REVIEW

BUDGIE
Global Village 1974 [no label 1CD]
Live at Global Village, London, Mar 9 1974. Radio broadcast. Ex FM

An alternate vision of the 1974-1978 Radio Sessions CD released a few years ago, this live Capital Radio broadcast opens with DJs Nicky Horne and Roger Scott swapping scene-setting banter ("about thousand youngsters… not overcrowded, very comfortable out on the floor and not a streaker in sight"), and then kicks into a "Breadfan" that reminds us why Budgie deserve so very much more than the second division metallurgist tag that normally accompanies mention of their name.

With Burke Shelley already sounding like his voice has been through the wringer, but the band hitting warpspeed around him, it’s the traditional Budgie blend of skull-pounding riffs and heartwarming melodies, colliding in the most unexpected places again and again and again. Six songs comprise the hour long broadcast - an impassioned "Powdered Milk," "Hammer And Tongs," "Parents," "Rocking Man" and, best of all, a "Zoom Club" that really does zoom, soaring from sublime high to deafening peak around one of the slinkiest, most seductive rhythmic riffs ever conceived.

What’s most amazing, though, is the fact that Budgie were already a little past their peak when this was recorded… a full concert tape from two years previous would wipe the floor with this one. But still there’s not another band of their breed that could compete with Budgie in full flight and, until they get the box set they deserve, discs like this will be precious as gold dust. - Dave Thompson

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March 7, 2008