Recorded on February 28 and March 1, 1978, the concert took place at the Nippon Budokan, Tokyo as a three-show kickoff of his 1978 world tour. The recording features audio from two of the shows for the live album Bob Dylan at Budokan (1978). The collection features a set of four discs with all the songs, all restored, remixed, and remastered, played on the two nights at the Budokan, including a previously unreleased recording of "The Man in Me".[1]
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received an average score of 79 based on eight reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[2] Vish Khanna of Exclaim! opined that the album is proof that "less is more" does not necessarily apply here as "the whole story can in fact be worth more than selected excerpts". Khanna concluded that the concert captures the "first experiential glimmer" of Dylan "as a lost seeker" that is testing "new ideas" as well as "his audience".[4]
Pat Carty at Classic Rock drew comparisons with Elvis in Vegas for containing "dense, big-band arrangements". Carty thought that the release was "much improved from the original", citing highlights such as "I Threw It All Away" and "Just Like a Woman". While it may not "convert Dylan doubters", it should be an "interesting curio all the same".[3] Stephen Thomas Erlewine at Pitchfork thought the album represents Dylan's "latter-day incarnation as a restless and mercurial road warrior" but cannot hide the fact that the album is "just a drag" and feels "often dorky, too". The artist trying to entertain "just winds up as enervation".[6]
Track listing
All tracks were recorded at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, with all tracks on discs 1 and 2 recorded on February 28, 1978, and all tracks on discs 3 and 4 recorded on March 1, 1978.
[3]