#332: Cheap Trick - At Budokan (1979)

Zack: I knew Cheap Trick primarily from Guitar Hero 2 and from occasionally asking coworkers who played the generic rock songs that played during work back in my retail days. Apparently, before this album came out, that was a totally appropriate level of knowledge for an American to have. But Japan had a weird thing for Cheap Trick, possibly involving eels or tentacles, which led them to perform a live album there that then was exported out to the wider world. Establishing a home base in Japan then migrating to the Americas may seem like the sort of strategy your friend who pregamed Risk too hard might try, but it evidently worked for Cheap Trick. And I will give them credit for not mimicking the common folly of the live album by making it too long. At just 42 minutes, they get in, play 10 generic-sounding rock songs, and get out. Some of those songs sound very familiar to anyone who has spent time on a classic rock station. Some don’t. None of it is particularly memorable, save for all the screaming in the background that really makes you wonder if Japanese Cheap Trick fans had access to any superior, or just any other, music from the era.

Favorite Tracks: Need Your Love; I Want You to Want Me; Ain’t That a Shame

Emily: In the great movie This Is Spinal Tap, the titular band has a total career meltdown, but ultimately finds success in Japan. The movie shows the band in front of thousands of screaming Japanese fans who embrace them wholeheartedly after their native country had left them for dead. Apparently, Spinal Tap being big in Japan is an homage to Cheap Trick and their Eastern success. With Cheap Trick, though, their following in Japan springboarded them to an international career. And what did it was this album, Cheap Trick at Budokan (Budokan being the name of an arena in Tokyo). It's a collection of power pop-rock songs that sound right at home in an arena, including a few of their most recognizable stateside tracks - particularly I Want You to Want Me and Surrender. Cheap Trick may have never rose to have quite the status in the US as they do in Japan - the Japanese press has even called them "the American Beatles," after all - but this album makes the case for gaining the following they have,

Favorite Tracks: Surrender; I Want You to Want Me; Ain't That A Shame

#325: Big Star - #1 Record (1972)

Zack: I’ve wanted to listen to this album forever now. I kept nominating it like every time it was time to pick a new batch, and it always got looked over. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a single Big Star song I’d ever heard, and all I’d ever read about the band or this album was that it was the epitome of critical darling, commercial failure. It gave it an air of mystery. Now that I’ve actually listened to it, I have to say that it didn’t quite live up to my lofty expectations. I was really expecting to be blown away, but instead I got a very consistent, very enjoyable album. My life remains unchanged. But it was definitely an album that I want to listen to a few more times, and I’m hopeful that more realistic expectations for a second go around will help.

Favorite Tracks: The Ballad of El Gordo; Watch the Sunrise; My Life is Right

Emily: I think the reason I apparently passed over Big Star so many times is because I had absolutely no idea who they were. Zack put them in the "classic rock" genre, but how could they be classic if I didn't even know their name? Turns out their cult following and critical acclaim, as well as emergence in the '60s and '70s, rightfully places them in the category of classic rock. That, and their power-pop-rock stylings that Wikipedia describes as drawing "on the vocal harmonies of The Beatles, as well as the swaggering rhythms of The Rolling Stones and the jangling guitars of The Byrds," which is a super-accurate description if you ask me. This album didn't really do anything new, but it definitely did it well. Plus, In the Street was later covered by Cheap Trick and used as the That '70s Show theme song. As That '70s Show is both one of my favorite sitcoms and favorite sitcom theme songs, that's totally a plus in my book for Big Star.

Favorite Tracks: In the Street; Watch the Sunrise; When My Baby's Beside Me

#321: Super Furry Animals - Fuzzy Logic (1996)

Zack: The first time I listened to this album was on my final night in my old apartment, sometime between the hours of “shit there’s no way I’m going to finish packing tonight” and “fuck, fuck, fuck.” With all the running around I was doing at the time, I didn’t really have a chance to formulate a good opinion on this album, so I put off writing my review for another day. That day just so happened to be on my first day of class for the spring semester. More specifically, it was on my walk to school, in the snow, at 8 a.m., while barely awake, and I think uphill both ways on this one-way journey. One thing I picked up on was that the album felt very psychedelic and sunshine-y as I initially left, which was right in tune with my naïve optimism about the start of the semester. As I neared my office, and I began to get colder and colder, the music seemed to take a more morose turn. I may be doing a bit of projecting, though. In general, after two – perhaps unfair – listens, I came away with the distinct impression that this is another one of those British albums that is just fine I guess but doesn’t really make sense for inclusion on this list. Fuzzy Logic is a good album. If I was hanging out with some people and someone played this, I would certainly not be upset. And it’s certainly worth checking out if you’re particularly into Britpop. But being unoffensive and vaguely cool isn’t the same as being one of the (1001) best albums, and I’m straining to see the logic of including it here. Hopefully their other album on this list changes my mind.
Favorite Tracks: Something for the Weekend; Hangin’ With Howard Marks; If You Don’t Want Me to Destroy You

Emily: Although I didn't listen to this album in the cold or while packing but rather while working on an edit from the warm comfort of the law review office, I tend to agree with Zack about this album. It is a bright and fun pop-psychedelic album, but wasn't anything special much beyond that. It sounded like an opening-act band, or an early-afternoon-on-a-secondary-stage festival band. You listen to it because it's there, and you tap your toes and wiggle your hips a little, but you're not about to buy a CD or a ticket to see them headline a too-small club show. Fuzzy Logic is a fun diversion, well-suited to the band's cuddly moniker, but not something I'll remember all that well.

Favorite Tracks: God! Show Me Magic; Bad Behaviour; Long Gone