All the greats do it eventually. I’m not talking about trashing a dressing room or going through a Christian phase. No, I’m talking about recording a live album. I’m not quite sure what mine would sound like, but there are a handful of no-nos. I wouldn’t open the LP with a lengthy introduction by an unknown emcee. I wouldn’t include emotional, cliché transitions between songs, uttered by my excited-yet-out-of-breath lead singer. And I sure wouldn’t include excess cheering and clapping. Maybe there’s be some residual evidence of an actual audience, but in my eyes, good taste would dictate that leave that low in the mix. And no way in hell would I start off with a song called “Hello There” and end with “Goodnight.” One of the two would be okay, but not both.
There’s a funny thing about rules: If you break them all at the same time, it’s sort of okay. And yes, you guessed it, that’s exactly what happened with Cheap Trick’s classic live LP, AT BUKOKAN. I can’t say I’m going to listen to this whole thing through very often, if ever again, but I can appreciate where they’re coming from (and what the appeal was).
Here's a new feature here at my Take 52 Classic LP blog: Stat Time!
* Times I could stand to listen to this all the way through: 3
* New songs that stuck with me: Hello There; Need Your Love
* Tunes I already knew: I Want You to Want Me; Surrender
* Random fact I learned through the process: How to spell “Budokan”
* Random fact I won’t need for another 20 years or so: see above
P.S. I was wrong when I said “all the greats do it.” The Beatles never officially released a live one. That’s just how they rolled.
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