Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Budgie
Label: RCA Records
Released: 1982
Runtime: 39:07
Rating: 4/5
Budgie, the cult Welsh heavy rockers who made their mark on the wider music story mostly through eccentric song and album titles, not to mention their goofy album covers, were enjoying a veritable ‘new spring’ in the early eighties. »Deliver Us From Evil« was their tenth studio album and, for a long time, their last, all the way until their unexpected comeback 24 years later with »You’re All Living In Cuckooland« (2006).
After a successful revival in the early eighties, when they managed to hop on the new wave of British heavy metal right on time (a wave they’d strongly influenced with their seventies work), Budgie operated as a ‘power trio’: Burke Shelley on vocals and bass, John Thomas on guitar, and Steve Williams on drums. Shelley, the only original member and the Welsh ‘Harry Potter’ of hard rock, had always been one of the most charismatic singers in the business, as well as a pretty innovative bassist and songwriter, and he knew exactly what he wanted to say on »Deliver Us From Evil«. The previous album, »Nightflight« (1981), was one of their biggest artistic and commercial successes, so he wanted to steer the band’s sound toward something even more appealing to radio stations. For this venture, the band needed a keyboardist for the first time in their history. The big novelty was therefore the addition of synthesizers, supplied by Duncan MacKay (over his career he also worked with the likes of Alex Harvey & Cockney Rebel, 10cc, Colosseum II, Camel, The Alan Parsons Project and Kate Bush).
»Deliver Us From Evil« was, rather surprisingly by usual Budgie standards, a concept album, since almost every song on it wrestled with Cold War themes. In 1982, things between ‘West’ and ‘East’ were once again extremely tense, and it looked like the Cold War wouldn’t stay cold for much longer. Budgie were of course far from the only band to cash in lyrically on this wave of paranoia, which cooled off as quickly as it had started after the death of the fear-inspiring Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev that same year. Only many years later did it turn out that nuclear catastrophe had been much closer than it seemed at the time, averted only by the level head of a Soviet commander who realized in the nick of time that the radar system had malfunctioned, and so stopped the approval of a missile strike on North America at the last moment. Under Don Smith’s production, the dirty guitar phrases on »Deliver Us From Evil« got a thorough smoothing-out, while MacKay’s synth textures gave some of the songs a hefty AOR stamp and nudged them a bit away from the then-current direction of the new wave of British heavy metal, which cost them a few fans, especially among those who liked their sound noisier.
The spirit and sonic image of »Deliver Us From Evil« are captured best by the opening melodic-rock classic »Bored With Russia«, the album’s most recognizable and popular track. It’s a cover, but one hell of a good interpretation of the original by American Bo Hill. This AOR evergreen, which also came out as a single, has all the hallmarks of a radio hit, even though it never became one: a hyper-melodic chorus, a subtle central arrangement and extremely tasteful guitar phrases. Throughout their career Budgie were often labeled a ‘power trio’ and frequently compared to the famous Canadians Rush. Shelley’s vocal and visual resemblance to Geddy Lee did a lot to fuel the comparison. On »Deliver Us From Evil« Burke could still hit the high notes, though his vocals were mostly pitched lower than in the seventies.
»Don’t Cry«, which also showed up as the B-side of the »Bored With Russia« single, is a hard rocker wound up to a faster tempo, with fat guitar phrases, merciless drum barrages and rustling synth passages, where Shelley’s vocals manage to be both a raving neurotic and a gloomy avenger at once, while Thomas casually spices up the whole thing with a classic-metal guitar solo. »Truth Drug« is another cunning and quite interesting hybrid of melodic and hard rock, with decisive guitar passages and polished synth textures. On »Young Girl« a serious lyric about romantic disappointment gets dispelled by MacKay’s goofy synth shenanigans, with an electronic sound in the style of a ‘kiddie show on the road’, plus Shelley’s sarcastic singing.
»Flowers In the Attic«, on the other hand, is one of the best power ballads in the band’s story, with mighty symphonic arrangements, an iconoclastic guitar phrase and Burke at the peak of his vocal powers. Instrumental interludes with keyboard-and-guitar improvisations deepen its epic atmosphere even further. »N.O.R.A.D. (Doomsday City)« has a slow start but a very good switch into a faster tempo, where rattling bass lines and sturdy drum fills prop up a juicy guitar melody, peaking in a ‘soaring’ chorus.
»Give Me The Truth« is a lot of fun, a melodic cross between hard rock and heavy metal with bristling guitar passages and Mr. Shelley at the height of his vocal paranoia. Here too there’s plenty of raw guitar improvising, while the melodic sonic side stays at an enviable level throughout. »Alison« opens with synthetically tinged synth textures that don’t bode well, since it’s a pretty clichéd intro to a sugarcoated love ballad, the kind that really doesn’t suit Budgie, even if Burke strains every nerve to sound like some AOR vocal hero. The rest is somewhat better, as MacKay’s keyboards become much more orchestral.
The melodic energy catalyst »Finger On the Button«, dominated by a firm guitar phrase backed by relentless drum crescendos, is, with its rousing chorus warning of yet another Cold War delusion, one of the highlights of the whole »Deliver Us From Evil«. The closer, »Hold On To Love«, where Budgie turn into heavy metal heroes one more time as a farewell, even recalls Judas Priest’s »Screaming For Vengeance« era, thanks to the brutally sharpened guitar phrases led by a thunderous improvisation, as well as the drum stampedes and an anthemic chorus.
»Deliver Us From Evil« packed a heaping gallon of excellent, melodically tinged hard rock, so it’s a real shame that Budgie shut down all studio activity for a long time after its release. With »Deliver Us From Evil«, Mr. Shelley and his feathered friends confirmed their knack for writing compact songs with radio potential. Plenty of longtime fans weren’t exactly thrilled, but on the other hand it was fine proof that these hard rock pioneers weren’t just vehement, misunderstood clowns and oddballs with hard-to-read song titles and cheeky album covers, but also had a flair for writing potential radio hits.
Lineup
Burke Shelley – vocals, bass guitar
John Thomas – guitar
Steve Williams – drums
Duncan MacKay – keyboards
Production
Don Smith
Track list
1. Bored With Russia
2. Don’t Cry
3. Truth Drog
4. Young Girl
5. Flowers In The Attic
5. N.O.R.A.D. (Doomsday City)
6. Give Me The Truth
8. Alison
9. Finger On The Button
9. Hold On To Love
