Budgie Discography

Gonna do a Budgie discography but first a little introduction into the band:


From Wikipedia:


Budgie is a Welsh rock band from Cardiff. They are widely considered as one of the first heavy metal bands and a seminal influence to many acts of that scene, with fast, heavy rock (an influence on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) and such acts as Metallica) being played as early as 1971, preceding other influential bands such as Judas Priest. The band has been noted as, "among the heaviest metal of its day". Notable Budgie songs include "Breadfan", "Crash Course In Brain Surgery", "Parents" and "Napoleon Bona - Parts 1 & 2".

Budgie formed in 1967 in Cardiff, Wales under the name Hills Contemporary Grass. Their original line-up consisted of Burke Shelley (b. John Burke Shelley, 10 April 1950, Tiger Bay, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales) on vocals and bass, Tony Bourge (b. Anthony James Bourge, 24 November 1948, Tiger Bay, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, South Wales) on guitar and vocals, and Ray Phillips (b. Raymond John Phillips, 1 March 1949, Ely, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, South Wales) on drums. After performing several gigs in 1968, the band changed their name to Budgie the following year and recorded their first demo. The band originally formed under such names as Hills Contemporary Grass and Six Ton Budgie.
Burke Shelly has said that the band's name came from the fact that he,
"loved the idea of playing noisy, heavy rock, but calling ourselves
after something diametrically opposed to that".
Their debut album in strong blues oriented hard rock lines was recorded at Rockfield Studios with Black Sabbath producer Rodger Bain and released in 1971, followed by Squawk in 1972. The 3rd album, Never Turn Your Back On a Friend (1973), contained "Breadfan", later covered by Metallica.
(Metallica also covered another Budgie song, "Crash Course In Brain
Surgery"). Ray Philips left the band before the fourth album In for the Kill was recorded and was replaced by Pete Boot (b. Peter Charles Boot, 30 September 1950, West Bromwich, Staffordshire).
In late 1974, the band were joined by drummer Steve Williams for the album Bandolier,
for live shows promoting this album and the follow up, 'If I were
Brittania I'd waive the rules', the band were augmented by Welsh
guitarist Myfyr Isaac, but both Bourge and Isaac left mid 1978 and were
replaced by ex Trapeze guitarist Robert Kendrick. Music from the 1978
LP Impeckable was featured in the 1979 film J-Men Forever
(shown frequently on the USA Network's "Night Flight" television series
in the 1980s) which is now a cult classic. In late 1978, having been
dropped by A&M and with no new recording contract, this line up
floundered, and after 12 months Kendrick was replaced by "Big" John Thomas
(b. 21 February 1952) in late 1979. This line up recorded two albums
for Kingsley Wards 'Active' label: 'Power Supply' and 'Nightflight'
1982 saw them signed to RCA for 'Deliver us From Evil' their final
recording for a 'major'. The band continued to have success during the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene, even headlining the Reading Festival that year (a year before they played there a main show with headliner Whitesnake). They built a particular following in Poland, where they played as the first heavy metal band behind the Iron Curtain in 1982. Also notable was their tour support of Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz Tour.
The band stopped gigging in 1988, members went into studio
production, occasionally guesting on other projects; Thomas most
notably worked on the Phenomena CD with Glenn Hughes out of the Black Sabbath studios.
Albeit the group has had very little commercial success in America, they have enjoyed a strong fan following in Texas
and they have been known to receive radio airplay from Joe Anthony and
Lou Roney on the legendary KMAC/KISS radio in San Antonio in the 1970s, the band reformed using various drummers for one-off gigs in 1995, 1996 for outdoor festivals 'La Semana Alegre' in San Antonio, Texas.
They toured in 2002-6, mostly in the United Kingdom, the NYC/NJ area,
Dallas, and with a few shows in Europe including the Sweden Rock
Festival and a return to post-Communist Poland. In 1999 the band
reunited in Letchworth UK and officially reformed.
In 2006 Budgie undertook a thirty five date United Kingdom tour and a new album, titled You're All Living In Cuckooland, was released in the UK on 7 November that year. In 2007 they played dates in Sweden and Poland.
On 4 July 2007 Lees announced his departure from the band to
concentrate on his teaching and solo career. A statement on his
personal website read as follows:
"I am sad to report that I have resigned from my position as
Budgie's Lead Guitarist. This is so that I can give my full attention
to my guitar students and my One Man Rock Show. It has been a huge
honour to work with such an influential band and I know that Burke and
Steve will have absolutely no problems in finding a replacement. I wish
the lads all the very best for the future."
Following the departure of Lees, Dio lead guitarist and songwriter Craig Goldy offered his services while Ronnie James Dio was completing commitments with Heaven & Hell (Black Sabbath - The Dio Years) World Tour.
In February 2008 Craig Goldy accompanied Budgie on their first tour of Australia and has continued playing with Budgie as 'guest guitarist' for all of their shows.

Cool, I'm looking forward to reading this.

Their vocalist is quite an acquired taste...

Love Budgie's first album and I am also looking forward to this thread

Detuned wrote:

Cool, I'm looking forward to reading this.

Their vocalist is quite an acquired taste...

I like his voice, he reminds me of Geddy Lee in the sense that I find his voice to be an acquired taste as well.

manny wrote:

Love Budgie's first album and I am also looking forward to this thread

Thanks manny, I hope I can do this band/thread justice. It seems kinda hard to do a band discog thread.

Akeldama wrote:

manny wrote:

Love Budgie's first album and I am also looking forward to this thread

Thanks manny, I hope I can do this band/thread justice. It seems kinda hard to do a band discog thread.

Nah, you're a natural, you've got great ears...which is all that's required.

Budgie (1971)

All tracks by Tony Bourge & Burke Shelley

"Guts" – 4:21
"Everything In My Heart" – 0:52
"The Author" – 6:28
"Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman" – 8:41
"Rape Of The Locks" – 6:13
"All Night Petrol" – 5:57
"You And I" – 1:41
"Homicidal Suicidal" – 6:41

Burke Shelley-Bass/Vocals
Tony Bourge-Guitars
Ray Phillips-Drums

The year was 1971 and the musical landscape was already in the throes of change from the peace and love psychadelica of the 60's and branching out into uncharted territory. A new type of rock music was emerging, one full of single note legato riffs, chugging power chords, (mostly) blues based solos, thick, sleek, unadulterrated bass lines, primal yet cerebral drums and vocals that would peel the paint off of a barn but in a moment's notice lull a raging bull to sleep. What we now affectionately refer to as Proto Metal was the beginning of a great era in music and Budgie's self-titled debut released in June of 1971 is no exception.

Flying somewhat under the radar, Budgie burst onto the scene with a debut album filled with a violent fervor that is one of the heaviest albums of its era, the album opener 'Guts' opens up with a guitar riff not unlike their predecessors to the west, Black Sabbath and 10 seconds into it the bass and drums burst forth with the bass reinforcing the riff with thickness. Within the first few seconds of hearing vocalist/bassist Burke Shelley's voice you will probably come to the conclusion that his voice is an acquired taste, much like Ozzy Osbourne before him and Geddy Lee after him, but the song keeps chugging along and never loses its swagger. 'Everything In My Heart' is next and is the first of two short yet terse acoustic pieces on the album, (which becomes a calling card for the rest of their discography) and flows into 'The Author' which starts out rather mildly and at the 2:10 mark kicks into high gear that includes a riff as barbaric as an ape pounding its chest with authority and a solo full of blues-based major pentatonic fury filled with unison bends even Jimi Hendrix would approve of. 'Nude Disintegrating Parachustist Woman' is next and is a mid tempo rocker that picks up the pace and evolves into an onslaught of tasty jamming. 'Rape Of The Locks' starts out with a convoluted fury and turns into another great tune with a catchy riff and a solo that'll bash your skull in, (just listen to those drums!), before returning to that killer riff. 'All Night Petrol' comes next and is another great tune with the memorable line "What about the living? What about the dead?" The second and last acoustic number 'You And I' although sandwiched between two heavy songs seems to fit right in. 'Homicidal Suicidal' rounds out the album and is one of Budgie's better known songs with a pounding power chord riff (seeing a pattern here?) with simple yet effective lyrics. Along with Shelley, Tony Bourge (guitar) and Ray Phillips (drums) prove they are no slouches either and display some great musicianship and consistency throughout the album, the former employs a lot of power chords, one note sycopated riffs and unison bends while the latter never overplays and is always in the groove yet he is somewhat of a gentleman on the drums, never really that much of a heavy hitter but don't get the impression that the drums are soft by any means!

Budgie's self-titled debut is filled with great riffs, pounding drums, killer bass and shrieking vocals and is not unlike the albums like their contemporaries Sir Lord Baltimore and Toad to name a couple but surpasses them in quality. One thing that saddens me about Budgie in general is that they never get the credit they deserve but are instead cast off as Black Sabbath wannabe's. They had some killer contemporaries that steal all the thunder. One thing I really dig about this album is that it's filled with single-note riffs (which I'm a sucker for) that has the bass reinforcing them by playing the same riff (man how I love that!), which proves a band doesn't need to fill an album full of power chords, heavy distortion or downtuned guitars to be heavy.

Another thing I noticed while comparing this album to similar albums from its era is that Ray Phillips doesn't rely heavily on the cymbals which puts a different dynamic on it.

I did not discover Budgie til Metallica covered a few of their songs, saw their self titled debut used and bought it right away and loved it.

I can see where the comparsions to Black Sabbath come from and it does not help that same tool produced both albums, but I think Budgie developed their own identity even from album one. I am sure Iommi and Budgie guys shared the same influences and maybe that is why they were mining a similar stylist sound, but in no way where Budgie a second rate Black Sabbath.

Today when I get home from work I am going pull this album out of my archives and give it a spin.

I agree that Budgie is not a 2nd rate Sab but honestly I never wanted to give them a chance b/c of the Metallica connection as I am not a fan of them much except for the demo stuff I have of them w/Dave Mustaine and the stuff he co-wrote on the first 2 albums.

I'll try to get around to listening to this one later...I've been meaning to check out this band for years.

Akeldama wrote:

I agree that Budgie is not a 2nd rate Sab but honestly I never wanted to give them a chance b/c of the Metallica connection as I am not a fan of them much except for the demo stuff I have of them w/Dave Mustaine and the stuff he co-wrote on the first 2 albums.

Back in the early 80's up to the early 90's I was a diehard Metallica fan, and these tools introduced me to Diamond Head, Budgie and the Misfits, thanks to their covers album I sought them out. I prefer the originals over the covers but I am glad they covered the tunes, not to mention it was probably the first time the Budgie guys received any money for the songs they wrote.

Detuned wrote:

I'll try to get around to listening to this one later...I've been meaning to check out this band for years.

Make sure you post a comment about it!

detuned I think you will love their debut album.

Squawk (1972)

Burke Shelley - Vocals, bass, mellotron, piano
Tony Bourge - Guitar
Ray Phillips - Drums

1. "Whiskey River" – 3:27
2. "Rocking Man" – 5:25
3. "Rolling Home Again" – 1:47
4. "Make Me Happy" – 2:37
5. "Hot As A Docker's Armpit" – 5:53
6. "Drugstore Woman" – 3:14
7. "Bottled" – 1:57
8. "Young Is A World" – 8:14
9. "Stranded" – 6:17


In September of 1972 Budgie released their second album, 'Squawk' and picked up where the debut left off but added a few things to ther overall sound. Upon first listen this one sounds mellower than the debut overall but is still filled with some tasty tunes.

'Whiskey River' starts things off with a nice riff and some kewl syncopated singing but I've always felt it wasn't suited for the opening slot but still a good tune, 'Rocking Man' starts off with a cool riff with a nice eleventh chord thrown in to make things more bluesy, this song keeps a steady pace then suddenly stops and comes back in with a different tempo and a killer solo where Tony Bourge utilizes octaves and wah quite effectively (a couple of the "few things" I was talking about) then returns to the original riff, killer track. 'Rolling Home Again' is a short Beatles meets Marshall Tucker meets America tune that I quite like. If you're familiar with the debut you know that after an acoustic number a rockin tune follows, not the case here as 'Make Me Happy' is another acoustic little diddy but showcases some nice vox by Burke Shelley. 'Hot As A Docker's Armpit' is next and totally kicks ass right from the start with some killer single note riffage and about midway changes tempo with a solo that totally slays, Tony Bourge employs some suble yet effective slide guitar through the song (another 'new thing"), the songs ends with some killer drums and bass with a doomy feel and some octaves to round it out and my fave song off the album. 'Drugstore Woman' keeps things going in the right direction followed by 'Bottled', a nearly two-minute instrumental with a kewl bass groove and some slide guitar work. 'Young Is A World' is the album's longest song clocking in at a little over eight minutes, it is a slow number with an ethereal feel with some orchestration thrown in and just over two minutes in gets real doomy real quick then mellows out again and then, POW!, goes back into the realms of doom folled by a nice solo where Tony Bourge makes good use of the vibrato and octaves, it is very Iommi-like indeed. This song is quite the rollercoaster ride as it closes out mellow with some nice finger-picked acoustic guitar thrown in, another great tune. 'Stranded' starts out like a many of songs from back in that era, killer yet simple riff, some soloing, etc. and fleshes out with a nice single-note riff. Lyrically there's a lot of simile going on, some great scatting going on with the guitar copying every note, some killer jamming going on in this song, I particularly like the drums. Some backwards guitar soloing a la Jimi Hendrix going on at the end. This song is very good!

Overall, this album is a tad mellower but more mature sounding musically. There's a lot of diversity and I think all three members upped their game in their respective duties. The drums are more aggressive yet still no heavy hitting and no overly used cymbals. The bass and guitar are also great. I think most people will be partial to the debut and though I admit 'Squawk' had to grow on me, I like it better.

Great review AD! I'm a fan of Budgie, but honestly hadn't heard of them until Metallica made them famous. I'm not sure why they weren't more popular back in the 70's, because they were a top-notch outfit. I've owned the debut Budgie album for many years and its always been a fav. I'm not as familiar with the squak album, but now I want to give it another listen.

Wow, a response! Thx for the positivity man, go and check this out, you won't be disappointed...be sure to post your thoughts on it!

I finally got a chance to listen to Squawk and you were right, I wasn't disappointed.....its much better than I remember. it is the classic power trio of Bourge, Shelley and Phillips at its best! Tony Borgue is a guitarist out for my heart and can riff with the best of them, Burke Shelley, while not the best singer, contributes some awesome bass, and drummer Ray Phillips is very competent.
I think Squawk, is a great proto-metal, 60's to 70's transition album ....with elements of Sabbath, Zeppelin and Deep Purple thrown in the mix with Hendrix, Cream and Iron Butterfly. It is an album of contrasts pitting folky sixties qualities of "make me happy" and "rolling home again against hard-driving classics like "Hot as a Docker's armpit", "Drugstore Woman" and "Rocking Man" My favorite song on the album is stranded ..... one of the best cuts by Budgie ...period!

Finally someone who gives a shit about this thread. Great points throughout and the fact that you said it was a great proto-metal, 60's to 70's transition album, etc. and the Stones, Butterfly, Sab, Zep, etc. comparisons hit the nail right on the head. I think I'm the wrong guy for this thread, haha!

Sorry man, been a real stressful couple weeks here, I'll get back in the groove.

Nah, you're good Shawn. By the looks of you in your avatar you do looked stressed! LOL!

Sorry I haven't posted the next Budgie yet, I 've been getting a lot of music lately and I've been into them. I'll do the next album here shortly.

Never Turn Your Back On A Friend (1973)

Burke Shelley - Lead Vocals, bass
Tony Bourge - Guitar, backing vocals
Ray Phillips - Drums

All Songs Written By Burke Shelley/Tony Bourge/Ray Phillips, except where noted.
1. "Breadfan" – 6:10
2. "Baby, Please Don't Go" – 5:30 (Big Joe Williams)
3. "You Know I'll Always Love You" – 2:15
4. "You're The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk" – 8:51
5. "In The Grip Of A Tyrefitter's Hand" – 6:29
6. "Riding My Nightmare" – 2:42
7. "Parents" – 10:25

Budgie return in 1973 with Never Turn Your Back On A Friend which is regarded by some as one of their best efforts and their best so far. This is the band's best known album and is notable for its inclusion of "Breadfan", the band's best-known song. Metallica recorded a cover version of "Breadfan" in 1988. The album cover was done by Roger Dean, who has done much of the album artwork for progressive rock band Yes.

The aforementioned Breadfan starts things off and is a burner as soon as it takes off, after a nice yet brief solo there is a breakdown from 2:30-2:50 that sounds rather convoluted, Ray Phillips who never overuses the cymbals does just that but the acoustic piece after that is kewl and then kicks back into high gear. This song has never been a favorite of mine. Next comes a cover of a Big Joe Willams' tune, Baby, Please Don't Go with Shelley doing some rather annoying screams, this song just never takes off for me as the guitar work is sub-par for such a great guitarist as Tony Bourge is. Next and in true Budgie fashion comes a short acoustic piece, You Know I'll Always Love You has Shelley singing in a beautiful falsetto and is just a rather ethereal piece of art, great tune. You're The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk starts of with some serious drumming for the first 1:45 of the song but doesn't sound bad or out of place. The riff is great and the song employs a great bass driven break down at 5:20 with Tony Bourge taking over vox for a bit and shows he's got a great voice that's superior to Burke Shelley's. Great song period. In The Grip Of A Tyrefitter's Hand is next and is another great song and is a prime example of what Proto Metal is all about, the last 1:14 is so kick ass.Riding My Nightmare , the album's second acoustic piece is not to be ignored or merely cast off as filler. The album's closer is the 10 minute plus mammoth, Parents, which starts out like a warship out to conquer. There is some great mellow guitar work backed by some beautiful acoustic guitar throught this number. The drumming is so awesome on this one as well. Bourge's solo work on this one is reminiscent of the great Tony Iommi.

In closing I think Never Turn Your Back On A Friend is a good album but not as strong as the first two Budgie releases though most might disagree with me. Sadly this would be the last Budgie album to feature the talents of drummer Ray Phillips who would later reemerge with guitarist Tony Bourge in 1982 in the band Tredegar who would go on to release one album in 1986.

Finally got the first few albums, will listen to them tonight and post some thoughts tomorrow!

I hope so! This thread has been population me for too long! Did you get the expanded editions, Shawn?