BUDOKAN!(30th Anniversary)

Some fans may look at At Budokan: 30th Anniversary Collectors Edition with a skeptical eye, as it's the third reissue of the classic concert. Each edition expands by a full disc: the original 1979 LP was a single disc, the 1998 At Budokan: The Complete Concert spilled out over two discs, and now this 2008 set runs a whopping three CDs, plus a full DVD. It may seem as either exploitation or overindulgence for an album that was a model of efficiency in its original humble ten-track form, but this triple-CD box provides plenty of thrills for those inclined to venture once more into familiar territory. Despite the inclusion of a full second concert -- the second show Cheap Trick played at Budokan two days later on April 30, 1978, present as a third CD and in the first video release of a concert originally broadcast on Japanese TV -- there are no real revelations here, just more of the same high-octane, high-quality power pop of the original. Comparatively, the Friday the 30th show isn't as tight as the April 28th gig that provided the source for the original LP and the 1998 The Complete Concert (which takes up the first two discs of this reissue), but this a minor and subtle difference, as this essentially captures the same band in the same setting playing the same set; they were at a peak on the 28th, and they remained so on the 30th, so this is certainly worthwhile for fanatics who have listened to At Budokan for 10, 20, or 30 years and have never gotten enough -- but the less dedicated will be just fine sticking with either their one- or two-disc sets.