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Straight Up

Badfinger - Straight Up Audio CD

A fair review of the Badfinger "Straight Up" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Badfinger reviews here, or go back to the Badfinger tabs.

Band: Badfinger
Title: Straight Up
Rating:

Release Date: 1995-08-15
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Take It All 2: Baby Blue 3: Money 4: Flying 5: I'd Die Babe 6: Name of the Game 7: Suitcase 8: Sweet Tuesday Morning 9: Day After Day 10: Sometimes 11: Perfection 12: It's Over 13: Money [Original Version][#] 14: Flying [Original Version][#] 15: Name of the Game [Original Version][#] 16: Suitcase [Original Version][#] 17: Perfection [Original Version][#] 18: Baby Blue [US Single Mix]

Badfinger Straight Up 24K Gold Disc CD
Thanks to the sound engineering of Steve Hoffman, the Gold Disc cd's are incomparable in sound quality when measured by other Badfinger recordings. The 24K Gold Disc recordings of No Dice and Straight Up are in another dimension when compared to other Badfinger recordings. The sound is precise and transparent and the cd packaging is beautifully presented.

One of the Best Albums of Its Era
From FM radio classics "Baby Blue" and "Day After Day," to the haunting gem "Name of the Game," this is British power pop at its best. "Straight Up" may be one of the most underrated albums in rock. There's not a bad song on the disc, and the production talents of George Harrison and Todd Rundgren bring out the best of the band's sound. Pick up a "greatest hits" package if you must, but "Straight Up" is essential listening for any fan of Badfinger, '70s power pop, or British rock. A masterpiece!.

The Greatest Album That No One Has Ever Heard Of
From top to bottom, the tracks are consistently strong, original-sounding, never repetitive, and the songs have aged remarkably well in the 30-plus years since their original release. Quite simply, this album is a positively delicious collection of some of the finest melodically-based rock tunes ever written! Clearly, this was Badfinger at their best, and how I would like to remember this fabulous band which unfortunately never had the opportunity to have much of their best music heard by a larger audience. Produced slickly and professionally first by the late great George Harrison (before he became involved with the Concert For Bangladesh)and later by Todd Rundgren who nonetheless do not fail to capture the classic gritty Badfinger sound. In terms of songwriting, it is a particularly strong album for band members Joey Molland ("Suitcase", "Sweet Tuesday Morning") and Pete Ham ("Take It All", "Baby Blue", "Name of the Game", "Day After Day", "Perfection") and it is frightening to think about how good this band was and could have been had they had the proper time to develop and support from their labels and management. Pete Ham in particular was an amazing musician and songwriter, an unrecognized legend-in-making who deserves to be recognized along with the greatest in rock history but sadly probably never will get his just due while overrated hacks are fawned over by the music industry each decade. His songs have the rare ability to entertain and emotionally captivate simultaneously and there is a certain beautiful pathos which comes across from his lyrics that makes one recognize what a special and tragically vulnerable person he was, especially poignant considering he would take his own life 5 years after this album's release. After the 12 songs from the original release, there are 6 bonus tracks that are just about the most enjoyable and interesting such tracks ever on an album- throwaways designed to jack up the price they most certainly are not! These include 5 earlier-recorded incarnations of album songs highlighted by a fabulous, completely different acoustic-guitar based version of "Name of the Game" (this is the version on The Very Best of Badfinger Greatest Hits album recently released; the album version is a slower, piano-based, more full-sounding version) and the original version of "Suitcase" which is musically grittier and more biting, in many ways a better match musically for the song's caustic lyrics and containing the original lyrics before they were modified to eliminate a drug reference. All in all, a must-have for any fan of great songwriting and rock music and a wonderful sonic legacy for this lost treasure of a band.

Perfection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But i will just tell you, that "Straight Up" is such a beutiful album. There could be so much to tell about Badfinger's third album. It has so many incredible songs, wether it would be the heart-breaking Pete Ham's "The Name of the game" Joey molland's "Sweet tuesday morning", or the rocy "sometimes" and "suitcase". But it's minaly Pete Ham's incredible gift of writing, his way of combining touchy lyrics with up tempo music as "Baby Blue". The album also includs, their biggest hit "Day after day", but for me its the opner "Take it all" that worth the whole thing, When Ham and Tommy Evans combine their beutiful vocals into one great harmony and create such an exciting Chorus.

They were such a great band, and in this album you could easily understand why.

Classic album by Badfinger

This doesn't detract from the terrific music the band produced during their short, but productive peak period of 1970-1974. Most folks know the tragic story behind Badfinger(and if you don't I'd recommend picking up Dan Matovina's book WITHOUT YOU to discover more). This album, along with NO DICE and WISH YOU WERE HERE represents the band at their best--melodic, riff driven power pop(similiar in style to contemporaries The Rasberries and Big Star).

The sound is spectacular--this versions blows away the Apple/Capitol/Emi cd release(which always sounded compressed and muddy). DCC is to be commended and this remastered edition is worth every penny. The production by Todd Rundgren, George Harrison and Geoff Emerick (on the bonus tracks which were originally slated for release but re-recorded) is stellar.

My only complaint--there are still two unissued tracks from the first version of STRAIGHT UP(the rest are represented here--alternative versions of songs on the final issued version). Also, while the liner notes are good, they are far from comprehensive in telling us who played what and the various inspiration for some of the outstanding songs.

Straight Up ranks as one of the band's best albums (along with the criminally under rated Wish You Were Here). No Dice is an equally fine album with almost as many memorable songs and a slightly gritter sound than is found here. The gold edition still sounds the best of all the releases by this band. Steve Hoffman's remastering is terrific. One of the 100 best rock albums ever recorded, this is a great place to be introduced to the band and their unique sound.

You can see a complete list of all Badfinger discography, or go back to the Badfinger tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.