The Latest

The Latest is the sixteenth studio album by the American Hard Rock/power pop band Cheap Trick. The album was produced by Cheap Trick, Julian Raymond and Howard Willing and was released on June 23, 2009. The album was issued on standard CD as well as limited pressings of vinyl and 8-Track tapes. The album was released to retailers on July 21, 2009.

A video for the cover of Slade's "When the Lights Are Out" has been released. The song was released exclusively through iTunes Australia in November 2008. The video is also available for viewing via the band's YouTube page. A video was also made for "Sick Man of Europe".

The track "Sleep Forever" was written in memory of a friend who died, "Miss Tomorrow" was originally a B-side from Robin Zander's eponymous 1993 solo album, taken from the "Show Me Heaven" single, while "Sick Man of Europe" was one of the band names used by Nielsen and Petersson in the early 1970s. "Everyday You Make Me Crazy" was originally written by the band as a Pepsi jingle from 1995 while "Alive" is a re-worked version of "What's in It for You", an outtake from the band's previous 2006 album Rockford.

The Latest is the final studio album by the band to feature original drummer Bun E. Carlos.

Reception
The Latest debuted at number 78 on Billboard 200, and number 36 on the Top Rock Albums. The album has sold 24,000 copies in the United States as of March 2016.

Formats

 * CD
 * Vinyl LP
 * 8-Track Tape

Track listing

 * 1) "Sleep Forever" – 1:37
 * 2) "When the Lights Are Out"  (Slade cover)  – 3:26
 * 3) "Miss Tomorrow" – 4:11
 * 4) "Sick Man of Europe" – 2:08
 * 5) "These Days" – 2:44
 * 6) "Miracle" – 3:47
 * 7) "Everyday You Make Me Crazy" – 1:17
 * 8) "California Girl" – 2:47
 * 9) "Everybody Knows" – 4:16
 * 10) "Alive" – 3:36
 * 11) "Times of Our Lives" – 3:59
 * 12) "Closer, The Ballad of Burt and Linda" – 3:00
 * 13) "Smile" – 4:12

Cheap Trick

 * Robin Zander – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
 * Rick Nielsen – lead guitar, background vocals
 * Tom Petersson – bass, background vocals
 * Bun E. Carlos – drums

Additional musicians

 * Julian Raymond – arrangements, additional musician
 * Roger Joseph Manning Jr – keyboards
 * Bon Harris – programming
 * George Doering – acoustic guitar
 * Luis Conte – programming
 * Bennett Salvay – orchestration
 * Jason Falkner – additional musician
 * Todd Youth – additional musician
 * Linus Of Hollywood – additional musician