Badfinger: Straight Up - 1971

On to the group's third album....

Produced in part by contemporary studio nutcase Todd Rundgren, this album starts strongly with the muscular and organ-powered Take It All. Also impressive is the slightly rockier Baby Blue. Already I sense that this is possibly going to present a marginally stronger collection of songs than the previous two albums had. Only just, mind. Indeed, maybe not. There is maybe a slight more slickness to the production, but it certainly rocks less overtly than its predecessor which swings me back to that one as a preference.

Money is a solid, appealing mid-pace number featuring some nice vocal harmonies. Check out that great bass too. There has to be some Beatles influence, of course, and it arrives on the Lennon-esque Flying which is backed by some distinctly Abbey Road-inspired fuzzy guitar. How Wings does the introduction to I'd Die Babe sound? It could be off Band On the Run, couldn't it? I'm thinking Mrs. Vandebilt. This adds more weight to my "Badfinger influenced McCartney" argument!

Name Of The Game is a yearning ballad with definite 1971 vibes. It actually has a superior alternative version available on the deluxe edition of the album. Suitcase is McCartney all over and has some great slide guitar on it, played by Leon Russell, I believe. Sweet Tuesday Morning is very country-folky, having a gentle acoustic sound that was very much de rigeur in 1971. 

Day After Day really sounds familiar, very George Harrison. Guess what? George plays on it. It is one of the album's best cuts. The track was a single, reaching number 10 in the UK charts, so that is why it is in my subconscious, I'm sure.

Sometimes rocks enthusiastically in a Lennon-like fashion, with that distinctive, heavily-influenced vocal once more. Perfection is also very Beatles in its vibe, edging more to McCartney this time. It's Over could have been on Abbey Road. It's a good strong rock ballad to end the album though. There was also a pleasant enough non-album track knocking around in I'll Be The One. Another non-album nugget is the rocking No Good At All, a track on which the group sound more original as opposed to being influenced by someone else. Add Mean, Mean Jemima to that list.

For most, and myself when I first heard these three albums, this one was my favourite. Now I'm leaning towards No Dice and even the supposedly patchy Magic Christian Music on occasions. That's the beauty of music, one can change one's opinions with alarming regularity. So - it's No Dice for me right now.

My overall view of Badfinger, however, hasn't really changed from the one I have had for many years - that they were a band who had a couple of great singles, got a bit stitched up by Apple Records and suffered considerable internal turmoil that destroyed any potential they may have had. I don't consider them as amounting to very much above the ordinary, to be honest, largely due to the highly derivative nature of their sound. They certainly weren't a seminal band or one whose appeal has spanned the generations, despite my occasional enjoying of their albums.

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