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Budgie > Impeckable > Reviews > jbknot
Budgie - Impeckable

An overlooked classic by underrated legends - 100%

jbknot, August 29th, 2011

Always loved this band's amazing and powerfully catchy mix of punchy heavy rock and melodic, almost progressive leanings. Unfortunately, many of the albums after In For The Kill are not only rather hard to come by but rather pricey when they are found. Having found a used copy of the previous album If I were Britannia, I'd Waive The Rules years before, an offering I found to be less then satisfying save for 3 or 4 cuts, I had avoided this 1978 swan song by the band with original guitarist Tony Bourge. I was however familiar with several tracks via The Ecstasy Of Fumbling comp.

But, this album DELIVERS in spades and has gotten zero attention or love from even the fans. Starting with Melt the Ice Away a rocking tight track with much better production than this band has previously seen which gives way to the mid paced and slightly funky Love For You And Me, then into the melodic All At Sea with it's great build up chorus and back down to melodic verse which is a hallmark with this great band.

Next up is Dish It Up which is a great title for the funkiest track this band has ever produced. Pyramids is an amazing mix of every nuance, lick, power chord, funky breakdown and melodic passage that this album holds one of the albums many highlights that I would play to someone who wanted a song to sum up the album as a whole.

Next up is the bouncy, playfully funky Smile Boy Smile which featured prominently in the bands live sets from this time and again has some really great breaks, mixed with melody and power chords. This song sits perfectly between the aforementioned Pyramids and the lights out I'm A Faker Too which has an In For The Kill feel mixed in with the slight funky melody of the verses which give way to a face cracker of a chorus, really wanna hear a live version of this and Pyramids.

Don't Go Away follows as another in a long line of great melodic, setting-a-mood Budgie songs, complete with great echo effects and nightly cricket sounds before Don't Dilute The Water rounds out the album, and although a little bit long in the tooth manages to combine elements from the entire album - great chords, great melody, a bit of funk and great changes between them all. This band will always be one of the single most underrated, overlooked, cast off, and forgotten of the 70's heavy rock, proto metal bands. This their 7th album is easily their best produced album in which everyone including Bourge's guitars can be heard and heard very well, where many of the earlier albums he seems to be in the background in generally poorly produced or mixed albums.

This is a great last album with Tony Bourge that just drips with his great guitar work made even better by the rest of the band and overall solid production where past albums sometimes sounded uneven here and there. Definitely the best of the 3 albums made for A&M records before giving way to Big John Thomas and the big power chord less riffing NWOBHM era of the band. If you're a fan of this band's sound don't pass this up as this has become my most listened to Budgie album.