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My first introduction

04/10/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"AFTER BEING BURNED OUT ON MY ZEP,SAB AND PURPLE,I WANTED TO GO BEYOND THOSE ROOTS OF METAL AND LO AND BEHOLD,I FOUND SUCH A BAND IN BUDGIE(ALONG WITH HEEP AND LIZZY,LATER ON).AT FIRST I WAS'NT TOO SURE MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE SONG TITLES,I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A SPOOKS N'CASTLE TYPE OF BAND.WHAT I FOUND INSIDE OF IT WAS A GOOD,JAMMY TYPE OF FIRST ALBUM(REMINDING ME OF THE FIRST BLACK SAB ALBUM,WHICH WAS A GREAT THING).THE FIRST TRACK"GUTS"IS A SIMPLE TO THE POINT ROCKER EVEN THOUGH IT MAY BE A BIT TO REGULAR TO THE FIRST TIME LISTENER,BUT I LOVE IT NOW AND HAS SOME GOOD TONY BOURGE SOLOS.I WAS ANNOYED BY THE SINGERS VOICE,BUT GIVE IT A CHANCE IT WILL EVENTUALLY WIN YOU OVER.PICTURE A CROSS BETWEEN GEDDY LEE AND JON ANDERSON OF YES.LIKE I SAID LOTS OF JAMMING BUT IT KEEPS ATTENTION FAIRLY WELL AND WHEN LAUNCHING INTO SONGS LIKE CRASH COURSE YOU CAN FEEL WHERE THE BAND IS HEADED IN THE COMING YEARS.FAVS WOULD BE RAPE OF THE LOCKS,HOMICIDAL SUICIDAL(LATER COVERED BY SOUNDGARDEN),DISENTIGRATING NUDE PARACHUTIST AND THE AFOREMENTIONED GUTS.IF YOU WERE TO GET INTO BUDGIE DEFINETELY BUY THIS ONE FIRST AND GET USED TO THEIR FRAME OF MIND FOR YOU WILL BE REWARDED BY THEIR LATER ALBUMS.BUY IT!"

Too often overlooked

JOHN SPOKUS | 04/26/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"From the moment that the sludgy, unison riff on 'Guts' comes pounding in, we know we're in for a true 70s metalfest. While they didn't define the era the way Zeppelin or Sabbath did, Budgie still left us with some great hard rock material. The liner notes describe them as a cross between Sabbath and early Rush, which, given the band's blend of ominous, detuned riffage and geek-squeak vocals, is not far of the mark. 'Crash Course in Brain Surgery' and 'Homicidal Suicidal' are two obvious highlights and 'Nude Disintigrating Parachutist Woman' (great title, that), an 8 1/2 minute epic, is pretty impressive. The production is minimal but good enough so that everything can be heard. For fans of early 70s metal, this is a good album to hear."

This Budgie should be in your cage!

Michael J Harrington | Phoenix, Arizona USA | 12/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This band set the scene for so much that happened in hard rock from the 70's onward (check out Metallica's 'Garage INC' for starters), however they had a depth and intensity that few bands today match - kind of like listening to early Zep or Sabbath, except throw in some more blues and folk here and there. Yes, they riffed with the best of them, and the guitar work is amazing on this CD.In addition to this CD, check out 'Bandolier' or 'In for the Kill' - this is more prime stuff that Budgie did in this 'era' of their career - unfortunately they changed their sound a bit to match the "80's hard rock sound", and trimmed off a bit too much of what made them special in my eyes and ears...(something many bands of the time were guilty of - like Judas Priest for instance!) Either way, Budgie should be part of anyone's collection who wants to have all the rock sounds of the 70's - this could be proudly placed next to 'Aqualung' or 'Dark Side of the Moon' as am example of what rock was at the time and what it was to be..."