The Rock n’ Roll View has established as part of its mission to expose rock music that is influential and important to our readers that may not be familiar with. Let’s face it; there is a vast amount of artists that have never reached the top 40 in the U.S. that are valid and important.
One such rock group that has been important and influential is the Welsh grand fathers of heavy metal, Budgie. Established in 1967 they went on to be a staple on the touring circuit in the early to mid 70’s. Their sound has been compared to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin with a spot of Cream. The vocal style of Burke Shelly (lead vocals and bass) is compared to the high pitched squeal of Geddy Lee from Rush. More importantly, Budgie, influenced the sound of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest) as much as any other band. That heavy influence trickled down further to influence later movements such as thrash and speed metal with bands like Metallica.
With 12 official releases (non-compilation) in their discography, it was tough to decide on the subject of this review. The best place to start is at the beginning with their 1972 self titled debut on MCA records.
The album leads off with the funky grinder Guts. This track is clearly Cream influenced and shines as one of the albums finest songs for rockers. At this time in rock music, bands weren’t afraid to explore musical territory. Budgie does this to a large extent mixing heavy rock tunes with acoustic wistful songs like the second track Everything in My Heart. There are a couple of songs like this which harkens to Led Zeppelin’s third album.
Lyrically, Budgie isn’t like any of the bands that they have been compared to. Many of their song titles and subject matter reference obscure tongue in cheek intentions. This album features two rockers called Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman and Homicidal Suicidal… humorous at the very least. With song titles such as those, you find yourself intently listening to lyrics trying to figure out what the songs are about. Of course this only happens after you’ve rocked out a few times to heavy plodding grooves that is the signature of the Budgie sound.
This self titled debut album is a good place to start discovering Budgie. There are other more important albums in their catalog that demand listening. Other albums feature tracks such as Breadfan and Crash Course in Brain Surgery made famous in America by Metallica. Maybe there will be time in the future to review some of their later works.
Budgie has been touring in recent years. Head on over to their official web site to check out when you might be able to see them perform live. [ Click Here ]
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