by Alex Henderson
Having acquired a small cult following with its first album, Budgie offered a second dose of abrasive, forceful heavy metal that, like its predecessor, drew on influences ranging from Cream to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Budgie was a band that loved contrasts -- the folk-ish qualities of &Make Me Happy& and the Beatlesque &Rolling Home Again& make hard-driving classics like &Hot as a Docker's Armpit,& &Drugstore Woman,& and &Rocking Man& seem all the more intense. For all its strengths, Squawk didn't turn Budgie into the well-known outfit it should have been. Budgie's followers were a devoted bunch, but unfortunately, there weren't nearly enough of them.