Published on Dec 10, 2000
When Badfinger first hit the market in 1970, they were a band in
transition; new guitarist Joey Molland was so fresh in the lineup
that his picture is nowhere to be found on the cover of
Magic Christian Music.
Later in 1970, the classic line-up of Badfinger released their
first album together (and the band’s second overall – third if you
count the release as The Iveys)
No Dice, a disc which tried to put behind them the
comparisons to The Beatles. And while their efforts are applaudable
even today, there still showed a lot of room to grow.
No Dice is probably best known for two songs. The first, “No
Matter What,” is an incredible track that gives Badfinger a chance
to find their own unique musical voice. It recaptures the glory
days of rock while giving a glance into the musical crystal ball;
the edge to this song suggested what lay ahead for music in the
’70s. (No, I’m not referring to disco.)
The second track, “Without You,” is better known thanks to Harry
Nilsson’s rendition. Sadly, no matter how open minded I try to be
when I listen to this disc, I can’t help but compare the original
version of “Without You” to Nilsson’s version – and no matter how
you slice it, Badfinger will always come out on the losing end. The
original version is much rawer in emotion, thanks in part to the
combination of vocals from Pete Ham and Tom Evans. Nilsson’s
version was much more polished and radio-friendly – and while I’ll
admit that something is probably lost in that translation that I’m
not seeing at this moment, I just prefer the cover version.
No Dice has other tracks which are just as worthy of
people’s attention, though. Songs like “I Can’t Take It,” “Love Me
Do” (no,
not a cover of The Beatles’s song), “Believe Me” and “We’re
For The Dark” all have great power in both the songwriting and the
performances. Why some of these tracks have never been culled from
the CD and played on the radio I’ll never understand.
One interesting note: Listen to the track “Better Days” and tell
me that it doesn’t sound like Paul Rodgers and Bad Company. This is
especially interesting, seeing that Bad Company wasn’t even in
existence yet.
For all the positives, though, there are tracks on
No Dice that suggest that Badfinger was still very much in a
growth period. Songs like “Midnight Caller” and “Bloodwyn” (what
the hell was this song supposed to be about, anyway?!?) show both
signs of age these days and unfulilled promise in the songwriting.
When I listen to tracks like “I Don’t Mind,” I have to sometimes
wonder if this is the same band who delivered “Better Days”.
No Dice, when it was released on CD for the first time in
1992, includes five bonus tracks, which are about as hit or miss as
the material on the album proper (though no track here could be
called bad). Of this material, one has to wonder why songs like
“Loving You” and “I’ll Be The One” didn’t make the original cut.
Others, like “Friends Are Hard To Find” and “Get Down,” don’t feel
like they belong in the same company style-wise.
Still,
No Dice was an improvement over
Magic Christian Music – and Badfinger’s glory days of fame
were still ahead of them.