17 November 2023

THE COMPLETE BUDOKAN 1978 presents two full shows originally
recorded on 24-channel multitrack analog tapes at the famous Nippon
Budokan Hall in Japan, 45 years ago.

It includes 36 previously unreleased Dylan performances from these concerts.

Order info here.

UNCUT Mag: “Some fans just seemed to hate the original version released in 1979 very, very much. But listening to this expanded edition – featuring the two full concerts from which the original was compiled – the reaction is, “What’s the problem?” Dylan sings his heart out.”
Score: 8/10.

TUTV: The majority of the songs here are played differently from their original versions. Dylan always loved (and still does, as I witnessed last year in Brussels) to turn songs upside down, play them slower or faster or in another, surprising key on stage.

Add the horn sections here at work and lots of choir vocals and you get quite some riveting interpretations of great pieces from his 17 longplayers, he had released by then.
It doesn’t work all the time, and there are to many songs – 58 – packed in this reissue box (many record labels prefer quantity to quality). Pick the 20 best-executed ones, and you’ll have yourself a formidable live album.

THE COMPLETE BUDOKAN 1978

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DYLAN: Instagram – Website