Badfinger CD

BADFINGER is the reissue of the 1974 debut by this melodic U.K. rock band and features the songs "I Miss You," "Shine On," "Song For A Lost Friend," and "Lonely You."
Badfinger: Joey, Pete (guitar); Tom (bass guitar); Mike (drums).
Additional personnel: Fag & Tergie (sound effects).
The first Badfinger album recorded for Warner Brothers after the band's infamous split with Apple Records, this self-titled 1974 collection was unleashed on the public so close to the release of their last Apple album (ASS), that it, sadly, did not get quite the required opportunity to shine in its own light. But, decades later, the album shines on indeed, with the gorgeous, harmony-encrusted pop number "Shine On," patented Pete Ham piano weepers like "Miss You" and "Lonely You," and the credible attempt at pure R&B, "Matted Spam" (which Ham later rerecorded, solo, in a much heavier manner). One of the standouts is the faintly tropical "Where Do We Go From Here?" which strays from the program while still retaining the basic Badfinger melodic punch.
In many ways, Badfinger is a continuation of Straight Up -- an unabashed, concise pop album -- but there's one important difference: Todd Rundgren was a taskmaster on Straight Up. He may have not jelled with the band, but he brought out their best. Chris Thomas didn't work the same way, although he's equally skilled in the studio, and he made a state-of-the-art pop record, which meant that they didn't necessarily play to the band's strengths. Instead, they tried a little bit of everything, with everybody throwing in a song or two, all in hopes that something would click on the radio. As a result, Badfinger is a bit of a mess. Some moments work quite well -- Pete Ham scores with "Lonely You" and "Song for a Lost Friend" (sounding a bit like Ray Davies on the latter), along with his collaboration with Tom Evans, "Shine On," while Joey Molland's "Love Is Easy" has a pleasing pop hook, and his "Andy Norris" rocks harder and more convincingly than anything they'd yet recorded. But they're surrounded with failed experiments and songs that, for one reason or another, just don't click. Sometimes, the fault is the production. For instance, Ham's "Matted Spam" is pretty catchy, even with its terrible title, but the faux-soul arrangement doesn't fly. Similarly, Mike Gibbons' "My Heart Goes Out" sinks in its own neo-folkie pretensions, and Molland's brooding "Give It Up" flails under then-contemporary AOR cliches. On the whole, Badfinger is a stronger record than its immediate predecessor, since it plays to their pop strengths, but there are enough missed opportunities and forgettable moments to make it worthwhile only for truly dedicated fans. The rest can make do with the selections on Shine On or The Best of Badfinger, Vol. 2. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
That this album is credited to Badfinger may be somewhat misleading--since it was actually recorded in 1992 by Badfinger guitarist/vocalist Joey Molland and his touring band. Nevertheless, it provides a good taste of the gutsy, no-frills rock that Molland has been making since the deaths of his Badfinger band mates Pete Ham (in 1975) and Tom Evans (in 1983). Essentially a studio recording of the material Molland performs at his live shows, the collection features his heartfelt, lively versions of Badfinger's early seventies power pop hits "Come And Get It," "No Matter What," "Baby Blue" and "Day After Day."
Also included are excellent Molland-penned songs like "Love Is Gonna Come At Last" and "Sweet Tuesday Morning." Although his performances of the Pete Ham-written Badfinger hits are well-played and energetic, Molland's increasingly rough voice makes it difficult for him to match the pure pop perfection of the original recordings. While BADFINGER is not an essential purchase, it's impossible not to enjoy such earnest versions of these classic rock songs.Mojo (Publisher) (4/00, p.116) - "...A band turning stress and misery into pop genius....The sound of a band seeing the misery in others and feeling it themselves..."