Never Turn Your Back On A Friend
by Budgie
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Budgie bestography
Never Turn Your Back On A Friend is ranked 2nd best out of 18 albums by Budgie on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Budgie is Bandolier which is ranked number 8814 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 141.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Never Turn Your Back On A Friend track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Never Turn Your Back On A Friend rankings
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 5 hours ago).
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Never Turn Your Back On A Friend ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 77 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/04/2026 15:26 |  MagicSix | 1,051 | 60/100 |
| ! | 04/04/2026 12:21 | Olli | 7,758 | 62/100 |
| ! | 03/10/2026 13:16 |  Liedzeit | 2,477 | 74/100 |
| ! | 12/31/2025 19:57 | Exist-en-ciel | 15,355 | 70/100 |
| ! | 10/26/2025 00:16 |  RockyRaccoon | 7,154 | 84/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 6% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.7/100, a mean average of 75.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.1.
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Never Turn Your Back On A Friend comments
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Once described as a cross between Black Sabbath and Rush, Budgie are a truly underrated band. As already said up against the holy trinity of Zep, Sabbath and Purple and lacking their charisma, Budgie failed to get the recognition they deserved. The album is book-ended by two epic tracks and although the rest don't quite match the beginning and end it's still a great album and well worth a listen. It's definitely in my list of 100 greatest ever rock albums.
I loved Budgie back in the day, especially as a live band. At their best they were awesome, but their early albums also included some weird stuff. This album is typical of their 70s work. The opener Breadfan was an absolute classic and became a mainstay of their live sets. The closer Parents is another wonderful track. But the rest of the album is rather hit and miss.
Top tracks: Breadfan, Parents
AJSki2fly 10/22/2019 16:52 | #244006 | TOP COMMENT
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If you don't have any Budgie and like early heavy rock music the do yourself a favour and get this album and Bandolier, both classics. Budgie we a band that were just so good it was unbelievable that they never hit the really big time. I suppose they just did not get the exposure they deserved, unlike the like of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin at the time. Sadly I never got to see them live, even though I purchased my first copy of Bandolier in 1976, what was I thinking.
Burke Shelly produces some soaring vocals and classic bass line, and Tony Bourge guitar work is some of the best you will hear, and this is all held together and complimented by the drumming engine of Ray Phillips. They just knew how to work together as a tight 3 piece, probably had to as nowhere to hide in a 3 piece unit.
I have a theory about great album covers and great albums which I will often reference in comments. This is a classic example, fantastic cover with an amazing album within. Did Budgie want to be taken seriously though, with track names like 'You're the Best Thing Since Powdered Milk' and 'In the Grip of a Tyrefitters Hand'. The thing I love about Budgie is that they moved from really heavy material to the almost ethereal like 'You Know I'll Always Love You'. Great drum solo at the beginning of 'Powdered Milk'. The guitar work on 'Parents' is superb! Get it on vinyl if you can.
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