I've been meaning to check out both Budgie and Barclay James Harvest for quite some time. Based on the posts here, I'll try to start with Budgie's debut as well. And I'm even more intrigued by Barclay James Harvest now than before. :)

Budgie's debut is damn good and for BJH try Once Again or Everyone Is Everybody Else.

Will do, thanks for the tip.

Never Turn Your Back...is considered Budgie's best by most fans. "Parents" was a breakthrough for the birdmen, mixing their heaviness and melody into a epic song.

Heh I was listening to their debut earlier today... a nice slab of hard rock that is.

Never Turn Your Back is an awesome album, and Breadfan is one of the greatest album openers ever!
Need to get some more of their material anyone recommend the best of the other albums?

So what do I get after Squawk then , seeing i've been on a bit of a 70s / 80s metal kick lately.

Have you got their debut as I love that. Otherwise the mentioned Never Turn Your Back on A Friend.

Urban, you can also try In For the Kill which has more of the NWOBHM vibe to it. Robin Trower is also good for that proto-stoner/metal music. Steeped in Cream/Jeff Beck/Hendrix influences, you can do a lot worse than hunting down a copy of Twice Removed From Yesterday or the remastered Bridge of Sighs.

Budgie - great hard rock!
 

I was just checking out old threads "at random" and stumbled on this antediluvian Budgie thread. "Aha!" I thought to myself. I remember them. Back in the early 1970s Budgie were my second favourite hard rack band (after Blue Öyster Cult). I liked Budgie even more than I liked Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin.

But Budgie were, in my considered opinion *very* inconsistent. A small number of their own songs (i.e. original compositions) were superb. But most of the rest of their songs were not melodious and were therefore rather boring. When Budgie were good they were great. But otherwise - meh.

I really liked only about ten of their many original compositions, of the ones (many) which I have heard. My top favourite was Breaking All the House Rules. (Duh! That one is their very most up-tempo, hard-rocking song!) Another favourite Budgie tune of mine is In the Grip of a Tyre-Fitter´s Hand. (Because of that wonderful riff)

I must give some kudos to Budgie for being masters (along with BÖC) of the fine art of coming up with creative song titles. (E.g. my favourite - Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman!)