Music Review: Badfinger - Straight Up (2010 Apple Records Original Remasters)

Although some folks will argue that Badfinger's "No Matter What" was the first and perhaps the finest power-pop song (post-Beatles anyway), you'll still find little argument from those same fans that their third album Straight Up was/is their greatest achievement as a band.

As part of EMI/Capitol's ongoing remastering project of the original Apple Records catalog, Straight Up — along with the rest of Badfinger's first four albums — has just been released in a newly remastered edition.

For their few critics, the knock on Badfinger has always been their close ties to the Beatles, as well as the often striking similarities to the Fabs in their own sound. While it is true that you can hear distinct echoes of the Beatles in Badfinger's work, including Straight Up's two hit singles "Baby Blue" and "Day After Day," there are lots of other influences there as well.

You can hear plenty of the sixties California folk-pop of people like the Byrds and CSN&Y in Badfinger's spot-on harmonies for one thing (and hearing them again after all these years serves as a reminder of just how underrated Badfinger really was in that department). On the other hand, the lush elegance of songs like "Name Of The Game" and "It's Over" is cut straight from the early Elton John school of stately Brit-pop.

Still, there's no getting around the Beatles influence here. The unmistakable sound of George Harrison's "Hawaiian" guitar is all over "Day After Day" for one thing (Harrison's solo is actually double tracked with Badfinger guitarist Pete Ham here). And no, you are not imagining the resemblance to "Lady Madonna" on "Suitcase" (although you can also hear a little of Traffic's latter-day song "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone" here as well). "Sometimes" likewise is close enough to "She's A Woman," both in the killer guitar riff and the Macca-esque vocals, to warrant an arrest for suspicion of theft.

But ya' know what, who cares? There are certainly worse things than sounding a little like the greatest band of all time. After all, it certainly hasn't hurt bands like the Raspberries and Cheap Trick, right? The fact is, with Straight Up, Badfinger delivered one of the first power pop records of the post-Beatles era, and perhaps one of the best of all time.

Picking out all the Beatles references is just one of the things that makes Straight Up such a great album. Mostly though, Straight Up is sixty minutes (when you count the extras included here) of pure power pop bliss. Most of the original twelve songs clock in at three minutes or less. And while there are bright shimmering guitars and pop hooks aplenty here, equal attention is given over to lush sounding Brit-pop.

Article Author: Glen Boyd

You'll find Blogcritics music editor Glen Boyd sharing his Thoughtmares on his personal blog The Rockologist. Glen is also the author of Neil Young FAQ, published in May 2012 by Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard Publishing.

Visit Glen Boyd's author page — Glen Boyd's Blog