Nearly two years after their last LP All Shook Up, Cheap Trick released an album full of brash, simple rockers. After original bassist Tom Petersson left the group in 1980, he was replaced by Pete Comita. Comita left the group in the early recording stages of One on One and was replaced by Jon Brant. Though this was the first album to feature Brant, most of it was recorded without him. Guitarist Rick Nielsen played bass on all but three tracks. Brant's face is partially obscured on the front cover. The song "If You Want My Love" is one of Nielsen's favorite songs he has recorded with the group. Physical copies of the album were out of print for several years, but as of April 6, 2010 it has been reissued along with the following album Next Position Please on one CD. There were promotional videos made for "She's Tight" and "If You Want My Love." Both received heavy rotation on MTV.
Reception
Upon release, Billboard stated: "The big beat pop-rockers shelve the more ambitious pop experimentation of LP to return to the stylistic mix that reaped top ten success in the past. Roy Thomas Baker proves an apt ally, showcasing Nielsen's brash wall-of-guitars attack and accentuating the raspier reaches of Zander's lead vocals to create a strong collection of overdrive anthems. Christopher Connelly of Rolling Stone wrote: "One on One suggests that although guitarist-songwriter Rick Nielsen's AC/DC fixation continues unabated, there remains cause for hope." He listed songs such as "She's Tight", "Time Is Runnin'" and "If You Want My Love" as some of the album's "tantalizing moments", and "I Want You" and "Lookin' Out for Number One" as two of the album's "depressingly moronic cuts". In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic stated: "One on One finds Cheap Trick rebounding from with a slick, punchy, AOR record, hemmed in a bit by stiff sequenced rhythms but sparkling in its analog synths and pumped-up guitars. No, it's not as ballsy as Cheap Trick's best, but its glossy glimmer is appealing, a combination of heavy metal roar and new wave strut, and would be more so if the songs were just a bit tighter." Dave Swanson of Ultimate Classic Rock noted Baker's production gave the band a "harder but glossier sound". He highlighted the tracks "I Want You", "She's Tight", "If You Want My Love", "Time Is Runnin'" and "Love's Got a Hold on Me", but felt the "rest of the album ends up tripping over itself by the end".
Track listing
All tracks written by Rick Nielsen, except where noted.
