Comments for Badfinger, Straight Up

Badfinger's _Straight Up_ album is one of the most sought after LP records today, fetching anywhere between $30-$100. It is also considered one of the finest pop LPs of the 1970's, blending Revolveresque guitar hooks with Abbey Road style production polish. The album yielded two massively successful hit singles, "Day after Day" and "Baby Blue" which helped to vault the band to near superstar status. With rockers like "Baby Blue" and "Suitcase", Badfinger showed that it could rock out with the best of them, putting out guitar pop of an unbelievable calibre. But they were also capable of gentle, harmonic ballads such as "Day after Day", "The Name of the Game" and "Perfection". To top it all off, the remastered CD features several bonus tracks culled from the unreleased first version of the album. It is on these tracks that we get a sense of the group's creativity and pop sensibilities.

A must have album. The best album recorded by BADFINGER.

This is one of the finest pop albums of all time. One great track after another! Almost any song on this album could have been a single. Once again some of Joey Mollands best work was passed over, however, when it came time to issue singles. "Suitcase" is one of the best songs of this period in his career and the dynamic "Sometime" shows that he could rock with the best of them. The Pete Ham songs that were released as singles were certainly worthy of that distinction, as well as others no so released. Further Tom Evan's, "It's Over" is as captivating as any song he ever performed. Again, almost any of these tracks could have been a single.

Purchased the album twice as a kid... was great - still is...

Man.....give this a listen, it sounds soooo good! There are obvious favorites here.....but i like the way it starts out, "Take it all". The bass and organ are beautiful, along with super harmonies.

It is ironic that what many consider to be their best album is the band's least favorite. Apparently, they were not enthralled with Todd Rundgren (producer) or the "take" he did on some of their songs. It's interesting to note that of the several times I have seen reincarnations of Badfinger, "Suitcase" has always been performed in the original album version, not the release version. Apparently, Joey didn't like the steel guitar bit too much. Other comments over the years to the press indicate that Rundgren or the job he did on their songs was not overly appreciated. This, to me, is a shame. Whether it involved personality conflicts or creative differences or both, Badfinger's best work was clearly right here -- on "Straight Up". If they had retained the services of Rundgren, subsequent albums may have superceded this rating. Still, this is no reason to pass over works like "Badfinger" or "Wish You Were Here" (which runs a neck & neck close second to "Straight Up" in my opinion). "Ass" is pretty good, too, though the album pressing and original recording is a distorted piece of shit ("Blind Owl", especially) and no one has since stepped forward to do a CD any justice. IF YOU DON"T HAVE STRAIGHT UP, YOU DON'T HAVE A RECORD COLLECTION

Regarding Todd Rundgren; many groups he''s produced over the years appear to be bitter towards him (XTC''s Andy Partridge probably being the most infamous example). The reason is because he''s extremely controlling in the studio. Of course, he''s still a fine producer, and Straight Up is a great album (though moreso because of the songs than the production, as the bonus tracks on the CD re-issue prove). To be honest, I really enjoy the version of Name of the Game with the horn/string arrangement, though the album version is great too. Ass is available on CD as an import, by the way (as is WIsh You Were Here).