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| Walhello -> Knowledge Base -> CDs -> B -> Badfinger Wish You Were Here |
| Badfinger - Wish You Were Here Classification: Pop Band: Badfinger Tracks: - Just a Chance - You're So Fine - Got to Get Out of Here - Know One Knows - Dennis - In the Meantime/Some Other Time - Love Time - King of the Load - Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch/Should I Smoke This cd needs to be part of your collection..... This is the Abbey Road of the post-Beatles power pop genre....and that's the last of my Beatles references to Badfinger, something that's dogged them forever. This cd is an out and out masterpiece from beginning to end and was such a hard find on cd for a while. It was equally difficult to find on vinyl upon it's release, myself actually having a radio promo reject. Legend has it that Warner Bros. pulled it off the shelf after some money discrepencies with Badfingers management. That chain of events was utterly tragic....as the rest of the Badfinger legacy - but back to this album. The cd opens with Pete Ham's "Just A Chance". An obvious plea to anyone in the music industry.....and anyone with half a brain should have given Badfinger that chance. All members contributed tunes and all of them some of their strongest. Just listen to Mike Gibbin's "Your So Fine" or Pete Ham's "Dennis". Although most people are familiar with their Apple albums, most notably Straight Up and No Dice, this is their crowning achievement and should have propelled them to superstardom....but it was not to be. Those of you (possibly) reading this and wondering about buying it, I say give it a chance. My rallying to Badfinger's defense may be getting old... ...but I think what the music business did to them is unforgivable. Yes, times and styles change, but Badfinger's style was almost timeless and for them to constantly get the short end of the stick only makes me have more faith in the booming independent side of music. In fact, this was where Badfinger would have been much better off. The major labels may be great for distribution opportunities, but for creative control, independents luckily don't always have to be a buttinsky like the biggies. I'll admit Badfinger was lucky to put out an album like WISH YOU WERE HERE, which was a radical departure from their signature power-pop sound. The addition of horns and funk rhythms to songs like "Meanwhile Back At The Ranch" showed that Badfinger were much more innovative and intelligent than people thought. But, of course, people haven't realized this until it's too late. WISH YOU WERE HERE's failure to find success turned out to be the last straw for Pete Ham, the Heart and soul of Badfinger, who committed Suicide only months after this album's release. In the years since, the surviving members have tried to revive Badfinger, but when Ham died, the thrill was forever gone. minus 1 star for disappointing sound Make no mistake, this is a fine album; it captures well the emotional intensity that was burning in this Band at the time. Along with Straight Up, it stands as Badfinger's finest hour. This import, the only way it is available on CD, is very poorly remastered. Possibly they did not have the 1st generation master tapes, but the sound is very thin. Rhino, who also did not have the 1st generation masters, did a much better job on the remaster of this material that is included on their Best of Vol. 2. Wish You Were Here is certainly a lost classic of the mid-70s, which was a dire period for pop music. Warner Brothers should certainly give this album its due, with a deluxe domestic release and a 24-bit remaster from the 1st generation masters (or, even better, how about a much-needed remix from the original multitracks?). Much less worthy material has received much more attention. So, how about it, Warner Brothers? Buy Badfinger Wish You Were Here at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.comJamster - the latest ringtones for your phone! |
