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Budgie - Never Turn Your Back On A Friend



8.3 | 81 votes |
Release date: June 1973
Style: Hard rock, Heavy metal

Owners:

74 have it
21 want it


01. Breadfan
02. Baby, Please Don't Go [Big Joe Williams cover]
03. You Know I'll Always Love You
04. You're The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk
05. In The Grip Of A Tyrefitter's Hand
06. Riding My Nightmare
07. Parents
08. Breadfan [2003 version] [2004 remastered bonus]
09. Parents [2004 acoustic version]
10. Breadfan [Live 1973]

Top 20 albums of 1973: 5

Additional info
Produced by: Budgie

Recorded at Rockfield Studios, South Wales.

16.01.2022
Budgie's Burke Shelley died this week, which prompted some re-evaluation of their catalogue from my side. The Welsh band are probably most well known for Shelley's androgynous vocals, and for being covered by Metallica (this picked album containing "Breadfan", the most well-known case). But Budgie, while still sitting between the hard rock and heavy metal borders from the early 70s, were pretty much the original power trio, with Shelley being as creative of a bass player as he was a distinguishable vocalist. While drummer Ray Phillips and guitarist Tony Bourge deserve just as many accolades, Shelley's star power is undeniable here. And Never Turn Your Back On A Friend is pretty much their peak, equal parts prog tinged and thunderous, introspective and loud.

R.I.P. Burke Shelley (1950-2022)

RaduP's picks | More picks ››
Thumbs up: nikarg, Dream Taster, Yaniv

Found in 19 lists
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Comments

Comments: 5   Visited by: 212 users
17.04.2016 - 22:27
Rating: 9
Hex_Omega
Gem Seeker
Ok time for first comment. This album is fantastic even if my first thought was 'nice female vocals' but you know... it was long time ago. It really sounds like a proto-Rush to me.
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01.09.2016 - 00:13
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Its album when you suppose think somehow women and such music in that time, we say Blues Pills, but wait a sec, its man John Burke Shelley
He has agirly vocals IMO and cover song was awesome,
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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17.01.2022 - 02:01
Rating: 9
18Beginner

For me it's one of the best hard rock,early heavy metal albums, Budgie's groundbreaking presence on this song is impressive, but they don't get the credit they deserve, pepole usually rarely mentioned, They are also far less well-known than other bands such as the Hard Rock Big 3. "Parents" is one of my favorite song, and in the second half of the song they use the guitar to make some kind of sound,jast like a hawk vultures circling in the sky, is so amazing. It is worth mentioning that last year, an excellent Chinese band imitated this kind of guitar sound in their album, and the song was "太史公之缢" in the 沉默演讲(Silent Speech)'s album 《不稳定的规律/有序混沌》. In my opinion Budgie had the best lineup of the era, strong guitar and drums, great vocals, I feel sad about Burke Shelley's death, RIP.
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音乐是越听越广的,专注于音乐本身
The more you listen, the more you understand .Focus on the music
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17.01.2022 - 07:38
Rating: 9
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Geddy Lee from Rush said that Budgie was one of his main influences, and apparently Budgie was also a big influence on Metallica too, according to James Hetfield, which shows just how important this band truly was.
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02.04.2022 - 17:04
Rating: 9
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
I've noticed that Steve Harris uses the same base line on "Phantom Of The Opera", than on the song "You're The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk", so there's another influence this album has had on another great musician.
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