The audio recording is from shows on 28 February and 1 March 1978. Columbia Records released this double LP in Japan on 21 August 1978. Later that year, it was released in Australia and New Zealand. On 23 April 1979, spurred by extensive importing and at least one counterfeit European edition, Columbia released the album to worldwide markets.^[2] The shows were the fourth and fifth in an eight-show appearance at Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

An expanded version of the album, titled The Complete Budokan 1978, featuring all of the songs on the original release in newly remixed and remastered form, and featuring 36 previously unreleased tracks, was released on 17 November 2023 by Columbia Records. This release comprises Dylan's Budokan concerts from 28 February and 1 March 1978 in their entirety. In a press release, chief engineer Tom Suzuki said of the remix: “We mixed the record with the keyword ‘passion’ in mind . . . The result is a mix that surpasses the original 1978 release, providing a crisper and clearer sound where each instrument and Bob Dylan’s voice are distinctly audible".^[3]

Bob Dylan at Budokan reached No. 13 in the U.S. and went gold, while simultaneously peaking at No. 4 in the UK.

In a sarcastic review published in his "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau gave the album a C+ rating, writing "I believe this double LP was made available so our hero could boast of being outclassed by Cheap Trick, who had the self-control to release but a single disc from this location".^[5] Critic Jimmy Guterman named it one of the worst albums ever released in the history of rock.^[8]

However, the album received stronger reviews in Europe, and critic Janet Maslin (then a music critic for Rolling Stone magazine) defended the album in her review. "The method here is hit-or-miss, and the results are correspondingly spotty", Maslin wrote. "The fire and brimstone are behind Dylan, [but] this hardly means the fight has gone out of him: Bob Dylan at Budokan is a very contentious effort—and, for the most part, a victorious one".^[1]

NJArts' Jay Lustig called it the "least essential" of Dylan's three live albums of the 1970s but also noted that it allowed him to bring "some new nuances to his material" and cited "the slow, aching 'I Want You" as the standout track.^[9]

Stereogum ran an article to coincide with Dylan's 80th birthday on 24 May 2021 in which 80 musicians were asked to name their favorite Dylan songs. Steve Gunn selected the Budokan version of "Shelter from the Storm", noting that "the delivery is declarative and minimal, holding a steady line and giving the song a different life than the original. There’s a new confidence, which gives one of my all-time favorite Dylan lines new resonance: 'I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form'. Dylan’s life is full of comeback waves, and the energy propulsing through this song is testament to his genius for looking deeper into his art".^[10]

Despite its initial lukewarm reception, the album has developed a cult following over the years, with some commentators expressing admiration for its "innovative arrangements"^[11] and referring to it as an "overlooked classic".^[12]

• Bob Dylan — vocals, guitar, harmonica
• Steve Douglas — saxophone, flute, recorder
• Steven Soles — acoustic guitar, backing vocals
• David Mansfield — pedal steel guitar, violin, mandolin, dobro, guitar
• Billy Cross — lead guitar
• Alan Pasqua — keyboards
• Rob Stoner — bass, backing vocals
• Ian Wallace — drums
• Bobbye Hall — percussion
• Debi Dye, Jo Ann Harris, Helena Springs —backing vocals

Production edit

• Don DeVito — production
• Tim Charles — monitor mixer
• Val Lane — sound technician