An Ecstasy Of Fumbling: The Definitive Anthology [Import]

An Ecstasy Of Fumbling: The Definitive Anthology [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
1996 compilation on Repertoire featuring two CDs in standardjewel cases together with a 44 page booklet housed inside a full color slipcase. The definitive anthology, 'An Ecstasy Of Fumbling', has 29 essential recordings from 1971-1982 cut for MCA, A&M, Active & RCA by the hard rockin' Brits, including the previously unreleased 'Beautiful Lies', alongside classics like 'Breadfan', 'In For The Kill' & 'Crash Course In Brain Surgery', as well as live versions of'Panzer Division Destroyed' & 'Superstar' from the 1982 Reading fest! Vital.

Tracks:

HOMICIDAL SUICIDAL
NUDE DISINTEGRATING PARACHUTIST WOMAN
WHISKY RIVE
HOT AS A DOCKER'S ARMPIT
IN THE GRIP OF THE TYREFITTER'S HAND
BREADFAN
PARENTS
IN FOR THE KILL
CRASH COURSE IN BRAIN SURGERY
NAPOLEON BONA PART ONE AND TWO
WHO DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR LOVE
BREAKING ALL THE HOUSE RULES
BEAUTIFUL LIES

Tracks:

ANNE NEGGEN
IF I WERE BRITANNIA I'D RIDE THE WAVES
BLACK VELVET STALLION
MELT THE ICE AWAY
FOREARM SMASH
TIME TO REMEMBER
WILDFIRE
LIES OF JIM (THE TYPE E LOVER)
I TURNED TO STONE
SHE USED ME UP
SUPERSTAR
DON'T CRY
TRUTH DRUG
HOLD ON TO LOVE
SUPERSTAR
PANZER DIVISION DESTROYED

Album Description

1996 compilation on Repertoire featuring two CDs in standardjewel cases together with a 44 page booklet housed inside a full color slipcase. The definitive anthology, 'An Ecstasy Of Fumbling', has 29 essential recordings from 1971-1982 cut for MCA, A&M, Active & RCA by the hard rockin' Brits, including the previously unreleased 'Beautiful Lies', alongside classics like 'Breadfan', 'In For The Kill' & 'Crash Course In Brain Surgery', as well as live versions of'Panzer Division Destroyed' & 'Superstar' from the 1982 Reading fest! Vital.

Customer Reviews:

A Masterful Collection.......2006-05-15

Look, an anthology will always miss something and this one is no exception, but it remains a superb collection of the Hard Rock/Metal that was Budgie. (On that basis 4 1/2 stars would be more appropriate, but how can you mark a band like this down even half a star?).
These guys have been credited by almost every heavy band of any repute at all and their songs have similarly been covered by most - yet every critic slammed them mercilessly.
This anthology covers pretty much where they came from to where they went and it's still top shelf hard rock 30 years after the originals were recorded (despite the critic's ill informed and uneducated views). I would have liked a bit more from the album "In For The Kill" (which I think was their best and heaviest), but ... that's life.
If you're after something to cover your worn out Budgie vinyl, you could do a lot worse than this. If you're after something to supplement your Budgie collection, then this is it!

The BETTER "best-of" collection.......2006-04-16

What can be said about Budgie that hasn't been said of any other late 60s/early 70s heavy-rock power trio: universally hated by critics, musically incompetent-until, of course, they "mellowed" out in the middle period of their career and learned how to play, and toughened their sound again later on, when demand for heavy metal came back in the early 80s. Budgie leader, Burke Shelley, himself, is your "proto-typical" singing bass player in a power trio. Combine Rush's Geddy Lee, and his lanky, girlish figure, together with Blue Cheer's Dickie Petersen, and his "evil munchkin" squeaks and squawks for vocals, and you have Burke Shelley. And throughout the years, Burke Shelley HAS BEEN Budgie. Not exactly sure why he could never keep a supporting cast of guitarist and drummer all those years to play with him. From what I've read about him, he seems a nice enough fellow--certainly, not the kind of chap who would be difficult work with--like Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull.
When looking for a "best of" compilation on Budgie, don't go for the most obvious one at the top--called "the very best of Budgie", but choose this one, not-so obvious from the title ( which could have been better titled--"Ecstasy of Fumbling" not guaranteed to sell a lot of discs. But then, neither was a name like "Budgie"!) It's easy to miss, because of this title. But trust me, it's better than the "very best of Budgie". For one thing, "The Very Best of Budgie" includes no songs from one of the better Budgie albums, "Squawk", but this one has two of the best songs from "Squawk"--"Whiskey River", and "Hot As A Docker's Armpit". Plus, this is a 2-disc set, covering most of Budgie's career--including their down moments.
Disc one kicks off with a "bang!"--the first 6 songs, in particular, featuring some of Budgie's most hard-rocking moments. From "Homicidal/Suicidal" through "Breadfan", with the band's trademark tempo-changes and rave-ups, it's easy to see why Budgie were so influential on many of today's heavy metal bands (although, I think some of those same bands, like Metallica and Soundgarden, could just as easily been influenced by Blue Cheer, had they bothered to give them a listen!)
Tony Bourge was the guitar player on much of those early numbers--with a similar, fat, baritone, Gibson guitar sound to another "Tony" from over the Welsh border--Tony Iommi. Although, Bourge seems a little more nimble on the frets than Iommi(he didn't have a missing "finger tip" either!), his soloing reminds me a little more like Lee Pickens from a Texas heavy-rock band of the same period--Bloodrock--especially on the first two tracks of disc one. "Big" John Thomas kept up the Gibson guitar tradition in the band when he took over after Bourge left in the late 70s, and you'll hear his contributions primarily on disc two. But it was Tony Bourge who was a big part of what made the "Budgie sound" what it is today. And I liked how well Burke Shelley kept up with, and often "shadowed", Tony Bourge's playing on his bass, playing some nice rhythm--although, Shelley himself confesses that he didn't really know how to play bass until later on.
All the drummers the band had throughout their history have been pretty decent--again, I'm not sure why they couldn't work with Mr. Shelley.
The first four tracks of "disc two" pretty much go through the band's "mellow", or "experimental", period (shades of Led Zeppelin and Bad Company from the same time period of 1975-76. "Presence" and "Physical Graffiti"-type "filler" music "mellow") Then, in 1980, with the popularity of bands like Judas Priest and Motorhead on the rise, Budgie follows suit in the same musical vein, with new guitarist, "Big" John Thomas on board, for the rest of the disc covering the years 1980 through 1982.
Lyrically speaking, Budgie's song titles seem to be at times more interesting than the songs themselves. Don't get me wrong--the Welsh are a sweet folk, but they seem to live in such a remote, primitive, almost-sheltered society, that Welsh bands like Budgie and The Alarm come across in their lyrics as having such a wide-eyed, overly-idealistic, but extremely-naive view of the world. Kind of like, "innocence first discovery of sin", almost? However, music covers most lyrical blunders for me, and Budgie has enough hooks-and-grooves in much of their music to make me easily forget how bad their lyrics can be.
But again, this compilation follows chronological order like a "musical history book", showcasing "the good, bad, and the ugly" through Budgie's career--much like other compilations, such as "The History Of Blue Cheer" or "Bachman-Turner Overdrive-Gold". But if you truly want the "very" very best of Budgie, this is the one to buy.

droppin riffs like the Enola Gay dropped nukes.......2006-02-15

MEGA METAL. Do you like 70's metal? Do you like Heavy bombastic ballz heavy blasting metal guitar riffs with blues soloing and soulful raspy clean vocals? Do you like dynamic compositions with sweet sappy interludes that accentuate climatic flamboyant NUCLEAR guitar rock riffs? Do you sometimes wish Rod Stuart sang for Venom? Well, this anthology is for you, my friend. You will be prancing around your living-room sober! You will get possessed with THE RIFF as Budgie take off into the stratos and almost silent upper altitudes before landing back into the bottom of hades with ripping the riffs of classics like Breadfan, Crashcourse in Brain Surgury, Homicidal Suicidal, Napolean Bonaparte 3, Nude Disintigrating Parachtutist Woman, and In For The Kill, and many many others. I should probably give this 4 stars, because the 2nd disc is mostly worthless, except for the Almighty song entitled "Panzer Division Destroyed!" That song is so heavy and raw, recorded live, that it makes you want to slap your momma and take the Lord's name in vein!
Burke Shelley is such a fireball on the first disc! Its worth the money. Skip the individual albums and get hooked on An Exctacy of Fumbling! Diamond Head come in a distant second to Budgie. \oo/

Good compilation.......2003-01-17

I generally don't buy compilations, but this one here is very good and well produced by Repertoire.

BUDGIE is the perfect example of hard, raw, muscular British hard rock of the seventies. Their first five albums are still considered their best, when they had guitarrist Tony Burges. Some of the more recent material was decvently good, but did not find their way to the hearts of fans.

So, BUDGIE is the perfect example of a band that, if you do not know it yet, you should buy a compilation first, to check if you wanna buy some other albums by them.

One of the greatest classic rock bands of all time!.......2002-11-28

After seeing Budgie open for Judas Priest in San Antonio, Texas (this city has always loved Budgie) in August 2002 I immediately bought this anthology. I had been familiar with several of Budgie's hits (Breadfan, Parents, Crash Course in Brain Surgery, etc) over the years, but after seeing them live I was just blown away at how good they were and had to have more. This compilation of their hits throughout the years is really good, and the booklet that comes with it is very good quality also. My only complaint with this collection is that two of the songs that I saw Budgie play live (Zoom Club and Gunslinger) are not on here. However I give this collection five stars anyway, since no anthology is perfect and this one comes damn close. I'm glad I bought this, and I highly recommend it.

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