Those lovely people at Pale Wizard records have added another fantastic album to their ’50 Years Later’ collection. After the success of the tributes to Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and Alice Cooper’s Killer that featured some of the best underground heavy rock bands putting their spin on them, the latest release is a tribute to Welsh wizards Budgie, with a reimagining of their seminal 1973 album ‘Never Turn Your Back On A Friend’.
Budgie were one of those bands that can easily be put into the ‘they should have been huge’ bracket. At one stage in the early Seventies, they were on par with their luminaries Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and Uriah Heep. They even shared the same producer as Sabbath; Rodger Bain was responsible for those early Sabbath and Budgie records and inadvertently, they invented a genre of music. Unfortunately, even though Budgie achieved a certain level of success, they never reached the dizzy heights of the other bands.
‘Never Turn Your Back On A Friend’ was a turning point for Budgie, this would be the last album featuring the original line up of Burke Shelly, Tony Bourge and Ray Phillips. It would also be their most successful in terms of record sales, this was undoubtedly helped by Metallica recording a cover of Breadfan in 1989. The amazing artwork by Roger Dean was also a highlight. Other bands such as Van Halen and Iron Maiden have covered Budgie tunes and Budgie are often cited by people such as Dave Mustaine from Megadeth and of course Lars Ulrich from Metallica as being huge influences. Budgie are one of my favourite bands, and I’m lucky enough to live near to two of their former drummers: Ray Phillips and Steve Williams. I have to say that the debut album is my favourite, but NTYBOAF is a very close second.
This tribute is just that, it has been meticulously put together. Each band has put love and attention into every track. The album is wonderfully recorded and put together in a lovely package with beautiful artwork from Sara – Jane Swettenham.
First up we have Alunah’s take on possibly the hardest track to cover on the album, the opener Breadfan. They have given us a different slant on the song, obviously moving away from the brutality of the world-famous Metallica version. Alunah have gone for a more proggy/bluesy approach while still retaining the heaviness. Fantastic vocals and use of the flute (yes it works!) by Sian Greenaway make it an interesting listen.
Firegarden give us a true to the Budgie version of the cover of the Them classic ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’. Wonderful musicianship and solid production give this a modern edge to a great tune.
Next up we have a typically wild and wonderful performance from Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell with their version of one of the albums more reflective and quiet moments ‘You Know I’ll Always Love You’. There’s not much of the original here but it’s a fantastic version, brilliant!
Budgie are renowned for their strange songs titles, and here we have Regulus bashing out a great version of ‘You’re The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk’. The riffs are big and meaty, and Regulus have a ball with the with the solo sections, jamming but not moving too far away from the original parts.
More song title ridiculousness with ‘In the Grip Of A Tyre Fitter’s Hand’. This is given the full treatment by Syncolima who blast through it with ease. They have really put their stamp on the track while retaining their identity.
‘Riding My Nightmare’ is another highlight here. Brilliantly done by Great Electric Quest, you can tell they had great fun recording this, it shines through every note.
My favourite track from NTYBOAF has always been the epic ‘Parents’. I was very pleased to see that the superb Sergeant Thunderhoof had stepped up to put their stamp on it. What can I say? I had goosebumps while listening. The soaring vocals of Dan Flitcroft are just otherworldly. I really couldn’t believe how good this is. Mark Sayer’s guitar work highlights how good Tony Bourge’s wonderful playing is on the original track. Superb production values too. Sublime.
The CD version also gets a few bonus tracks, we have ‘Guts’ from the debut album done superbly by La Chinga, possibly Budgie’s heaviest tune sounds brilliant with a modern twist. We also get a barnstorming version of ‘Forearm Smash’ from the ‘Power Supply’ album done by Low Voltage in a balls out headbanging fury. Finally, we get ‘Melt the Ice Away’ from the ‘Impeckable’ album given the Solar Sons treatment.
A superb tribute to a superb album. As I said earlier, all the bands involved have put their love and dedication into replicating this classic album. It really is a wonderful package. It’s available on Bandcamp on vinyl, CD, and digitally. What are you waiting for? Get it NOW!!
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Author: Kenny Kendrick
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