Box Set Spotlight

Prior to their historic trip to Japan in the spring of 1978, Cheap Trick was just another hard-working mid-western band. They had released two albums, 1977’s incredible Cheap Trick and it’s poppier follow-up In Color. Both had won over critics, but, per usual, not the masses. As a result they opened for a slew of the era’s biggest money-makers (Queen, Kiss, Boston) but only played theater sized venues when out on their own. Sans a hit and with a couple of major label albums already in the can, the band was in debt to their record company. But, as luck would have it, they were already huge in Japan and they didn’t even know it.

Apparently the Japanese kids were suckers for a marketable image back in the late 70’s. After witnessing the success that the traveling carnival known as Kiss had generated in his country, an ingenious promoter decided to sell Cheap Trick to the Japanese masses using a similar template. He would concentrate on the individual appeal of each band member. If you look at the front and back covers of In Color, the roles are on clear display. Robin Zander (vocals/guitar) and Tom Peterson (bass) are the resident motorcycle heartthrobs while, on the back cover, the human cartoon character Rick Neilson (guitar) and your shop teacher turned drummer, Bun E. Carlos, represent on scooters. The ingredients were all there – it was basically just add water. Or in this case, Japanese fans.

Enter legendary rock and roll tale. Upon arrival in Japan the group is absolutely mobbed by their fans and their hotel becomes more akin to a safe house than a pleasurable retreat. Fans gathered outside eager to get a peak of the band members in their rooms, forcing management to seal off all the windows to protect, not the band, but the fans on the streets below. Many were so starstruck that they were wandering into traffic while gazing dreamily at the windows above. The manic nature of the situation became downright scary at points and gave the band a brief taste of their own Asian version of Beatlemania.

But these guys are rock stars, right? Yes they are, and judging by the performance they threw down on the legendary At Budokan album, they weren’t afraid to enjoy their success. To quote on of their own songs, they were most definitely “on top of the world.” Budokan was an album that captured a band at the pinnacle of their career, and which would sell them to the rest of the world over the next couple of years. It is without a doubt an amazing document.

An amazing document which has already had an amazing run of re-issues. First up was 1993’s Budokan II, which compiled a bunch of songs not available on the original album, plus a couple tunes recorded when the group returned to Budokan in 1979. Next up was 1998’s At Budokan: The Complete Concert, which is what it claims to be, the whole enchilada if you will. Basically, all the songs from the 1978 shows (there were a couple so that gets kinda tricky as well) on two discs. A fantastic two-disc set that blows the original album out of the water.

So now for the 30th anniversary of the Budokan experience Epic/Legacy is pushing this four disc monstrosity of a box-set down our throats. Even worse is the fact that two of the discs are simply remastered versions of 1998’s The Complete Concert.

So what could possibly justify throwing down the mass cash for a set like this during such a harsh, wintry, economic climate? The answer my friends is disc #1, the DVD showcasing fifteen songs live on the night of Friday April 30th, 1978.

Basically this is the holy grail of Cheap Trick artifacts. The footage was shot for Japanese TV, shown once, and then disappeared into the vaults, but now it is back. And by “it is back,” I mean IT IS BACK! This video is absolutely incredible. And I am not just talking about the band’s performance, which I concluded years ago was stellar. I am talking about the look, the feel, and especially the sound of this document.

First off, I want to hug whoever set up this shoot and directed this performance back in ’78, because they couldn’t have done a better job. Tons of different camera angles that actually linger long enough to capture a moment, as opposed to the rapid fire editing technique MTV has championed over the last twenty years. Overall, it looks much more “professional” than I ever would have imagined. Add to this the sound, which was launching out of my speakers in crystal clarity and it was like heaven tonight.

But nothing was better than getting to see the band in that era, in their prime, playing the concert that would define them. I had never seen a full-concert performance of these guys from the 70’s, and now I can see what drew all those Japanese kids in. These guys were an incredible act. Who would have thought that Rick Neilson has actually toned down his stage antics over the years? The guy is non-stop with the poses and the pick flicking in this video and his cartoonish persona is on full display. Peterson and Zander had all the teenage girls yelling at the top of their lungs, while still delivering in both the vocal and instrumental departments. My favorite discovery has to be Bun E. Carlos though, what a fun drummer to watch! His powerhouse technique on songs like “ELO Kiddies,” and “Auf Wiedersehen” is a treat. Plus watching him standing up, pummeling his kit with two drum sticks the size of baseball bats at the end of “Goodnight Now” is a hoot.

But in the end, is one DVD (and the companion CD soundtrack to said DVD plus a couple songs) really worth all the money? It depends on how much of a fan you are. Of course the casual Cheap Trick fan will always be set with the original album, while a more driven listener will find solace in the 1998 two disc set. But for the true Cheap Trick fanatic, the fan who will fight to the death over the fact that their debut album is the best disc of the 70’s, and feels that they had so many better songs than “I Want You To Want Me” (not “The Flame”) and still believes that their 1997 comeback album contains some of their best songs – this boxset is for you. Get it or live a life of dejected misery without it.

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