Customer Reviews

Airwaves { Bonus Tracks }

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Airwaves sees the salvaged band of Badfinger perhaps trying a little too hard to have a hit record. The late seventies were some bad years for rock music, in my opinion, and this album doesn't offer up anything too special. Despite what Elecktra Records apparently said at the time, I don't agree that the album sounds much like Badfinger (save for the voices, of course).
The simple, 30-second acoustic guitar opener begins the album light-weightedly and zaps right into "Look Out California," one of the better tracks, where the band sings about being "back in the airwaves." It's a good rocker, very good considering the year it was made. "Lost Inside Your Love" sounds like a half-ballad, but isn't very memorable. Fleeting member Joe Tansin's two contributions, "Sympathy" and "The Winner," sung by Tom Evans & Joey Molland, respectively, don't help the overall album much. "Sympathy" has a cool guitar riff, but the vocals and beat become a bit too disco-sounding for my tastes. The song which reportedly kicked off the sessions for Airwaves, the well-meaning "The Winner," isn't too much better.
Joey really proves his worth on this album, contributing most of the better tracks. "Love Is Gonna Come At Last" is a soft rocker and a very delicious slice of pop, and placed perfectly on the album. "The Dreamer" is a near-grandiose ballad, whose majestic arrangement clashes nicely with Joey's rough voice. However, "Come Down Hard," probably the hardest on the album, isn't anything special. Despite Joey's strong showing, it's Tom who steals the spotlight at the end with the beautiful piano ballad "Sail Away," where he sings about carrying on, a phrase, ironically, Badfinger seemed to use a lot.
The bonus tracks, unfortunately, aren't worth much. For starters, three of them shouldn't even be considered Badfinger tracks. The ones I'm referring to are "Send Me Your Love," "Steal My Heart," and "Can You Feel The Rain." The former two were recorded by Tansin during the mid-80's (ew). The reason why they are included with the album is because he wrote them during the Airwaves sessions. "Can You Feel The Rain" was written later after Tom's suicide and recorded expressly for this reissue. All three are pretty bad. Even Joey Molland's "Love Can't Hide," co-written by him & Tansin and recorded for the reissue, isn't too good. The only bonus track which truely belongs is "One More Time" (featuring Tansin's lead vocal), which was actually recorded during the Airwaves sessions but not used...and it's pretty easy to see why.
In short, if you're currently in the process of collecting Badfinger's albums like I am, you probably shouldn't make Airwaves a high priority.

Airwaves from 1979 was the first Badfinger album to be released without Pete Ham, who tragically committed suicide in 1975. Of course he is sadly missed on this album, which only feaures two earlier members ; Tom Evans and Joey Molland. After Pete's death the group disbanded and both Tom and Joey were in other bands.
In 1978 they felt like reuniting and drummer Mike Gibbins were also to a rehearsal before this recording. Unfortunately Mike quickly left again and he is therefore not on this album. The line-up is: Tom Evans: bas vocals; Joey Molland: guitar, vocals; Joe Tansin: lead guitar; Ken Harck: drums; Andy Newmark: drums and Nicky Hopkins: keyboards. Ken Harck left during the recording and he was replaced by Andy Newmark to finish the album. Joe Tansin left soon after the final recordings. Nicky Hopkins only work a session musician; he was not a member of the band.

The popular pop/rock music had changed during the 5 years since the last Badfinger album, so obviously the album had to be different from their earlier albums. Producer David Malloy has often been critizised for poor production on this Badfinger album. "He had not been able to find the real Badfinger-sound". I think that's an unfair and wrong concluson. Actually a lot of the album is really good. Tom Evans' songs Lost Inside Your Love and Sail Away are true highlights. Joey's Love is Gonna Come at Last is a very commercial number and it was released a single; it did not do very well, though. The Dreamer, also by Joey, is a nice ballad, a track you may not discover the first two or three times you listen to the album; but it gets better every time. Joe Tansin wrote two songs for the album; Sympathy and The Winner. Sympathy is too commercial for my taste, almost disco-like; The Winner is a rocker similar to many of Joey's songs. Tansin shows on several tracks that he's a fabulous guitarist and some of the weaker tracks are helped a lot from his guitarplaying. The original playing time was rather short, so luckily this CD version feature 5 bonus tracks of which "Send Me Some Love", "Can You Feel The Rain" and "One More Time" are very good.

Without Pete Ham Badfinger floundered. The founding member's suicide in 1975 saddened fans of the band and put a creative strain on the remaining members. It also sapped their creative energy. Reportedly both Evans and Molland had their doubts about continuing the Badfinger name. The expectations would be high for their work even without Ham. Still, it did guarentee an audience in the form of the band's fans. Remaining members Joey Molland and Tom Evans () are joined by guitarist/ vocalist Joe Tasnin. Mike Gibbins had been invited back, but fired shortly before recording of Airwaves began. He is sorely missed although session player Andy Newmark and temporary member Ken Harck do an admirable job on most of the songs. Inspite of all this Airwaves succeeds more often than it fails.

While the songs are catchy and well written, the arrangements are a little MOR and reflect the lost vitality and uncertainity of the band. Producer David Malloy is frequently criticized for his "over the top" production style, but, in all fairness, it does recall the detailed production work by Todd Rundgren and George Harrison from Straight Up. He seems to be compensating for some of the weaker material. Sail Away, Look Out California amd Love is Gonna Come At Last all would have fit right in with the quality material on Straight Up or No Dice.

The late session ace Nicky Hopkins helps to flesh out the band's sound. Despite the evident flaws on this album, it's nice to have Airwaves back after a twenty year absence.

The follow up Say No More would boast sharper songwriting from Evans and Molland. Say No More had considerable spark despite pedestrian production due to the inclusion of Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye as a full time member of the band. That album also benefited from Richard Bryans who replaced Mike Gibbins briefly when Gibbins quit in the 70's.Both albums should be added to any fan's collection although they might not be the place to start for new fans.

I bought this "album" in '79, then re-bought the cassette a year later when I wore out the record. It's a fantastic piece of art and history that every Badfinger fan should buy. It's pure classic music from a class act that should've been treated better then they were. One listen and you'll want the whole catalog by Badfinger ! I give 5 Stars !!!!!

So, 1979...not the greatest year for 'rock and roll'...but with the release of Airwaves, the boys proved that rock was not dead, but alive in those groovy enough to remember how to do it, and do it well. From the opening track (an acoustic snippet, leading into Look Out California) we hear vintage Tommy Evans, belting out a fabulous rocker. And it doesn't slow down there...Lost Inside Your Love has a sweet, almost 'yesterday' like string arrangement, and the vocals (and harmonies) are pure Apple-days. The best, in my opinion, are two Joey Molland tunes, Love Is Gonna Come at Last (which could be a hit today) and The Winner (actually a Tansin number, but sung by Molland)...All in all, a fab collection (with Evans' Sympathy, though a bare production, sounding very clean and punchy). And on a remastering note: it rocks. Unfortunately, the 'Apple' Badfinger catalog was marred by early 90s Abbey Road engineer Ron Furmanek's over-use of No-Noising and as a result, high end (and even low presence) suffered. Not on this release...The cymbals and voices are clean and bright (without being harsh) and the Kick drum and Tommy's bass actually are VERY audible. I'd have to say that the Tansin bonus tracks simply DON'T belong. Decent songs, but clearly recorded in the mid-80s with an Alesis Drum Machine...save for his Evans tribute "Can You Feel The Rain..." Check this one out...It won't disappoint you.

I sure was surprised to see this record re-issued on CD. Grossly ignored upon its original release in 1979, this is the last successful recorded attempt at greatness for two integral members of Badfinger (Tom Evans and Joey Molland). It deserved a better fate. The 9 original songs sound better than ever. The late Tom Evans especially shines on this record. In the past, Evans appeared disinterested on some Badfinger records, barely contributing a song or two. On this record, his writing is in peak form. "Lost Inside Your Love", "Lookout California" and "Sail Away" rank with the best of Badfinger. The quiet vocal/piano interplay on "Sail Away" is simply haunting. Elsewhere Joe Tansin contributes two excellent songs with great vocals by Tom Evans. Ironically, Joey Molland never wrote a Badfinger hit song nor a strong candidate for a single. But on this record he contributes his best songs since "Straight Up". His "Love is Gonna Come at Last" sounds like a hit single if released in a different era. The only minor downside are the bonus tracks. Though all are pleasant enough, none really stand out as anything special. Unfortunately, none feature the wistful vocals of Tom Evans. For one final time, the magic of badfinger was captured on record.

If you like Badfinger, you'll find this a very satisfying album. The production is great, most of the songs are really good, and Joe Tansin is an excellent addition. I remember how blown away I was with the beginning of the album - perfect! If you've got Straight Up, No Dice and Wish You Were Here and need more Badfinger, you will find much to like here.

this was one of my favorite records of 1979.tom evans singing and song writing are in top form and some of his best songs are on this cd. i wish elektra would have struck to their original plan for the bonus tracks to be demos instead of these throw away tracks. i feel these bonus tracks takes away more than it adds.hopefully rhino records will come through with the release of badfinger's truly last record "headfirst". this will be the one to add to your collection.

Finally someone had the sense to get this fantastic album re-issued. With 4 Tom Evans pieces and 3 from Joey this album managed to retain alot of the original Badfinger essence. Some of Tom's best and most heartfelt compositions are found here. Tansin's youth adds edge to these songs and scores nicely with his "Sympathy" cut. Molland seems to feed off Tansin's energy and he emotes considerable depth with his "The Dreamer" and "Love is Gonna Come at Last". Although well recorded and mixed, I certainly missed hearing original drummer, Mike Gibbins', drum fills on this one. With Pete gone, and Mike's absence, this was truly Badfinger's last true breath.....

At a time when disco was dominating the airwaves and punk was coming on the horizon, the resurrected Badfinger's "Airwaves" was a breath of fresh air. In its original vinyl format I practically wore out the grooves. Joey Molland and Tommy Evans certainly proved then that Badfinger could perservere despite the tragic death of Pete Ham three years earlier. Songs like Evans' "Lost Inside Your Love" "Look Out California" and Molland's "Love Is Gonna Come At Last" and "Come Down Hard" was guitar-driven Badfinger power pop at its Liverpudlian finest! Evans' lush and whimiscal "Sail Away" featuring Nicky Hopkins on piano was perhaps his finest ballad since the beautiful "Without You" (co-written with Ham). Short-Lived arrival Joe Tansin makes a much greater impact on this CD version than he did on the original album. Besides his disco-meets-power pop "Sympathy" (sung by Evans and Molland), his own songs (which did not appear on the album) stand pretty much on their own - especially his tribute to Evans, who liked Ham, took his own life 16 years ago - "Can You Feel The Rain Fall Down". Here he sounds uncannily enough like Ham... I was actually fortunate to see a post-Evans lineup featuring Molland, Tansin and Scooters Larry Lee and Bobby Wickland perform much of both the "Airwaves" and "Say No More" (still not on CD) albums live. "Airwaves" sounds as good and powerful as it did in '78, maybe even more so. This album is a must in any Badfinger (or yes, Beatles) fan's collection - God Bless You Tommy and Keep On Rocking Joey!