Customer Reviews

At Budokan

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Why not sing clearly, in time and in tune? Why not a horn section? Why not back-up singers? These live recordings are arrangements for a large band, yes, but they're not over-arranged, and they have drive and style to spare. Stiff-necked rock purists were horrified by the recasting of Dylan's songbook, just as overly-reverent folk purists took umbrage at his electrification. But they're missing out on one of the man's most musical moments and discouraging others from listening with an open mind. Don't make the same mistake.

Dylan was not surly or angry on this tour. He was expansive and approachable and -- dare I say it? -- happy! If joy is antithetical to the spirit of rock, then I'm not a rocker. Don't pay attention to those sniffing that the music wasn't honest at this point or that Bob had gone Vegas. Lyrics don't have to be droned in a ragged voice to rate as poetry. If you want to hear the originals (and you should have all of Dylan's original 60s albums), then listen to them. But give this 1978 recording a try and enjoy a change of pace. It's yet another phase of our preeminent rock-poet's always-daring reinvention.

Critics said Dylan's Live At Budokan was too "slick" and "Las Vegasy." But then again, whever Dylan expanded his music, or added a new note of variety, he was criticized. Greatest Hits fans and critics alike wanted him to remain forever a folk musician, never growing, changing, or maturing. This album definitely has a big band sound, but there is nothing wrong with that. In fact, this live album has some of the best versions of some of Dylan's greatest songs. "All Along The Watchtower," "Shelter From the Storm," and "Mr. Tambourine Man" are all better here, I think, than in their original versions. The album contains a great selection, from love ballads to rocking political commentary. This is not just Dylan's best live album, it is among his best albums--I would even venture to place it somewhere among his top ten.

The maliciousness that has been directed at this album over the years is an open testament of the way in which Dylan fans desire to own their idol, to constrict him, and to demand him to peform and record in ways that are their own, but not his....
"Live at Budokan" was my first Dylan album, miraculously discovered twenty five years ago as a window into a magic world.
Ever since I've heard bile and venom from innumerable sources about it's 'Vegasy' feel, and its 'commercialism'.
But Dylan is a song and dance man, mercurial and a mystery -
the minute you define him and place expectations on him he will inevitably disappoint.
Above all he is a true entertainer, who paradoxically brings everything to his performances and yet nothing, like it's always gonna be new.
The songs on this album are all like that, all stone cold classics, but elastic, sweet, wry, still timeless.
After twenty five years of listening to all the rubbish reviews, I still recommend this album for any newcomer to Dylan.
For one thing, there is booklet of lyrics to the great songs which is really helpful for new fans, as it was for me so many years ago, and the album photos still talk of the irresistible mystery that is Dylan.
'Budokan'is like an old road map on which the street signs are still right.
It truly gets better like old wine.

It seems that people here either love Budokan or hate it. It all depends upon who you are and where you're coming from in your "Dylan experience." I originally bought this album when it came out in the late 70's. Since it was only the second Dylan album I had ever heard (after Blood on the Tracks), I really didn't know the original versions of these songs. If you are a relatively new Dylan fan, or are looking for a place to start, Budokan is not for you. At least not yet. The best way to get to know any artist, writer, film maker, etc is by experiencing their work in the order in which it was originally released. Having done that, Budokan still comes off as a bit of an oddity. On one hand, yes, some of these arrangements are a real shock to the system after you've heard the originals for years. On the other hand, artists have the right to re-invent themselves, and Dylan has been doing it for years. (How would YOU like to sing "Blowin' in the Wind" the same way for nearly 40 years?) Budokan is simply a chapter in the Dylan catalog. For me, some of the songs work, some of them don't. But say what you will, at least Dylan took a chance. You never know what he's going to do. And isn't that half the fun of listening to Dylan?

This is a brilliant album, confounding those fans who had grown lazy and accostumed to the conventional renderings of these classics. Dylan surprises them all, delivering an inspired set of winners, completely redone and presented without a smirk or knowing acknowledgement. Some Dylan "purists" deride this album because it doesn't sound like the Dylan they want him to be. Don't listen -- buy it and judge for yourself.

Dylan's best songs are brilliant and immortal. Right now he's a grizzled old veteran on the music scene with his best work long behind him, but his concert albums are like windows into a mythical and emotional landscape that has a unique, haunting beauty.

It's hard to believe that just a few years ago these songs didn't exist and that a guy from Minnesota who's younger than my father wrote them in upstate New York in 1970.. I'm not religious but Bob Dylan feels like a spiritual presence of the highest order.

Many have written that the arrangements here are too baroque and 'Vegassy' - they're and broad and overdramatic, etc.

O.K.. So it's an acquired taste. For people who like late Elvis and Journey and broadway shows - Dylan is playing here to the masses. It's not a high-brow easthetic, but I find it very powerful and moving and these versions add depth to the Dylan musical canon.

This album has him as the touring road-warrior with a full, rich entourage at the height of his powers. The singing is passionate and expressive and Bob appears happy and upbeat. This captures a time and place and style perfectly. It may be a better concert than any he's performed in the last 20 years. Don't miss it.

I appreciate the different ways around the same songs Dylan takes from tour to tour. If I were to put one version of each Dylan song in a vault to be heard for all of time, most of these wouldnt come close. But Simple Twist of Fate has reached its pinnacle of beauty right here as far as I'm concerned. This head-bobbing version of All I Really Want To Do would certainly get consideration, and yes even the reconstructed The Times They Are A-Changin' is very worthy. This song never excited me much musically, and i think it's driven with tension here. And sorry, but, All I Really Want To Do was done pretty crappily to begin with IMO. Regardless, I think it's impossible to degrade the quality of the original classics through reinvention, for better or worse. And to keep playing them in the same vain is redundant.

It also might be the most accessible to new/ non fans with it's slickness and emphasis on melody, in contrast to his more recent performances.

"Budokan" is a beautiful album especially to the Dylan fan who loves both the roughness of "Hard Rain"; the surprise sound of "Desire" and all that kept coming and coming! At the time, some cynics called the World Tour surrounding this album as "the alimony tour" as Dylan had just been divorced, and they saw it as both some type of "sellout". Musically, some felt that Dylan seemed to be purposefully burying his past nuanced use of his voice, which disappears here in songs such as "Shelter From the Storm". So, what else is new? Everything was and is! That's the beauty, and the beauty of Dylan's melodic singing and the melodic bigger-than-usual band always hit me as just another time when Dylan challenged us all by saying. "So, you think you know who I am? You think I, and my songs, must be as you expect and serve YOUR needs? That's not the deal. See if you can keep up! First listen, as is often the case, you won't be sure. Two listens and you will be hooked forever.

In 1978 I saw Bob Dylan for the first time on his first night at Earl's Court London. A few weeks later I saw him at Blackbush Airport with 250,000 others. The music he played was basically the same as this album. I loved it then, I love it now. I love the reggae beat on Knocking on Heaven's door. So the critics didn't like the arrangements on this album, well all my friends went to these concerts and almost of all of us felt they were some of the best moments of our lives and were lucky to be there.

This album contains the spirit of those great nights in 1978.

After the 2 Rolling Thunder albums for me this is the 3rd best life album of Bob Dylan. Though there are a few songs on this album which were changed to the worse (especially one of my favourite songs, Oh Sister, is pretty much ruined) many others unfold a surprising beauty: The tendernes "I want you" of this former fun-song and on the other hand the power of "It's alright Ma" and "All along the watchtower" just knock me out! Other highlights to me are "Is your love in vain" and "The Times they are changing" (never heard this better!) which convey here a expression of passionate humanity and honour that later on Dylan unfortuneately somehow seems to have lost... What is so "Las Vegas" about these songs? I can't help but love and strongly recommend this Live album from the 70s where he truely had his peak time!

Gerd