Budokan! (30th Anniversary) [Live, CD+DVD, Box set]

In the late 70's I always wondered if there was video available of the Cheap Trick At Budokan concerts. So, for me, there was no decision at all when this 30th Anniversary set was released that I was going to buy it. I already owned the Complete Concert on CD, but this is Cheap Trick at their best, so a back up set is no big deal. It is good to see and hear alternate versions of the songs we have known for so long.

As to the packaging, THANKS to all the prior reviewers for the warning. I used extra care when removing the discs and no scratches resulted. I just pushed down on the sleeves a little to give the discs some wiggle room and they just rolled out with only a little effort.

No real Cheap Trick Fan will want to be without this set. It is all that I expected and more.

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!

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