10 Perfect Rock Songs That Got Better Live

If you had listened to the first handful of Cheap Trick records, you would have a hard time grasping on what they truly wanted to be. Although we know them today as some of the greatest power pop musicians of the '70s, the first few records ranged from songs that had a ton of intensity to something like I Want You to Want Me, which plunked away on a honky tonk piano on the studio cut. While they may have been going nowhere in the States, the band pretty much trademarked the 'big in Japan' tag once they pulled into Budokan.

When they got in front of the millions of screaming fans in that historic stadium, the schmaltzy piano work was out the door, having been replaced with Rick Nielsen's screaming guitar, which went over a lot better. Considering this was one of the single biggest shows that the band had played up until this point, you can hear them putting everything into the performance, with Robin Zander having a lot more urgency in his voice and the entire song being almost too fast for its own good.

By the time you actually hit the chorus of "didn't I see you crying," you can hear the entire crowd acting like an instrument in the mix, singing the song back to the band perfectly on beat. Cheap Trick might not consider themselves to be the best players or anything, but when you put them onstage together, you're in for one of the most amazing concert experiences of your life.