SQUAWK

Black Sabbath invented heavy metal. Period. Or so the story goes. In the lucid period between heavy psych, hardrock and heavy metal there are lot's of great bands (Captain Beyond, May Blitz, Lucifer's Friend to name a few) and of course Budgie. A band that mixed early bluesrock, folk, metal, funkrock and.. blue eyed soul - all as if played in a local barn in England. Bassist and singer Burke Shelley has a quirky electrical voice and an amazing funky rhythm in his playing. All lead-guitarist of all classic metal bands will name Budgie as an influence and yet, they've become a bit of an obscurity. Among their classic string of albums 'Squawk' isn't any-ones favorite per se, but I was quite surprised by how good this album actually is. There are four songs in which the band shows its most soulful side and surely 'Make Me Happy' must be one of their most beautiful recordings. On some of the longer proto-metal songs the band experiments with form and uses some mellotron. The extended and moody 'Young is A World' is perhaps the band's most progressive moment. The mixing of the album is quite natural and spacious. Without much compression, such a record is ideal for listening at higher volumes exposing many detail and casting a 'live' feel. At lower volumes it might be not be as impressive.

When it comes to Budgie, both the band and its albums, I can't help but thinking many people are misled by their preoccupations, like every-one is just repeating standard lore. 'It's a copy cat band'. There never has been - nor will there be - another blue-eyed soul funkmetal band and this is just wonderful and highly collectible music from the golden age of rock exploration. Furthermore, 'Never Turn Your Back' isn't their big career high-light. I really like 'Squawk' and I love the equally criticized 'Bandolier' as well.