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Even casual fans of Badfinger have to be aware of the bittersweet story of Badfinger. After being hand-deliviered their first world-wide hit "Come and Get" it by Paul McCartney and signed to the Beatles' fledgling Apple label, Badinger seemed destined for greatness. And for a while it looked like everything they touched would turn to gold. The band followed up Magic Christian Music with No Dice and a second hit--the Pete Ham-penned "No Matter What." Then came Straight Up with "Day After Day" and "Baby Blue." And then the dream began to unravel, eventually leading to the dissolution of the band and suicides of both Ham in 1975 and Tom Evans in 1983.This disc focuses on the band's Warner Brothers output from 1974 and 1975, plus the only two tracks from 1979's Airwaves that you'd want to hear (a release that included only two members from their Apple heyday: Tom Evans and Joey Molland).The "Best Of" in the title means just that; the hits dried up after they left Apple. But this is not to imply that Badfinger wasn't churning out great music at Warner Brothers. Badfinger were not merely Beatles poseurs. Each member contributed songs to their WB catalog. Key tracks like "Know One Knows," "Lonely You," "Just a Chance" and "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch/Should I Smoke" are classic Badfinger. And as an added bonus, you get four tracks from the unreleased album Head First (the cassette version had only two of these tracks). These four tracks alone are worth the price of admission for Badfinger fans. Plus, this is the only place to get any of Badfinger's WB music domestically.It's too bad WB didn't follow Apple's good example and rerelease these albums in their entirety with bonus tracks. (Yes, I know Airwaves got the bonus track treatment, but this was Badfinger without Pete Ham and Mike Gibbins. I'm sorry, but that's like calling Wings the Beatles) In the meantime, buy this Rhino release while it's still in print.
These songs are all from Badfinger's post Apple period; The selection of songs from the two released Warner albums is excellent. The CD was released before their great lost 3rd Warner album "Head First" and contains four terrific songs from that album. The versions on this compilation are different mixes, sounding more polished than on the "Head First" album released in 2000;. Finally there are two tracks from the 1979 album "Airwaves". A very good compilation. A very good informative booklet.
I am listening to Badfinger even as I type this review. This is the Best Of Badfinger Vol 2, and I thought volume 1 was great !! As previous reviewers have said, what an absolute tragedy the story of Badfinger is (Buy the Book "Without You" the tragic story of Badfinger). Well I have everything they have released, if you do buy any of the Badfinger best ofs, you will more than likely get hooked and start collecting all of their albums.Some of the best songs on this Cd are off "Wish You Were Here" their best album by a mile IMHO.In fact 6 of the 9 songs on WYWH are on this compilation. They were such an original group with every member capable of writing an exhilirating hit song. just have a taste of "Just A Chance", "You're So Fine", "Meanwhile back At The Ranch/Should I Smoke".They were just so good, Damn I miss them!
of course there's a few songs that i would have liked to see here in place of whats on here.but any greatest hits CD everybody will say they should have had this or that song.this is a must for any degree of badfinger fan that you are.its loaded with great songs from all 3 cds they made on the wb label. some people say that their wb music is better than the hits that are the apple label [come and get it,no mater what,day after day,baby blue].after hearing this collection that it is a good argument.badfinger certianly wasn't finished with puting out great music when they left apple.and after hearing this cd you might feel like i felt,this stuff needs to get some air play on the [classic}rock stations.its a shame that all their legal woes lead to the suicides of peter ham {irreplacable to the band} and later tom evans{almost as irreplacable}.all 4 combined made a great band.after hearing this cd i think youll agree.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Greatest misses that shoulda been contenders, December 5, 1999
Reviewer: A music fan There are few rags-to-riches-to-rags stories as sad as the Badfinger story. These guys should have had the kind of multi-platinum success in their day that bands such as The Guess Who and Three Dog Night were having; they were certainly as good as the former and WAY better than the latter. But they got caught in the black hole of Apple Records acrimonious demise, taken advantage of by an unscrupulous manager and eventually imploded with the tragic suicide of lead singer and main songwriter Pete Ham in 1975 (followed by bandmate Tom Evans some years later). As they wound down, they recorded three albums for Warner Brothers, two of which saw release. The selections from all three make up the bulk of this compilation and it adds up to a honey of a CD. There's everything here that made Badfinger great, from the plaintive "I Miss You" to the chugging rock of "Just A Chance" and the BEATLES '65 feel of "You're So Fine," plus a whole lot more. It's all infectious, charming stuff, but you can't help thinking, "If only things had been different for them...."
When Badfinger signed with Warner Brothers they began a downward spiral commerical from which they never recovered. It wasn't due to Warners, but a manager that was ripping the band off. They were all living on paupers wages while their manager lived high on the hog. The band soldiered on producing two albums under their Warners contract. The first Badfinger was uneven. Pete Ham's songs were very strong, but the other material was a little spotty. The second, Wish You Were Here is among the finest albums the band ever released. Unfortunately, it was pulled from release due to improper withdrawals from their manager against their advances. The band finished a third album (Head First-still unreleased) from which there are a couple of very good tracks included here. Due to finanical mismanagement, theft and legal wrangling, Pete Ham in despair took his own life. Later so did Tom Evans.This album brings together some fine material and reminds the world what a loss the music world endured.
Tragedy and Triumph Were the Cornerstones of This Great Band, December 22, 1999
Terrific compilation of later Badfinger albums..., August 17, 1999
