10 Flawless Live Albums In Rock Music
6. At Budokan - Cheap Trick
When Cheap Trick first arrived on the scene, you'd think they'd get a lot more adoration than reality. Since these were the guys that have been called the American Beatles, it's absolutely criminal to think that their first few albums virtually did nothing in the States. As luck would have it, these power pop icons didn't get their due until they visited the Land of the Rising Sun.
As much as it's a joke to say that your band is big in Japan, Cheap Trick are the posterchildren for that philosophy, going into Budokan and tearing the place apart as if it were the last rock and roll show in existence. Once they get announced with Hello There, the crowd basically becomes the fifth instrument in the band, with the screaming almost overtaking the music in some spots.
Something else might have been in the air that night though, since every one of their potential singles found their true calling in these versions. After they got rid of the honky tonk piano of the studio cut, I Want You To Want Me quickly became one of the biggest songs of their career, gently toeing the line between knockout hooks and some of the most intense playing of the time. At the time of disco, this was enough proof that rock and roll was far from dead.