Cheap Trick Album: “At Budokan (30th Anniversary Edition)”

WOW! If you had told me when I was 9 years old in early 1979 while I was lying on my bed listening to this album(on the yellow vinyl import, thank you LOL)that 30 years later, I would be lying on my bed as a 39 year old WATCHING the concert on a wide screen high-def TV with a whole concert from the other night on CD to boot.....INCREDIBLE. It's amazing when I think about it. Between the bootlegs, internet, on demand TV...we are SOOOO spoiled these days....it's almost like another universe when I think back to my childhood in the 70s and how amazing it is that we have access to this stuff.

Anyway, the packaging does damage the discs, unfortunately, but I just put them in some cd slipcases and keep them in the box that way. It's a drag, but the content is so great, it's like Paul Stanley once said..."it's like winning the lottery, being set for life, and complaining about paying the taxes" LOL

My only gripe is that the video of the 1978 show flips back and forth, for no apparent reason, from video to film. The original broadcast was shot on video, and they put a film process on it to make it look like a movie....which I'm not a fan of...it seems to lose that "live" look to it. But that's my personal preference...it doesn't hamper the experience, but I don't know why it's in video for a few seconds usually at the start of a song, then switches over to film. Whatever. They also cut off the whole beginning of the TV special where they show the stage being set up, soundcheck clips, etc. If you have the boot of this, maybe keep it just for those snipets. The restored picture and sound are stunning...really. Kudos to Jack Douglas for whatever magic he weaved on the audio...sounds like Bun E's snare has been treated a bit on the bonus CD in some spots, my guess is that they found the master multi-tracks of that night and had some issues with the snare. It doesn't sound fake, but I'm a drummer so I notice stupid stuff like that.

The video brings back so many memories of why this KISS fan was so infatuated with Cheap Trick....the songs obviously, but the manic stage antics of Rick Nielsen, the overall presentation and energy....just captured me and I see why watching this again. I saw them live about 8 months after this was filmed...one of the best concerts ever.

The bonus CD sounds awesome...full, crisp, heavy...better than the official Budokan release in my opinion. And I haven't a/b compared the 'new' remaster of the full concert to the one released a few years ago yet, but upon 1st listen, it's sounds like it's a bit better...more full.

Kudos also to my good bud Ken Sharp on the liner notes...I know he's thrilled to have been part of it. I'd like to have seen longer interview segments, but I guess it's hard to talk about one album/gig for an hour LOL In closing, why the heck can't KISS do something this cool for Alive?? There's footage from Cobo Hall in May 1975, along with rehearsal footage from the day before doing dress rehearsals, the Alive cover shoot, etc...they could add a bonus CD of unused performances from the other gigs recorded for the album, etc. Guys...are you listening? ENJOY IT! And thanks to Cheap Trick and Sony Legacy for finally GETTING IT DONE!

Just like all the othere here I love Cheap trick and have bought Budokan many time over the years. I'm gonna focus on the packaging, not the music which we all know is fantastic anyways. I bought this the day it was released so I wasn't fortunate enough to heed the warnings of others because there were no reviews of it yet. I found it at Best Buy for $29.99 so I snatched myself a copy because I thought that was pretty reasonable. I couldn't wait to get home and open it up to see what the inside looked like.You can imagine my disgust when I saw how the discs were housed, no protection from being scratched whatsoever. I was so disappointed and pissed off to find every single disc was scratched,and as others have pointed out the dvd was the worst.To make a long story short I returned it to Best Buy for my money back or another copy. Well, when I went back to the counter with my replacement copy the clerk opened it for me to inspect it for scratches(even though I already knew it would have them) and lo and behold this copies discs weren't even in the slots- they had come completely loose and were scratched beyond belief! I eventually had to get store credit because I said I don't want another one as I know they'll all be damaged anyways. What could've been an awesome release got botched by Sony. I like others only cared about the dvd, but I'm sure down the road it'll get it's own release just like the Judas Priest live '82 dvd that was exclusive to the box set, but a year later it's released on it's own. I can wait as long as it takes because I won't be buying this piece of crap again!

If you're looking for a new hobby, then by all means buy this package. Then you can spend the rest of your days trying to procure 4 scratch-free discs. I have NEVER seen such a poorly packaged product.

The discs are just jammed/crammed(and stuck!) into die-cut slots in the package-no mount, no poly sleeve, no paper sleeve-NOTHIN'! As such, all 4 discs are terribly scratched with the one looking like it was wire-brushed.

I can't believe that a label like Legacy which has such a great record of releasing quality(some of the best) product would issue something so inferior. Well, off to the Post Office to send this stinker back.

This should make a very dissapointing Christmas gift for many a Cheap Trick fan. Shame on you Legacy. It was supposed to Cheap Trick, not just cheap.

Basically, all you get is three CDS with the same songs over and over again. If you want it buy they Budokan original and Complete Concert. Frankly, I can't tell a difference in the clarity and sound improvement what so ever! The DVD rocks, lets face it no matter how are they try, Sony can't screw up Cheap Trick in their zone.

Buyers beware: Just get DVD, CD is just eh

First, let me echo some of the complaints about the packaging. Seems like whoever was in charge does not own a car with a CD player in it since the loose-flying CD's do not make the audio recordings easy or safe to carry in your car. I suggest you get your own jewel cases. The packaging is literally a cheap (and insulting) trick on consumers.

Second, given the audio of these concerts has been previously released several different ways, not to mention a lot of the songs being available on "Budokan II," recorded at shows there a year or so later, it seems being able to charge a price higher than $19.99 is the only reason Sony included the double CD "Complete Concert" with absolutely zero difference between this and 20th anniversary 1998 release. Seems to me, the DVD of the concert and the "soundtrack" of it would have made this is an extremely sensible and fairly priced way to celebrate this historic concert, especially with the song selection being the same between the audio of the show and the "Complete Concert." Again, not only cheap and insulting, but greedy as well.

Third, at least the DVD is entertaining, including the new interviews which are given a boost by including a couple of Japanese men who had a hand in setting up the show(though it is unclear what their "job titles" were). I found the Japanese perspective more interesting than the band rehashing the stories many fans have heard before. The filmed concert, though not capturing the crowd and being less than technically thrilling partly due to budget and the fact this was only a tv show, shows a band not only at their creative peak(from which they would fall rapidly less than two years after this show) but having a ton of fun while performing. Though the inclusion of a couple of songs from the 2008 return to Budokan concert is nice, they pale in comparison to anything included in the 1978 filmed portion.

Oh, by the way, you get a poster with a photo of the band and the word Budokan on it. I don't know if this was the poster used back then or if it was just created for this release. I just figure if Sony wanted to throw in a "gift" to fans, it would have been much more classy to give us a replica of something actually printed back then, even if it was in Japanese, or a real photo from the concert itself.

I do say that having seen the band live both shortly before and right after the "Live at Budokan" album shot them to worldwide fame, the viewing was more interesting than exciting. In summary, this is an okay addition to a fan's collection. I guess a large company like Sony putting their greed on display is not surprising these days. But a conscious decision not to reward fans with the option to pay a little less for only the new material and not throwing in a more creative trinket to make the set a bit more of a collectible is certainly disappointing.