man
6. Goodnight
7. Ain't That a Shame
8. Clock Strikes Ten

All tracks recorded live at Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan - 4/30/1978
Disc 1, Tracks 1-2, 5-6 and 10 and Disc 2, Tracks 1, 4 and 6-8 released as At Budokan - Epic/Sony 25-3P-5 (JP), 1978/Epic FE 35795, 1979
Disc 1, Tracks 3-4, 7-9 and 11 and Disc 2, Tracks 2-3 and 5 released as Budokan II - Epic EK 53308, 1993

CD/LP 6: Dream Police (Epic FE 35773, 1979)

1. Dream Police
2. Way of the World
3. The House is Rockin' (with Domestic Problems)
4. Gonna Raise Hell
5. I'll Be with You Tonight
6. Voices
7. Writing on the Wall
8. I Know What I Want
9. Need Your Love
10. The House is Rockin' (with Domestic Problems) (Live @ The Forum, Inglewood, CA - 12/31/1979) *
11. Way of the World (Live @ The Forum, Inglewood, CA - 12/31/1979) *
12. Dream Police (No Strings Version) *
13. I Know What I Want (Live @ Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, FL - 5/25/1988) *

Tracks 10-12 originally released on CD reissue - Epic/Legacy 82796 94485-2, 2006. Track 13 originally released on "Don't Be Cruel" single - Epic 34-07965, 1988

CD/LP 7: Found All the Parts EP (Nu Disk/Epic 4E 36453, 1980)

1. Day Tripper
2. Can't Hold On (Live @ Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan - 4/30/1978)
3. Such a Good Girl
4. Take Me I'm Yours

CD/LP 8: All Shook Up (Epic FE 36498, 1980)

1. Stop This Game
2. Just Got Back
3. Baby Loves to Rock
4. Can't Stop It But I'm Gonna Try
5. World's Greatest Lover
6. High Priest of Rhythmic Noise
7. Love Comes A-Tumblin' Down
8. I Love You Honey But I Hate Your Friends
9. Go for the Throat (Use Your Imagination)
10. Who D'King
11. Everything Works If You Let It *

Track 11 originally released on Roadie (Original Motion Picture Sound Track) - Warner Bros. 2HS 3441, 1980

CD/LP 9: One to One (Epic FE 38201, 1982)

1. I Want You
2. One on One
3. If You Want My Love
4. Oo La La La
5. Lookin' Out for Number One
6. She's Tight
7. Time is Runnin'
8. Saturday At Midnight
9. Love's Got a Hold on Me
10. I Want Be Man
11. Four Letter Word

CD/LP 10: Next Position Please (Epic FE 38794, 1983)

1. I Can't Take It
2. Borderline
3. I Don't Love Here Anymore
4. Next Position Please
5. Younger Girls
6. Dancing the Night Away
7. 3D
8. You Say Jump
9. Y.O.Y.O.Y.
10. Won't Take No for An Answer
11. Heaven's Falling
12. Invaders of the Heart
13. Twisted Heart *
14. Don't Make Our Love a Crime *
15. You Talk Too Much *
16. Don't Hit Me with Love *

Track 14 released on cassette pressing - Epic FET 38794, 1983. Tracks 15-16 released on Next Position Please (The Authorized Edition) digital release - Epic/Legacy (no cat. #), 2006. All tracks on CD are ordered as follows: 1-2-3-4-5-14-7-15-9-10-11-12-13-16-8-6

CD/LP 11: Standing on the Edge (Epic FE 39592, 1985)

1. Little Sister
2. Tonight It's You
3. She's Got Motion
4. Love Comes
5. How About You
6. Standing on the Edge
7. This Time Around
8. Rock All Night
9. Cover Girl
10. Wild, Wild Woman

CD/LP 12: The Doctor (Epic FE 40405, 1986)

1. It's Up to You
2. Rearview Mirror Romance
3. The Doctor
4. Are You Lonely Tonight
5. Name of the Game
6. Kiss Me Red
7. Take Me to the Top
8. Good Girls Go to Heaven (Bad Girls Go Everywhere)
9. Man-U-Lip-U-Lator
10. It's Only Love

CD/LP 13: Lap of Luxury (Epic FE 40922, 1988)

1. Let Go
2. No Mercy
3. The Flame
4. Space
5. Never Had a Lot to Lose
6. Don't Be Cruel
7. Wrong Side of Love
8. All We Need is a Dream
9. Ghost Town
10. All Wound Up

CD/LP 14: Busted (Epic E 46013, 1990)

1. Back 'N Blue
2. I Can't Understand It
3. Wherever Would I Be
4. If You Need Me
5. Can't Stop Fallin' Into Love
6. Busted
7. Walk Away
8. You Drive, I'll Steer
9. When You Need Someone
10. Had to Make You Mine
11. Rock 'N' Roll Tonight