Stop This Game
{{Infobox song
| name = Stop This Game
| cover = Cheap Trick 1980 Single Dutch Release Stop This Game.jpeg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Cheap Trick
| album = All Shook Up
| B-side = Who D'King
| released = October 1980{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/1950942 |title=Cheap Trick - Stop This Game / Who D' King - Epic - USA - 19-50942 |publisher=45cat |date=2015-09-09 |access-date=2018-04-08}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = {{hlist|Progressive rock|power pop}}
| length = 3:45
| label = Epic Records
| writer = {{hlist|Rick Nielsen|Robin Zander}}
| producer = George Martin
| prev_title = Day Tripper (Live)
| prev_year = 1980
| next_title = World's Greatest Lover
| next_year = 1981
}}
"Stop This Game" is a song by American rock band Cheap Trick, released in 1980 as the lead single from their fifth studio album All Shook Up. It was written by Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander, and produced by George Martin.{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Cheap-Trick-Stop-This-Game/master/331022 |title=Cheap Trick - Stop This Game at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |access-date=2012-03-11}} "Stop This Game" reached No. 48 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 32 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles.{{cite web|author=Billboard |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/cheap-trick/chart-history/hsi/ |title=Cheap Trick Stop This Game Chart History |publisher=Billboard |access-date=2018-04-08}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=264& |title=Item: 264 - Library and Archives Canada |date=17 July 2013 |publisher=Bac-lac.gc.ca |access-date=2018-04-08}}
Critical reception
Upon release, Billboard described the song as one that "starts off on a mellow note before some thunderous guitar licks take charge and the tune becomes a forceful rocker. Lead vocals are full of gut level intensity."Billboard magazine - Billboard's Top Single Picks - November 8, 1980 - page 62 In a review of All Shook Up, Billboard described the song as an "epic, mid-tempo rocker".{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iSQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22cheap+trick%22+%22stop+this+game%22&pg=PT71 |title=Billboard - Google Books |date=1980-11-08 |access-date=2018-04-08}} David Fricke of Rolling Stone described the song as one of the album's "clever pop curves", describing it as recalling The Who and noting the "dense, pseudo-ELO orchestration".{{cite web|author=David Fricke |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/all-shook-up-19810319#ixzz1onsjmI82 |title=All Shook Up | Album Reviews |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=1981-03-19 |access-date=2012-03-11}} Record World said of it that "Robin Zander provides one of his finest vocal efforts on this insistent rocker."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=November 15, 1980|page=1|accessdate=2023-02-07|title=Hits of the Week|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/80s/RW-1980-11-15.pdf}} In a retrospective review of the album, Stewart Mason of AllMusic recommended the song by selecting it as an AMG Pick Track.{{cite web|last=Mason |first=Stewart |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/all-shook-up-r3734 |title=All Shook Up - Cheap Trick |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=2012-03-11}}
The song did best in the group's home base of northern Illinois, where it reached #27 on superstation WLS-AM in Chicago. It spent 14 weeks in the Top 40 on their weekly survey.[http://www.oldiesloon.com/il/wls021481.htm WLS Musicradio Survey, February 14, 1981]
Track listing
;7" single
- "Stop This Game" – 3:45
- "Who D'King" – 2:16
;7" single (US promo)
- "Stop This Game" – 3:50
- "Stop This Game" – 3:50
Personnel
- Robin Zander – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Rick Nielsen – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Tom Petersson – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Bun E. Carlos – drums, percussion
= Additional personnel =
- George Martin - producer, arranger, piano
- Geoff Emerick – engineer
- Nigel Walker – assistant engineer
- Tony George – assistant engineer
- George Marino – mastering
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1980–81)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"| Canadian RPM Top Singles
| 32 |
| scope="row"| Netherlands (Tipparade){{cite web |url=https://www.top40.nl/cheap-trick/cheap-trick-stop-this-game-17703 |title=Cheap Trick - Stop This Game |publisher=Dutch Top 40 |language=nl |access-date=20 December 2024}}
| 12 |
| scope="row"| US Billboard Hot 100
| 48 |
| scope="row"| US Cash Box [http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/80s_files/1980YESP.html Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 20, 1980]
| 44 |