The Best of Badfinger, Vol. 2

Badfinger

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 12, 1990)
• Original Release Date: June 26, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B0000032T8
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #193,639 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A collection of singles, prime album cuts, and unreleased sides from their underrated Warner Bros. period.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest misses that shoulda been contenders, December 5, 1999

By A Customer

There are few rags-to-riches-to-rags stories as sad as the Badfinger story. These guys should have had the kind of multi-platinum success in their day that bands such as The Guess Who and Three Dog Night were having; they were certainly as good as the former and WAY better than the latter. But they got caught in the black hole of Apple Records acrimonious demise, taken advantage of by an unscrupulous manager and eventually imploded with the tragic suicide of lead singer and main songwriter Pete Ham in 1975 (followed by bandmate Tom Evans some years later). As they wound down, they recorded three albums for Warner Brothers, two of which saw release. The selections from all three make up the bulk of this compilation and it adds up to a honey of a CD. There's everything here that made Badfinger great, from the plaintive "I Miss You" to the chugging rock of "Just A Chance" and the BEATLES '65 feel of "You're So Fine," plus a whole lot more. It's all infectious, charming stuff, but you can't help thinking, "If only things had been different for them...."

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tragedy and Triumph Were the Cornerstones of This Great Band, December 22, 1999

By	Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Even casual fans of Badfinger have to be aware of the bittersweet story of Badfinger. After being hand-deliviered their first world-wide hit "Come and Get" it by Paul McCartney and signed to the Beatles' fledgling Apple label, Badinger seemed destined for greatness. And for a while it looked like everything they touched would turn to gold. The band followed up Magic Christian Music with No Dice and a second hit--the Pete Ham-penned "No Matter What." Then came Straight Up with "Day After Day" and "Baby Blue." And then the dream began to unravel, eventually leading to the dissolution of the band and suicides of both Ham in 1975 and Tom Evans in 1983.

This disc focuses on the band's Warner Brothers output from 1974 and 1975, plus the only two tracks from 1979's Airwaves that you'd want to hear (a release that included only two members from their Apple heyday: Tom Evans and Joey Molland).

The "Best Of" in the title means just that; the hits dried up after they left Apple. But this is not to imply that Badfinger wasn't churning out great music at Warner Brothers. Badfinger were not merely Beatles poseurs. Each member contributed songs to their WB catalog. Key tracks like "Know One Knows," "Lonely You," "Just a Chance" and "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch/Should I Smoke" are classic Badfinger. And as an added bonus, you get four tracks from the unreleased album Head First (the cassette version had only two of these tracks). These four tracks alone are worth the price of admission for Badfinger fans. Plus, this is the only place to get any of Badfinger's WB music domestically.

It's too bad WB didn't follow Apple's good example and rerelease these albums in their entirety with bonus tracks. (Yes, I know Airwaves got the bonus track treatment, but this was Badfinger without Pete Ham and Mike Gibbins. I'm sorry, but that's like calling Wings the Beatles) In the meantime, buy this Rhino release while it's still in print.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Badfinger - Bad Management, Bad Luck, but oh such GOOD music., July 27, 2005

By	Barklimore (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

I am listening to Badfinger even as I type this review.
This is the Best Of Badfinger Vol 2, and I thought volume 1 was great !! As previous reviewers have said, what an absolute tragedy the story of Badfinger is (Buy the Book "Without You" the tragic story of Badfinger).
Well I have everything they have released, if you do buy any of the Badfinger best ofs, you will more than likely get hooked and start collecting all of their albums.Some of the best songs on this Cd are off "Wish You Were Here" their best album by a mile IMHO.In fact 6 of the 9 songs on WYWH are on this compilation.
They were such an original group with every member capable of writing an exhilirating hit song. just have a taste of "Just A Chance", "You're So Fine", "Meanwhile back At The Ranch/Should I Smoke".They were just so good, Damn I miss them!