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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The unjustly forgotten Apple album, July 6, 2004
While Badfinger's Straight Up and No Dice albums are widely and deservedly considered classics, their Apple swan song, "Ass" gets so little attention that it's never even been released domestically. Few people outside the core of die-hard fans even know it exists. Too bad, because they're missing some stellar moments. While power-pop was the buzzword that surrounded much of the rest of the band's catalog, "Ass" doesn't come off quite as sweet and is all the better for it. "Ass" was Badfinger stretching out and showing that they were more than recycled Beatle hooks and harmonies. While "Apple Of My Eye", Ham's achingly appropriate tip of the hat to the band's soon to be ex-label, captures the band's sound of old, several of the other songs seem to come from a harder edged, refreshingly different vein. "Timeless" is quite possibly Pete Ham's finest recorded moment with it's slow-building intensity, harrowing guitar and fade to infinity ending, and if nothing else shows just how huge a talent the world lost a short time later. Pete was not only a gifted songwriter, but as this song also shows, a brilliant guitarist. These two songs along with "Constitution", "Icicles", "Blind Owl" and "I Can Love You" are the albums undoubted highlights, but only Mike Gibbins' "Cowboy" seems out of place on the album. Despite it's thrown together, admittedly rushed feel, Ass is a great Badfinger album that has never recieved a fair shake. It's nice to see this import only re-release for those who missed it the first time around, but I have my doubts as to whether this will wake people up to what they've been missing. Again, too bad.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Badfinger's Final Apple Album Is Hit And Miss Affair, August 6, 2004
Long unavailable, ASS was Badfinger's fourth and final album for the Apple label. Their self-titled debut for Warner Bros. would be released a mere three months after ASS. That, coupled with the fact that Apple did little to promote the album, resulted in an album that failed to chart. Despite the album's poor chart showing, it is not without it's highlights.
The album is bookended by two first-rate efforts from Pete Ham. The opening track is a kiss off to their former label. [Badfinger left Apple on acrimonious terms.] The closing track is the majestic "Timeless." [At nearly eight minutes it is the longest song in the Badfinger canon.]
Co-founder Tom Evans also turns in two equally fine songs. First, the uptempo "Blind Owl" and the lovely "When I Say." Mike Gibbins lone contribution is the country-flavored "Cowboy."
The remaining five tracks (along with the bonus track "Do You Mind") were penned by Joey Molland. The rockers like "Get Away," "Winner" and "Constitution" are serviceable, but the highlights are the love songs "Icicles" and "I Can Love You."
While not up to the high standards of their previous LP STRAIGHT UP, this is still a necessary purchase for Badfinger fans. RECOMMENDED
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Badfinger`s Goodbye to Apple, May 24, 2004
The story behind the release of Ass is in several ways similar to that behind "Straight Up". The first recordings for this album, that turned out to be their last for Apple Records, began in January 1972; and the final recording took place in April 1973. The album was not released until late 73 in the USA and in March 74 in Europe. Their change of record company from Apple to Warner Brothers was one among other reason for the delay. Actually a first version of the album had been completed by the end of 72, but it was rejected by Apple. The original version of Ass had been produced by the band themselves, and they were going for a more basic rock album. In early 73 Apple called in Chris Thomas to produce new recordings and to look through, what had already been finished. A similar situation had occurred when Todd Rundgren had been recruited for finishing "Straight Up". The two earliest recordings on this album were in fact ("The Winner" and "I Can Love You") produced by Rundgren. Pete's "Apple Of My Eye" and "Timeless" were re-recorded and two new Molland songs ( "Icicles" and "Constitution") with Chris Thomas were added. The rest of the album are leftovers from the scrapped version. The album turned out to be a commercial failure; not because of the music but because of other things like little promotion, bad timing, the change of record company, lack of recent hit-single etc. The album was different from their earlier albums - they had wanted to do basic rock album representing the music they performed live, and that is mainly what "Ass" became. People who'd expected and hoped for another album similar to "No Dice" and "Straight Up" were obviously disappointed. Pete Ham only contributed 2 songs, of which only "Apple Of My Eye" was a typical Ham composition. Tom Evans wrote two very strong tracks, "When I Say" and "Blind Owl" - the first a lovely ballad and the second a wonderful rocker, which became a live favourite. Mike Gibbins wrote "Cowboy", a country styled song, which sound somewhat unfinished and which does not fit very well into the concept of the album. The rest of the album was written by Joey Molland. 3 straight ahead blues/rockers and two ballads. The album is the first where Pete Ham really gets a chance to demonstrate what a great lead guitarist he was, f. ex. on tracks like "Blind Owl", "Constitution" and "Timeless". The only bonustrack "Do You Mind" is an outtake from the first version of the album - it's written by Molland and it's one of his best early Badfinger songs. My favourites: "Apple Of My Eye", "Blind Owl", "When I Say", "Timeless" and "Do You Mind"
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