Cheap Trick at Budokan

I've heard about this album for years. Holy shit this is so fucking boring.

A fun live album, but nothing much tbh

Hard to judge in full as this is my first exposure to Cheap Trick, but really liked what I heard! Live albums are difficult as I tend to rate them on what they add to the original songs, so this rating may be outdated in the future once ive heard the underlying studio versions!

So fucking boring though, mate.

This book has way too many uninteresting live albums on it.

Fun and upbeat, and amplified by the fact that it was played in the greatest country in the world. Sugoi desu neeee.

I’m at a 5. Maybe just a little higher.

Look, I’ll be the first person to tell you it’s pretty damn straightforward power pop. Almost every track is about the ladies, including the Fats Domino cover about a lady leaving him, they repeat a lot of lyrics, and if this weren’t a live album, I suspect the vibe would be incredibly different. This fucking crowd elevates everything, and while I could knock them for reacting to literally anything & everything, I just don’t think it matters. Cheap Trick feeds off of their energy in a way that just makes each track pop. It could obviously be mixed better; I think the vocals could be more present to give Robin Zander even more credit, but doing too much of that would probably take away from feeling the presence of that crowd.

The music, for as fun as it is, almost feels secondary to putting headphones in & just feeling the experience of it all. They captured a live atmosphere perfectly here. The only track I could nitpick at is “Need Your Love” for going the full 9 minutes without a bigger dazzling solo, but they make up for it when they occasionally go kinda crazy in the back half of the album. Seriously, it’s a killer run for the final 5 tracks. “I Want You To Want Me” is that good by the way, and yet I think my favorite is “Surrender”. There’s not a bad track here though; some people may call me dumb for saying that, but being straightforward does not automatically make it bad. It’s safe, sure, but I’d prefer a tight 42 minutes that they could safely kill as opposed to a dull & meandering 73 minutes a la the Grateful Dead.

Ultimately, I think it’s a 5, if not just a bit higher. I’m very glad it’s on the list. The last 5 tracks really pulled it all together for me, and there’s just a good energy coming off of this album that makes it super easy to listen to. It is one of the breeziest albums we’ve ever gotten on the list, and yet it rocks all the same. I really enjoyed it, and while I think a lot of the complaints about the tracks themselves carry some validity, if you were actually in that crowd that night, you’d probably be calling Cheap Trick a great band too. Either that, or you’d be deaf from all the screaming.

Started very meh. Nothing much interesting musically at all in the first half. Perks up in the second half with their catchier songs.

Performance and sound is very good for live.

Recording quality is bad and screaming Japanese ladies annoying but I have come away wanting to listen to their studio recordings

Surrender is a banger.

Not a big fan, but the early album here was fun. Almost a bit of a Peter Frampton meets Rush vibe... with a little pre-Van Halen? 3

Trevligt

Omggg i did not know that cheap trick made I want you to want me!! Absolute masterpiece of a song.
Surrender is pretty good too.
The rest is mid sadly

Fundamentally a very silly record. Very rocking, but not as good as I would have hoped. I Want You To Want Me remains an absolute banger.

OK I know it's gonna sound braggy but I never get to brag about anything in my life so here it goes: I'm also from Rockford, Illinois and it's SO FUCKING COOL to be from the same place as these guys!!! Like you'll just be driving and you'll pass a road named after one of the members

It's decent for a live album... but it's a live album. A live album has to be REALLY good in order for me to put up with all the cheering. I think this one would better belong as a studio recording.

2.70

This recording sounds like a bootleg. Some great songs on here but the sound quality is ass.

Hey I like Cheap Trick and I'm sure these were fun shows to be at, but I'm not sure the energy translates well on this record. For every banger they have two mid-songs and I didn't enjoy this album half as much as I thought I would going in to it. I want you to want me and Surrender are great but... did I actually enjoy the studio versions more? Hmm. It's scraping a 2.5

It’s ok for what it is, but is it one of the best 1001 albums ever made? No. Is there anything special or unique that would make it be an album you need to hear before you die? Nope.