‘Bandolier’ was released during a fertile and creative period for Welsh legends Budgie.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Budgie
ALBUM: Bandolier
LABEL: MCA
SERIAL: MCF 2723
YEAR: 1975
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Wales
LINEUP: Burke Shelley – vocals, bass * Tony Bourge – guitars * Steve Williams – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Breaking All The House Rules * 02 Slipaway * 03 Who Do You Want For Your Love? * 04 I Can’t See My Feelings * 05 I Ain’t No Mountain * 06 Napoleon Bona-Part One * 07 Napoleon Bona-Part Two
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Welsh band Budgie have always received a healthy dose of respect from Glory Daze readers. Their breakthrough album was the one from 1974: ‘In For The Kill’, their fourth studio album.
Having watched lead singer and bassist Burke Shelley on the recent BBC documentary called ‘Heavy Metal Britannia’, I was quite surprised to find out that he’s a Christian, and that he didn’t buy into all the other nonsense that was going on during the 70’s like the demons, wizards, witches and dragons, as portrayed by Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep, for instance.
Budgie were one of the first raw proto-metal come power trios during the early 70’s, and they released a slew of excellent albums right from 1971 all the way up into the 80’s. Most of the early albums were released by MCA Records, but towards the end of the 70’s decade they switched camp to A&M (their American distributor), and into the 80’s they signed with RCA Records.
Topped off with excellent cover art featuring the famous ‘budgie’, the band were always a drawcard, especially in the UK, though they also had strong support throughout the USA.
The Songs
Containing just seven tracks, the album was released in September 1975 and included a cover of ‘I Ain’t No Mountain’, which was written and performed by fellow Welshman Andy Fairweather Low who released it on his ‘Spider Jiving’ album the year before.
Track six and seven is the dual ‘Napolean Bona Part One’ and ‘Two’, which are the two best known tracks on the album. However, other tracks stand out for me as well including the opener ‘Breaking All The House Rules’ Plus ‘I Can’t See My Feelings’.
In Summary
The combination of Tony Bourge, Steve Williams and Burke Shelley is one that continued on for many years, and it kept Budgie in the limelight all the way through. Considering we’ve reviewed ‘In For The Kill’ And ‘If I Were Britannia.. ‘, this album slips in between the two of them on the timeline, and who knows we may even get around to reviewing a couple more.
Video
Who Do You Want For Your Love?
Napoleon Bona-Part One And Two
