Forty years ago this month, Cheap Trick released their second album, In Color, just seven months after their self-titled debut.
Recorded in Los Angeles, it ranks number-443 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Produced by Tom Werman, who also signed them to Epic Records, it contains 10 songs, including a very different version of what would later become their first Top 10 single, "I Want You to Want Me." But it was this overly pop take of the song that became a hit in Japan and laid the groundwork for their success there and their subsequent breakthrough in the U.S., At Budokan.
Five of In Color's 10 songs -- including "Hello There," "Big Eyes," "Clock Strikes Ten" and "Come On, Come On" -- were included on the original release of At Budokan,
The band recut the entire album in 1998 with Nirvana producer (and Trick fan) Steve Albini, but that version has never been officially released.
In Color was certified gold two years after its release, and platinum 24 years later, in 2001.