Badfinger - Wish You Were Here

Nothing short of a pop/rock masterpiece. In my opinion, the band's best album. Unfortunately it was overlooked by just about everyone and received very little or no airplay in the US during a time when airplay was crucial to an album's sales and success.

This is a stone classic but the description mentions extra tracks---Where are they???

Gene Harrold

This is the last Badfinger album to consist of the four core members, as Pete Ham leaves after the recodings, is replaced by Bob Jackson, then returns, only to have Joey Molland depart. Each member contributes memorable songs, such as Pete Ham's DENNIS, JUST A CHANCE, KNOW ONE KNOWS; Joey Molland's GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE and LOVE TIME; Mike Gibbins' YOU'RE SO FINE, and Tom EVANS KING OF THE LOAD. There are two medlies on this CD, both done great, one written by Molland and Gibbins, the other by Ham and Molland. Quite possibly my favorite Badfinger second to STRAIGHT UP.

Have never heard of Badfinger until I came across them in a ListMania section while I was browsing. What intrigued me to give this CD a try was their sad story. Clearly a superb band, way ahead of their time and with a unparalelled talent. Really sad the way it ended but ironically that's makes them more of a real gem. I'm sure I'll be exploring more of them.

Instead of with Linda....

And with the songs serving as an outlet for severe personal and financial problems - As if McCartney needed to write a song like Layla...

That's how I've often thought of this CD. Great guitar work, and lots of big melodies. There's plenty of details in the other reviews, so I'll just add that Pete Ham is in his usual fine (musical) form here, and it's undoubtedly Joey Molland's finest hour. It took dire straits for the band, but Molland never sounded as inspired as he does here.

An odd thing I noticed after reading the Badfinger bio - In the closing verse to Dennis, a great Pete Ham song, the phrase "There's A Way Through" is repeated many times - reportedly the same phrase as Ham's final words to Tom Evans shortly before his death...

that chose to sue the band rather than understand what Pete, Joey, Tom and Mike were going through. The shame of it all is while rock was going into that transitory phase from British Rock and Roll and California Country Rock to Disco, Punk and whatever Springsteen calls his music??? Badfinger in 1974 had recorded an album that not only sounded like "Abbey Road" or even elements of the Beatles' "White Album", but evoke that same magical lyrical imagery so prevalent in the latter Lennon-McCartney era.

Peter Ham, disillusioned and broke, would take his life less than a year after recording this album, but some of his finest songs - maybe not hit tunes like "Day After Day", "No Matter What" or "Baby Blue" - were recorded here. Songs like "Just A Chance", "In the Meantime", and "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch". Tommy Evans contributed the cute and very Lennonsque "King of the Load" with a sweeping guitar solo (Ham? or Molland) that rivals George Harrison's best Beatle solos. Mike Gibbins stepped from behind the drums to sing "You're So Fine" with the three main singer Badfinger boys. The epic, chugging, masterpiece "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch-"Shall I Smoke" with an opening lead vocal by Ham and ending vocal by Joey Molland and with dual lead guitars by Ham and Molland is a breathtaking finish to a wonderous work. A work that sadly enough ended up in the bargain bins - and left the band in desperate debt because a label chose to punish an act over the misdeeds of its mismanagement.

Joey Molland once told me that yep, "Gotta Get Out of Here" was a blunt reference to what the band was experiencing due to lousy management and a label that really didn't care. A band that came directly out of being the Beatles' proteges, being outstanding musicians and composers in their own right and keeping the tradition of the Fab Four did not deserve such a terrible fate. Both Ham and Evans died needless, tragic, early deaths that shouldn't have been, and Molland deserves much more acclaim - at least Badfinger has been acknowledged as a major influence by bands like Cheap Trick, the Records, the Bangles and others.

Well, I'm sure you all have heard the problems this band went through, so I won't even go into that. What you have here in Wish You Were Here is not to be mistaken by Pink Floyd's CD of the same title. Just over 30 minutes, this album broke new ground, a different approach then previous releases. I won't sit here and insult anyone's intelligence by stating this is their greatest work. Personally, its my favorite. From start to finish, no bad tracks, some medley's, some excellent choices of intruments never used before on a Badfinger record. This is by all means, the last record of the Classic Badfinger lineup. The comparisons to Abbey Road are prevelent.....but it stands to this day as a Classic Lost Album that will go down in history as just that.....Lost. No hit songs here, no tradmark sounds, just pure brilliance!!

If I could possibly improve this great release, I would have included "Timeless" somewhere in between the original's release first side and second. Would have been a nice compliment to the Abbey Road theory?!?

This document should not be overlooked by any casual, hardcore or any Beatle fan!

The two albums that Badfinger recorded for Warner Brothers after leaving Apple were among the easiest to find in the days before cd's. They could usually be found languishing in used bins for relatively low prices, and it was this that initially threw me off. Finally, faced with the prospect of little known Badfinger over no Badfinger at all, I went ahead and purchased both albums. Imagine my surprise when I got home and found that both albums were loaded with songs on par with, and at times better than, the songs that the band did while with Apple. The whole album is strong, with leadoff shouldabeenahit "Just A Chance" Pete Ham is in fine voice, and one is left to wonder what could have been. "Know One Knows" and "Dennis" are equally strong, but it's the rather odd cut and paste songs "In The Meantime/Some Other Time" and "Meanwhile Back At The Ranch/Should I Smoke" that show the band's true brilliance. Within months Pete Ham would be dead and with his passing rock and roll lost one of the truly great songwriters as well as a hugely underrated guitarist. This album demands and deserves a listen and it's a risk you won't regret.

I've picked up all of Badfinger's album and this one is the best. My favorite tracks include Got To Get Out of Here, Dennis, In the Meantime, and Meanwhile Back at the Ranch. The Production is fantastic - Big thanks to Chris Thomas - and the band is tight! The guitar ending to Meanwhile Back is thrilling. The songwriting of the group throughout the album stands head and shoulders above any of the other albums. Any potential hit singles to go along with Day After Day or No Matter What? No, but there's not a weak song in the whole album. It flows perfectly, pulling you along with its sound, craftsmanship, and melody. What a crime it was for Warner Brothers to pull it after only 3 weeks! A definite overlooked gem.

Badfinger's second album for Warner Brothers was recording during two sessions - the first took place at The Caribou Ranch, Colorado in April/May 1974; the second at AIR studios, London in June. Though financial worries had begun to have great influence on the 4 members; they all felt that they had to put everything they had into these recordings. And this really shows on the album - another masterpiece - one of the really great albums of the seventies. It has been called "The Sergent Pepper of the 1970's"; personally I feel that it has more in common with "Abbey Road".

Badfinger had grown into an albums-band, and this album really works as a whole, especially the original side 2 which features two very succesful medleys. The album opens with Pete's very powerful Just A Chance and with Mike's light and catchy You're So Fine song by Joey and Pete - once again Mike proves himself as a competent songwriter. Know One Knows is another powerful melodic rocker by Pete - I love the Japanese voice that meddles with leadguitar part. The first side closes with another grand production which characterizes most of the album; Pete's Dennis written to his step-son. Besides the two medleys side two features Tom Evans' King Of The Load ( one of my favourite Tom Evans songs) and Joey's quiet Love Time. No singles were released from the album; this was a period when hit-singles didn't matter much to the progressive/ambitious bands. Just a Chance or Know One Knows might have been able to make the charts with the right promotion, though none of them have obvious hit-potentials.