Cheap Trick at Budokan

I was expecting punk for some reason, but this is gnarly and riff-heavy. One of the few live albums that really works.

I think it ok for a live album

Let's get my one criticism with this album out of the way - the sequencing of these tracks feels deceptive. Of the 19 tracks that Cheap Trick played at each of their Budokan arena shows in 1978, only ten made it onto this release. It could be argued that these ten were chosen as the best tracks representative of those performances, and I'm not against such an argument. But then, they changed the track order around from what actually happened. The new song "Lookout" was placed before "Big Eyes" when it was the other way around. A similar case with placing "I Want You to Want Me" before "Surrender". The most egregious example of this trend was after playing the second iteration of "Hello There" known as "Goodnight" to close out the main set, frontman Robin Zander comes back out for the anticipated encore, saying, "This one, I'm sure you all know..." In the actual set, the band went into their cover of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame", which made sense because that's a big song from a more well-known artist people would be familiar with. On the album, this went into "Clock Strikes Ten", as "Ain't That a Shame" got placed before "I Want You to Want Me". "Clock Strikes Ten" was their second encore song and the final song of the night, which is fine. But making Robin sound as if this was the track people should know feels wrong.

The band would later provide the full unaltered performance of their Budokan shows for the 30th anniversary version of this album, but that's not the version that made the books. Which is a shame, because this is still a fun romp. Everyone in the group gave their all in a high-octane performance that got the crowd screaming, especially the well-timed chanting in the second chorus of "I Want You to Want Me" before launching into Rick Nielsen's jaunty guitar soloing.

Not a dull moment could be found on Cheap Trick's At Budokan record, and its legacy as a live album that revitalized a band's career cannot be ignored. I may wish the people who arranged this album had stayed more true to the performance itself, but I can't deny I had a fun time with it.

Japenese fans will go crazy over anything...

I knew the band name from my youth, but I was no longer familiar with the music. I don't think the live recording is particularly good. It all sounds a bit flat and muddy. The only song I still knew was "I Want You to Want Me", which was the same. In the right mood, it's definitely fun at parties. But I'm not in that mood right now. 3/5

Hit after hit. What an amazing setlist. What incredible song writers.

The sound is really muddy, but to be honest even if it were pristine and sharp this still wouldn't be my bag.

I Want You to Want Me was one of the best live songs ever to me a few years ago, and it still shines in a category that is easy to mess up. The rest of this live album makes me want to honk memememe, though.

Rocketing straight to mediocrity

Utterly top notch, forgot that it was a live album at times!

It was probably better to be there.

Enjoyable, but a bit inconsistent. The songwriting is definitely there, but the performances are a bit hit or miss. I liked the long and drawn out Need Your Love and Surrender + some other songs. Felt the energy was there and a live version aided those songs. Some of the other songs feel lackluster though, the energy isn't there and the playing and singing isn't all too great. Still a pretty fun listen.

The Good: a live album recorded in Budokan!
The Bad: a band which calls themselves cheap anything
The Ugly: realizing that we’ve been tricked… cheaply…

One should wonder if any recording made at the Budokan will instantly be special… because one too many bands has believed this to be the case, and has failed miserably.

So is this album like that? A failure, which happened to be taped at the Budokan?
Well, not really. Because, though I am no big fan of cheap trick, one thing that is undeniable about this album is the simple fact that you have a some musicians, on stage, in front of an appreciative audience, having fun! You can hear them having fun, you can feel them having fun.

Not the greatest live album ever, but that’s obvious as they are not the greatest band ever. However, this album contains one of the greatest songs all people recognize without them knowing who the band is, or where it was taped, and nobody could really give a rat’s ass…

So here’s to Cheap Trick @ Budokan, wanting us to want them!

3*

The amount of live records on this list is absurd really. The point of a live album is to somehow elevate the songs through raw energy, but this is just a playthrough.

Was okay, but nothing special that stood out to me.

Rockiges Hippie Album mit guten Songs. Die Mischung aus Hair und Rocky Horror Picture Show passt irgendwie. “I want you to want me” ist das bekannteste Stück des Albums und darf au keiner 70er Party fehlen ebenso wie “I need your love”. Toller flashback in die Zeit in der Rauchen noch gesellschaftsfähig und ein Mettigel auf keiner Kellerparty fehlen durfte.

High energy live show from a mediocre glam rock band from the 70's. Nothing about this was bad, but a few awesome songs does not a good album make.

Favourite songs: Surrender, I Want You To Want Me, Ain't That A Shame, Hello There

Least favourite songs: Need Your Love

3/5

Most of these songs were jams or just generally uninteresting, other than "Surrender" which was a pretty hype moment on this live album. Didn't outweigh the low-lights, though. 2/5

It was fine. I like Cheap Trick enough, and the I Want You To Want Me is great on here, but other than that, nothing here was better than studio albums. There's nothing wrong here, but just not something I'd put on again.

I get why this is on the list, but it's not really my thing at all. Marginally better than Kiss and Deep Purple, but not as memorable as 3-star AC/DC. The recording isn't particularly good, so I was wondering why they didn't include a studio album instead. But after reading the context around this, I get it. Overall, just straightforward Dad-rock IMO. I want You to Love Me and Surrender are good songs though, very reminiscent of that 70s show.