jeff_wilder78's Full Review: At Budokan [Remaster] by Cheap Trick
Consider the 70s from a musical standpoint. What is there to say about them? On one hand they gave us quite an abysmal amount of bad music. On the other hand, they also gave us some of the best music ever released as well as some pure fun rock and roll.
Cheap Trick definitely falls into the pure fun rock and roll category. Their brand of tough hard rock with just the right amount of pop sensibility, was perfect for the soft rock/disco dominated era and they gave us some fun tunes that still sound great even today (Forget that extremely horrible attempt at cashing in on the hair metal/power ballad trend known as "The Flame" that went to number one in 1988. Just forget about it). It was with the live album "At Budokan" (recorded at that famed Japanese monument to rock culture in April 1978) that Cheap Trick broke through. Their first three studio albums had had plenty of good music, yet they only sold modestly. Budokan reversed that trend and became one of the leading rock albums of all time. In fact, I'm surprised that no one else has reviewed it yet.
When I first bought "At Budokan" about 5 years ago, I only knew 2 Cheap Trick songs (actually I knew three. But since we know what that third one was I'll say no more). I was curious to know what the band that gave us "Surrender" and "I Want You To Want Me" sounded like. So I bought the Budokan album and it went on to become one of my favorite albums.
The album starts out with the obligatory crowd noise, before a few sounds of distortion of some sort. Then a voice announces "All right Tokyo. Are you ready? Would you welcome Epic recording artists Cheap Trick?” This of course prompts mad cheering from the crowd as the band launches into the opener entitled "Hello There". The song starts with a wailing loud guitar riff from Rick Nielsen and poundingly heavy drumming from Bun E Carlos. Robin Zander sings the lyrics, which are typical, get the party going lyrics.
Right after that opening we are treated to the power-pop gem "Come On Come On". The lyrics are basically the baby you look so good tonight type. "Come on come on baby/Treat me right/Ohhh I heard a voice in my ear/You were so lonely but now I'm here". In fact, this is indicative of the Cheap Trick sound as a whole. Great fun rock and roll music. The lyrics don't have much depth. But they are lots of fun and a lot better than much of the hair metal schlock they inspired.
Right before "Lookout" begins, Zander introduces the song as a showcase for "Mr. Bun E Carlos". The drummer's playing makes this song work well. In fact, the guitar is heard sparingly here, coming in right around the two-minute mark. Carlos is no Moon or Bonham, yet he can definitely hold his own.
"Big Eyes" is a rather humorous hard rocker that features fun lyrics like "It's not the way you look no/It's not the way you walk/Your eyes are so very good/You know they're clear and bright".
Next we get into two lengthier numbers with the slow, somewhat Black Sabbathish "Need Your Love" and the power-pop cover of Fats Domino's oldie "Ain't That A Shame". The latter is an example of what makes a good cover: it remakes the song in the bands own sound, yet does not mangle it. The extended drum intro from Carlos builds up the listener until around the 1:40 mark (the song itself is 5:12) when Nielsen's guitar riff kicks in. Then we wait for Zander to start singing and he does at around the 2:11 mark.
Immediately after the final notes of that hit cover fade out, we are launched into Cheap Trick's best-known song. That song is "I Want You To Want Me". The version heard on here is the one that gets the most radio airplay. It begins with Zander saying the songs title the way I put it in the title of the review. Then a bouncy drumbeat starts before Nielsen lets go with squealing guitar riffs. The lyrics are the famous "I want you to want me/I need you to need me/I'd love you to love me/I'm begging you to beg me". You all know them and probably danced and sang along to them at some point. I recently sang it at a party.
"Surrender" begins with Zander announcing, "This is a song off our new album. It just came out this week and the song is called 'Surrender'". This is the one with that famous chorus of "Mommy's alright/Daddy's alright/They just seem a little weird/Surrender/Surrender/But don't give yourself away". What teen out there couldn't identify with the knowledge that your parents are cooler than you (Making out to Kiss records)?
"Goodnight" is a reprise of the album opener, while "Clock Strikes Ten" is the perfect encore number. The song is a heavy pop rocker that features lyrics like "Clock strikes ten/It's a Saturday night...Gonna hear some rockin' music...You really got me going tonight/Looking for some action tonight". A perfect way to end the album.
"At Budokan" is a great fun rock and roll album that's marred only by the fact that it doesn't have the full concert. A second volume titled "Budokan II" has the rest of it and in 1998 Epic did a full-length reissue of it with the whole concert. Either way, you should definitely pick this album up if you're looking for that perfect dose of pure, loud and raunchy rock.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
![At Budokan [Remaster] by Cheap Trick](http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/18/c1/39/2001995176-177x150-0-0.jpg)
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.