At Budokan

I really hate this fucking album. Jesus Christ, Mary and Joseph I hate this album. Might I enumerate those ways in which thine sweet serenade doth fuckin piss me off? Listen close. First off, the singer has no soul. Like this nigga sounds like he isn't allowed to reveal that he's trapped in this band as a cosmic punishment for some heinous crime. Garbarge. that's one. Second off, this shit is literally - and I mean actually literally - not even partially artistic. Every song is boring. Every song is 100% predictable. Every song sounds like it was fabricated for the collective wet-dream of of the characters in that 70's show. wtf? This is fucking crazy. Bland as fuck, its like feeding my ears straight white rice cooked in distilled water. There's literally nothing here. And if you wanna get into the weeds, we can talk about specifics - incessant 4/4 shit-drumming; solos that sound 100% lackluster due to an unbelievable lack of tension, plus guitar solos that actually mimic real sounds in the world that are boring (the clock solo at the end is the ultimate example of this); The horribly awkward talking in the middle of most of the music: the 'i need some love' part was so bad it actually made a permanent change on my mood; How about that bass player? Talk about bullshit! He'snot doing anything. Take his ass out and replace him with a machine why don't you? And they shouted out that shitty drummer one too many times. That's two things. Now lets talk about the album as a whole. First off its live. Why? its worse this way. They are not exciting. They are not fun. They are not inspiring live. Their lyrics are harder to hear, which for me is a plus, but can’t be a plus for the crowd of 'women' - aka dads in drag or daughters who went to this concert to honor their dads or women who were looking for a hookup and 500 bucks and cocaine backstage. I genuinely can't believe that any of the women I heard in this crowd were there of their own free will, even if they think they were. I won't believe it, it'd be an insult to women. Classic Rock Dad, sure he's there. But wtf? In fact I'd like to see a phenomenological investigation of the aesthetic judgement of these women. The music was the equivalent of a 15 year old highschool mini-himbo (has-slept-with-4-young-women-and-thinks-hes-on-top-of-the-fucking-world-because-he-buys-ditch-weed-and-cries-to-cheap-trick-in-his-basement-while-his-single-mom-is-taking-out-the-trash-alone-...-again). That means it was also a work in neu-virility - you know? The whole 'Oh baby I need you so much and all my vulberable emotions are actually just expressed through my need to have a slam piece near me who doesn't hate my music' type shit. For women, its insidious self hate. For men, its right on the god damn mark. Either way, its lame af. That's three. Lyrically its about as mature as 5glo 10 years ago and sounds just as young on the ears. How can anyone justify basically talking about nothing interesting? Isn't tgis part of the rock corpus that old white guys point to to say music now is dying? How did these lyrics pre-empt the awkward, wan, inconsequentiality of modern lyricism, except without the very obvious cultural impetus for such a switch. Only song I had heard before was Surrender and they even made my hate that in this listen. Its actually almost artistic how trite the lyrics are. Sadly, they are clearly artless. 1/5, but really more like .9/10, the requiste score for 'music' in the broad sense. Harumph

The point of a live album is to take everything that makes the studio album great and amp it up with the energy of a live show. Unfortunately, Cheap Trick is just a sloppy mess live, apparently. The hits are still good but everything is just... loose. And the recording isn't even hight quality. It's just not worth it, really.

There was a certain consumerism magic about Japan in the mid to late 70s. All the trinkets sold in dollar stores said "made in Japan" rather than "made in China'', the energy crisis had people turning away from the North American gas guzzlers and buying  Honda Civics, and the most sought after Beatles bootleg was called "Five Nights in a Judo arena"  which was also recorded at Budokan.  Cheap Trick's live album was perfectly timed to benefit from the thirst for all things from Japan. Too bad the album sucks.

Day 36 of Albums You Must Hear.. At Budokan (Live) is the album that put Cheap Trick on the international map, having gained early popularity in Japan, the Rockford, Illionois band that had been playing and recording since 1973 made this live album in 1978. When copies of this record that was meant to be exclusive to the Japanese market made their way to the US, Epic Records was forced to release an American version in 1979, and would go on to be Cheap Trick’s most successful album. I Want You to Want Me is probably the most recognizable song to the average listener and is dripping with sex and desire. Surrender has been one of my favorites from Cheap Trick ever since it was featured in a film I saw once about the Son of Sam serial killer of the 70’s. Ain’t That a Shame, a cover of the great Fats Domino song from 1956 is my officially my favorite song. The closing track, Clock Strikes Ten, is a great song that anyone can rock out to! Hearing the fans go ape shit on every song made listening to this record even more exciting! Cheap Trick rode a wave that was departing the Disco era, when most bands were transitioning to Soft Rock. These guys turned up the heat and brought some heaviness back to Rock music. This was a great listen and an album you must hear before you die. Please share your thoughts, memories and opinions!!

I saw Cheap Trick live at Download Festival many years ago. I remember the singer was dressed as a sailor, and the guitarist had a guitar with 4 necks. They were excellent live. I have already heard a couple of songs from this album, so am excited to hear the rest! Songs I already knew: I Want You To Want Me, Surrender Favourite after listening: I Want You To Want Me, Surrender This was genuine excellence. Live albums don’t tend to be as good as studio albums but this was perfection throughout, and with a good set of headphones you can imagine being there with them. Every single song gave me goosebumps at one time or another. Everything was very tight, no voice cracks, no duff notes. And most importantly, each song was catchy and very enjoyable. I would recommend absolutely everybody listens to this album.

Rather uninspring lyrics and boring. I just don't want to spend time listening to this. No magic in terms of crowd interaction. Nothing that made me want to stop and focus. Why is this on here?

Listening through this, I was confused at first. Then I hit "I Want You to Want Me" and realized oh, this is home to probably one of the most famous live rock songs I know. I'm still not a fan of live albums in general, but I understand including this one now. That doesn't mean I like it, though. I wouldn't return to it aside from the two hits. Favorite tracks: I Want You to Want Me, Surrender. Album cover: Honestly not that bad. It's just a band/stage photo but they look like they're having fun and the colors are pretty nice. 2.5/5

2.5/10 Boring. You're always simultaneously hoping for a good song to come and for the album to end. "Surrender" is the best one. 1- 2- 3- 4- 5-- 6=- 7=- 8+ 9= 10=

Classic. High quality. Great crowd. Goodnight was awesome. Need your love was killer. "That" version of i want you to want me.

De manière générale, j'aime bien les albums live. Pourtant, celui-ci manque cruellement de transitions entre les chansons, ce qui a tendance à me déplaire. Les Cheap Trick devraient en la matière prendre exemple sur le Nimmerland-Tour de RIN. Voici comment les concerts en question étaient structurés : - La première partie était assurée par le chanteur James Arthur, qui devait le plus souvent abréger sa prestation en raison du mécontentement de la salle. - RIN arrivait ensuite en tyrolienne en chantant justement des chants tyroliens avant d'enchaîner huit fois le morceau Dizzee Rascal type beat. - À mi-concert, l'incident des "deux merdes" donnait lieu à de longues minutes de négociations entre le rappeur et la frange costumée du public. - Juste avant le dernier morceau, RIN dévoilait sa carte maîtresse en invitant la voix française de Shark à le rejoindre sur scène devant des fans qui n'en croyaient pas leurs yeux. - RIN regagnait enfin sa loge où l'attendait Bausa et sa terrible influence.

One of the best live albums ever made!

Cheap Trick wouldn't be at the top of my list of favourite bands, to be honest I hadn't heard much of their work. But they really won me over with this album. This is a great live album. The band's performance & the crowd's energy really gets you going when listening to it. One of the biggest surprises I've had so far listening to all these albums.

De los mejores discos en vivo de la historia.

This is probably the best, ballsiest sounding live record around. Big Eyes has huge energy on a weird guitar part that takes over the room like a big animal. turns out the audio is from Osaka and not at the Budokan, the recording there was a failure. FABULOUS ALBUM

es como escuchar a los bicles con distor No muchas bandas tienen ese power cuando tocan en vivo y este es un disco que sin duda voy a volver a escuchar seguido Need your love, i want you to want me, surrender, goodnight y clock strikes ten

A pretty solid, pleasantly surprising live album. I was not sold on it when I started, but the second half absolutely carries the first. Fiery, energetic and fun. An all around good listen. Top tracks: Need Your Love, I Want You to Want Me, Surrender

It's amazing this band isn't more beloved than they are and In Budokan was what it took to finally get these guys a top 10 single.

This live album does exactly what all live albums should: make you wish you were in the crowd that night.

Pretty solid! Some great songs on this album.

Cheap Trick capture their high energy power-pop in a live setting. Guided by Voices fans will find a lot to like here, latter-day GBV - in the Doug Gilliard era(s) - clearly takes some influence from Cheap Trick.

The band doesn't really get into the pocket on this album until track 5 "Need Your Love", and the album as a whole takes off on tracks 6 through 10, which includes a rocking cover of the Fats Domino/Dave Bartholomew song"Ain't That a Shame", and the hits "I Want You to Want Me" and "Surrender". Deserves about a 3.5 for keeping song and solo lengths reasonable, for making it a standard album length (42 minutes) and for resisting the urge to make it a double album. I'll round it down and give it a 3. I might be one of the only people around that prefers their studio albums to their live ones.

Good energy, but I can’t say it did much for me

Meh

Easy enough listening but nothing stand out which would bring me back to it.

Alright. Mix could have been a bit cleaner, but at least it sounds like a live album.

Good rock n roll album but not a fan of live albums

Decent but ultimately slightly disappointed

I’m so baffled by this album. I simply don’t understand (or hear) what elevates this above other live albums. To have this be on the list (and Rolling Stone’s list) as one of the most essential albums ever just does not compute. I wouldn’t say anything is aggressively awful. But all these songs are done better on their studio albums. How this is what got radio play and then made Cheap Trick huge I’ll never understand. 2/5

Meh. One song does not make an album listenable

Not sure why this album exists - Cheap Trick have about 3 good songs (1 on this), pretty basic rock fare with no significant enhancements discernible in the live delivery captured here, the record itself wasn't supposed to be released in the US in the first place, and it wasn't even recorded at Budokan! The record-buying public are weird..

This is just as annoying and pointless as every other 70s live album I've received so far. But on top of that, these guys have the most fucking annoying crowd I have ever heard in a live album. Were these guys like the One Direction of the 70s or something? Their fans sound like 10 year old girls. I would give this 2 stars, but I'm applying the "pointless live album rule" where if a completely normal concert gets turned into a live album I deduct one star for it being completely pointless and a waste of everyone's time to listen to.

This is a solid 4, until the second side, and then it turns it up a level. “Ain’t That a Shame” through “Surrender” is shear bliss. Then we add the bookends of “Hello There” and “Goodnight” before the encore and we have a perfectly packaged concert. The constant cheering of the fans added another layer of energy to the set. This is what I want in a live album.

A great album and definitely a fan of the best version of WYTWM

As live album this really slaps, I might just be in a good mood but I think I'll listen to this again

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

Power pop kings at the height of their game.

They are what I classify as a "Great Guitar Band". Other bands clearly have guitars, but there just some bands that really utilize thier guitars as a driving force. I've had the pleasure of seeing them live(unfortunately not in there prime) and they killed. I can't imagine what that show must have been like in the 80's. I know this album well and it ages well. "Live at the Budokan" never gets old.

Sometimes LIVE is 'better' than studio. Tracks 'come alive' and this is prime example as well as Peter Frampton. The energy and direction that the band feeds off of creates an historic album.

Although I loved this album, I found that there was a 30th anniversary edition with way more songs from this concert. So this album was just the best songs from the concert and that left me kinda bummed from not hearing the full show. But then again, maybe it wouldn't score so high.

I’d heard of this album and am grateful for it being recommended because it was awesome.

Cheap Trick rode a wave that was departing the Disco era, when most bands were transitioning to Soft Rock. These guys turned up the heat and brought some heaviness back to Rock music. This was a great listen and an album you must hear before you die.

Great recording. Tight performance and ecstatic crowd

I had been looking forward to this one. It’s one I had heard a lot about but never listened too. Such a great live record. Would have been great to see performed live.

YES! What an album for hump day! This album more than holds up and really cooks! Especially the second half. I really needed some in-yo-face driving drums and guitar to get my blood pumping today. There is something magical about a solid timeless hit like “Surrender” when it is captured live so close to the release date. The energy and enthusiasm of the band is so fresh and tight, like lightning in a bottle. This may be getting a slight artificial bump from me after the last handful of rap, art rock and indie albums we have had, but if it is, it isn’t by much. 4.5/5 rounding up

When a 9-year old kid rides his BMX bike up to the used record store with the intent of buying this album and KISS Alive…and succeeding, I’m not sure what else matters. As one of the greatest live albums of all time, Budokan became the musical foundation for so many youths including myself. It’s hard to be brief when discussing this album given its incredible influence, and because it would set the stage for bucking tradition and offering such a large alternative to the disco and yacht rock of the time. The live versions of “Surrender” and “I Want You To Want Me” upped the irons more than their studio cuts. And the fact that “Hello”, “Big Eyes” and “Goodnight” still get played today with the same freshness only solidifies this band as leaders in the power-pop pantheon. This record simply speaks for itself and is a true banger knowing it was performed by four dudes in their late 20s. The Beatlemania these guys experienced in Japan is so strange given that they were only together 5 years by the time of this recording. And then only to have their success boomerang back to the US who didn’t give them much attention to begin with. A perfect story for a band carving their own new territory. Robin Zander’s pipes were and always will be amazing. And Bun E. Carlos’ drumming is clinical. There is not a weak song on it which is why Cheap Trick remain to this day one of the most fierce and tight touring bands.

Many people don't like live albums because, the performances might be loose and may vary from the studio versions and oh, that crowd noise can be so distracting. For me, what makes a great live record is that the songs don't sound exactly like the album and the band can elevate the songs through the energy and enthusiasm of a live concert. The screechy, screaming Japanese girls in the crowd only add to the sheer excitement of the show. After this album was released it took a good, solid power-pop rock band from Illinois from near obscurity to worldwide superstardom. There's a reason this is Cheap Trick's best selling album and even today when the band plays live, at least half of these songs continue to be mainstays on their setlists. The live version of the song, I Want To To Want Me, became one of their biggest hits, even though it was previously released on their second album, In Color, to little notice, as a bland, flat sounding studio version. Really, if you need to hear one Cheap Trick album, this is it. As a teenager, I was blown away and saw the band live during era and it remains one of my most memorable live concert experiences.

Energy top to bottom. It's amazing this band is not more worshipped in the US. Just Awesome Ramalama. People that don't dig this are lying or dead inside

In the golden age of the live album, there would have been many candidates who would have been considered for approval in the pantheon of essentials. Cheap Trick's At Budokan is surely amongst them. A lot had changed since Liverpool's Fab Four made their way up East in 1966 and becoming big in Japan was as synonymous with making it as having a gold or platinum record in the States. Cheap Trick and their finely precise and excitable rock and roll was indicative of that change and its intoxicating barrage is what makes this live document a classic to this day. The fans that are heard throughout are just as much of a backbone. Far from the reserved, respectful folk that they're often characterized as, the Budokan audience give their all for the songs offered, most notably and poignantly on I Want You to Want Me. Silence and/or indifference would have rendered this dead on arrival. Thankfully, it was anything but. Perhaps the Cheap Trick album for one to sink their teeth into in order to understand the hype.

j'aime bien Soyon généreux 5/5

Love cheap trick

Definitely a surprise. I didn't expect that a live concert album from the 70's was actually good beyond the notable hits (I Want You to Want Me and Surrender), but this one really delivers. Though nothing else is quite as good as those, the whole album from start to finish does maintain a great energy and I enjoyed the whole trek. Big Eyes, Need Your Love, Come On, Come On, Aint that a Shame... pretty much everything put a smile on my face. Very enjoyable.

Great Live album in every way. Underrated band. Great set list and they played to the audience Loved listening to this. As everyone my age I wore this album out

In a decade of great live albums, Budokan is one of the greatest. Screaming Japanese fans who finally let it out after sitting on their hands during Beatlemania, Bun E.’s great drumming, Robin’s voice, Rick’s guitar and Tom’s seventies bass made me a big big fan. Part of the soundtrack of my existence. And one of the greatest Fats covers ever.

One the best live albums. Right up there with Frampton Comes Alive

•Owned •Thee Live Rock Album. Cheap Trick turns the Budokan into a cauldron with an inferno of a set. Even when they swing with Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame”, they also rock. I would, indeed, like to do a number with them. (I saw them live about 20 years ago, at the Date Festival of all places, and they still played their hearts out then.) •4.5/5

One of the biggest things I’ve learned from doing an album a day is that I actually have started to really like live albums, where previously I avoided them for no particular reason. I just assumed they would be annoying to listen to compared to a studio recording, but really many of the ones I’ve done so far are high energy and I can absolutely see the appeal. Really loved these tracks, and found them to be even more exciting with an audience and that live concert sound.

Good stuff

10 Things I Hate About You was probably the first time I became aware of Cheap Trick thanks to the Letters To Cleo cover of I Want You To Want Me. I never really listened to Cheap Trick properly until I was in my early 20s when they became a mainstay in my music rotation especially when drinking with friends. I love every minute of this album and it’s easily one of the best live albums of all-time!

The only relevant power pop live record. And one of the greatest live albums of the second half of the 70s. OK, it is not one of those bombastic gatefold double records with lots of songs and solos. They had just released their third album a few days before after all. But no filler here. And all songs sound better than the studio ones, specially the iconic 'I Want You to Want Me'

JUSTE WOW QUE DE DÉCOUVERTE !

Arguably the greatest 42 minute concert 1 million 12 twelve year old girls ever attended.

Now that’s what I call music

This is exactly what you want from a live album. It’s crackling with energy

I desperately wanted to know and love Cheap Trick because they were Billy Corgan’s favorite band and I was desperately in love with Billy Corgan. Ah, youth! The memory is faded, but perhaps I once bought a box set of their top three albums and proceeded to not listen to them. Was Budokan among them?

Easy one for me: a fab five. Immediately felt happy when I saw this cover appear on the screen. I am ashamed that before I knew them, I gave them short shrift at a music festival. Someone I don’t know stayed and wrote something one of the best pieces of forum writing I’ve read about them: http://www.premierrockforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=879&p=56759 “…As I heard more and more songs in the concert I thought about how the band Cheap Trick had played big stadiums and had girls screaming at them and been very famous and probably had lots of drugs and other things like that but now they were here playing to some people who didn't know them or really care about them like I didn't know them and some of the people watching probably wanted to see The Fall instead. But they did not get sad and instead they played like they did not want to be anywhere else or be doing anything else in the whole world” Simon, this IS the Greatest Hits. And I’m reviewing the deluxe 2 CD full gig, not the short version linked on the page. Even the otherwise throwaway “Can’t Hold On” has enough conviction in the chorus to elevate my puny fist up in the air. And the best is as powerful as pop and rock can be x

One of the best live albums I have heard. Live albums can be hit or miss. They often feel a bit sterile and remove you from the action. What sets this album apart is the immersion of it. The excitement builds as the album progresses and it is hard not to feel like you are in the crowd. It also helps if you like Cheap Trick which I do

Cheap Trick at the height of their powers. I like how 'Need Your Love' acts as the gravitational centre of the collection, a sprawling, prowling epic around which the zippier material orbits. And what material! It's banger after banger. The likes of 'Surrender' and 'I Want You to Want Me' are established classics, but 'Big Eyes', 'Clock Strikes Ten' and 'Come On, Come On' are comfortable bedfellows. Robin Zander is a superb singer but it's guitarist Rick Neilson who stands out. His playing is all broken shards and wiry little tangles of noise. The epitome of power pop, then - yet no-one quite sounds like Cheap Trick, now or then.

This albums great, it’s in the Mount Rushmore of live albums. Every song is great.

This was a rockin' awesome album!! I want to be there!

I love this band. Surrender is one of my favorite songs. This album is exhilerating and fun!

I’m not going to talk about how I don’t care for live albums. This project has finally put that notion to rest for me. I wasn’t familiar with anything on side 1 - but I really enjoyed it and wished I was at Budokan. Or Osaka rather. On side 2 I recognized three in a row. A great rendition of Ain't That a Shame, then the beloved classics I Want You To Want Me and Surrender. I really noticed the drums on this... Cheap Trick knows how to rock. So much energy in this performance! I really loved this album.

One of the best live albums ever!

I see quite a few negative reviews for this album and I disagree with them. The complete Budokan concert is even better because it (naturally) includes more songs and removes some of the overdubbing that was present on this version. Robin's voice was cleaned up a little in parts and a synthesizer was added to "Surrender." I recommend the complete concert version. Otherwise, this is one of the best albums of all time. Hello There and Come On Come On are great concert openers and there isn't a bad song on this album. This album introduced me to how good live music can be and to Cheap Trick. Highly recommend.

Kananlihhoa ei syytä ole piilotella LÄTKÄSTÄÄN VITOSTA!! SORI JOS ON PASKAA!!! Ei voe mitään

This is a classic vinyl record. This has a live debut of surrender and is very classic rock. Enjoyed it a lot!

Hells yeah! 8 stars!

Yes!! My very first album as a kid. I remember my father walking with me to K-mart ( yes, K-mart!) to buy. Hello There is a great way to start a show. Every song is fantastic. Big Eyes reminds me of my 6th grade girlfriend, Mary G. Great album, great memories. My son was in a stroller, only a couple years old and he got to experience these guys at the Plainwell island city festival on July 24th, 1999. They played 5 songs of this album. Put my niece, Kaylee, on my shoulders and Rick Nielsen handed her a guitar pick. She was only 5 or 6 at the time! Should be noted, there were only a couple hundred folks in the crowd, so easy to get right up and see the band. Just a wonderful album. My first 5!!

This could be the definition of the right thing at the right time, from 1978, the era of this kind of rock, this album, even if you don't know this band, will give you the feeling of that era. I don't like much albums recorded from concerts, however this one it's just the right choice.

10/10, super fun rock

This album rules!

One of the all-time great live albums. The set is perfect, and there's a reason this is the prime version of I Want You To Want Me!

Sonzao massa

Amazing live album from an awesome band. No wonder they took off after this.

If you look up rock music in a dictionary, it just says this album.

Epic

Bob in Nippon dess

Awesome, great vibe, and I even recognized a few tracks! I want you to want me is legendary

Just so great. I think in most cases a live recording in which the listener can hear the screaming fans during the actual songs might get old really fast, but I would argue that in the case of "At Budokan," the fans are what make this such a fun, energy-filled live album. They make "I Want You to Want Me" better, that's for sure. This version of "Surrender" is so much better than the studio version that they might as well be different songs. This is the high water mark for Cheap Trick.

Good album, lots of Classic songs

This made me happy. The end 5/5

This album made me buy Spotify Premium. A solid 5/5.

Best live album EVER!!! Cheap Trick RULES

Just some amazing live 70s rock. Easily relistenable. I actually didn’t know that much about Cheap Trick besides their singles and I really like everything on this album.

ILKAYYYYYYY!

What an amazing rock n roll experience! I loved every aspect of it!

Great album. Songs sound even better live

I’ve never given cheap trick the time of day. This album is legitimately great.

Really damn good

ARE YOU READY TO ROOOOOOCK!?!

this one is a stone cold classic. i'm not the hugest cheap trick fan but i enjoy some of their stuff. i've tried to listen to some of their studio output and in my opinion it pales in comparison to this one. the energy here is high, it's fun, it's raucous. the highlight here for me has always been the rhythm section. bun e carlos knocks it out of the park here and tom petersson holds down the low end in a satisfying manor. rick nielsen's lead guitar is off the rails and fun. at one point, in one of his solos, he even pays tribute to the beatles, referencing the lick from 'please please me.' that being said, although fun, the track listing here is a bit uneven. there are some absolute great live tracks here in my opinion: 'come on, come on,' 'ain't that a shame,' and, of course, the omnipresent 'i want you to want me,' but everything else here comes off a little more middling. nothing else here is awful, to be clear, but i find it leaves a little to be desired. still, all in all, this is a fun album that i have always really enjoyed listening to.