Head First [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

I highly recommend that you buy Golder's Green and 7 Park Avenue, the two posthomous collections of band leader Pete Ham's home recordings. Ham, apparently, was strongly committed to the band and its democratic structure, but when one compares Ham's output to the rest of the band, it seems they both made a big mistake thinking Ham was anything other than a superior talent who should have had at least half of each album reserved for his songs. Ham's work is more melodic, more rhythmic, better lyrically, and he flat out sings circles around his mates. Badfinger soared in direct proportion to the number of Ham compositions on each album, in my opinion. Apparently, Ham was often frustrated when his mates rejected numerous of his songs. Hard to figure.

Head First's Ham compositions (especially Lay Me Down, Smokin' Gun, Nothing To Show, and Keep Your Country Tidy) are the main highlights. although "Rockin' Machine" on the first CD is charming, and some of the demos on the second CD are actually better unfinished--sometimes the band overwhelmed the gentler material by going a little too heavy. I really think that the other members besides Ham were bottoming out creatively when this was made, a trend that one could see through the band's history. Ham was the man, if only he had known it.

The purported single attempt, Lay Me Down, is better in demo form, I think, on the second CD.

I'd also buy Badfinger's Greatest Hits, if I were you. It has all the hits, the best of Pete, and the better songs by the others. Long Live Pete Ham.

The ten tracks that make up disc one clocks in at 33:38; the demo disc is a mere 26:53. But for any serious Badfinger fan, you need this if only to confirm what Badfinger was still capable of doing musically.

The four strongest tracks on disc one are the four that Rhino was able to get from Warner Brothers when they released Badfinger's Best Of, Vol. II in 1990 featuring their WB catalog. [That album is still worth getting if only to hear the master tape versions of these songs, instead of Mike Gibbins' tape copy.]

"Lay Me Down" - This is Pete Ham at his power pop best. This could have been a huge single for them. [The solo demo at the end of disc two is a very early version where Ham hasn't worked out all the lyrics yet.]

"Keep Believing" - This is Ham's message to recently departed bandmate Joey Molland and shows the cynicism that was creeping into Ham's lyrics. Ham had tried to maintain his optimism, but certainly was realizing how the band had been manipulated.

"Passed Fast" - Co-written by Tom Evans and new member Bob Jackson. A mid-tempo rocker that features a nice guitar part by Ham on the coda.

"Moonshine" - A lovely ballad sung by Tom and Bob (who co-wrote the song with Mike Gibbins). Again, nice guitar work by Ham.

These four songs serve as a reminder of just what a terrific band Badfinger was. The only other tracks that really meet the high standards set by the band's previous work are a couple of numbers by Gibbins--the acoustic guitar ballad "Back Again" features Mike's slightly raspy vocal to nice effect, and "Rockin' Machine," which despite its title is a country/honky-tonk ditty that runs a brief minute and thirty seconds. The two Tom Evans' songs, "Hey, Mr. Manager" and "Rock'n'Roll Contract," may have been therapeutic, but they are both a bit pedestrian and the constant grumbling about how management jerked them around wears thin. [If ever a band had a right to be angry, it was Badfinger. But how many times do you want to hear about it?] "Saville Row" is a 30-second synthesizer snippet by Pete Ham. I'm not sure why this made it onto the first disc--or at all, for that matter. It's nothing memorable. The final track is Bob Jackson's "Turn Around" and it's the least Badfinger-sounding track on either disc. It's a weak attempt at a hard rock sound.

Disc two is a mixed bag. These are all demos featuring only acoustic guitar accompaniment or piano in the case of the Gibbins' demo "Old Fashioned Notions." Of special interest are the six Pete Ham demos. "Time Is Mine" doesn't even have lyrics yet, so Pete just doo-doo-doos the vocal part. "Smoking Gun" features a rather bizzaro "Rocky Racoon"-style lyric. "Nothing To Show" is a rocker that shows Pete's optimism giving in to hopelessness. (All three clock in at under two minutes each.) "I Can't Believe In" is equally pessimistic. (Listen close to this one and you hear a dog bark in the background.) "Keep Your Country Tidy" is an upbeat ballad with a lovely melody. Gibbins' trio of "Old Fashioned Notions," "You Ask Yourself Why" and "Thanks To You All" show him to be the band's least appreciated songwriter. Evans' "Queen of Darkness" contains another bitter lyric, but Jackson's "To Say Goodbye" has a pretty melody.

In the end you get sixty minutes of rough mixes and demos from a band that under different circumstances would have built on its early commercial success and vaulted into superstar status. Instead, it serves as an epitaph for one of the best bands in pop history. This is not for the casual fan. But if you already own their other albums, you'll need this one too. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

New songs did not come easily to Pete at this point; he was losing faith in the the whole thing, but he worked hard to come up with more quality material. Of his three contributions for Head First the two of them are among his best ever. The opener "Lay Me Down" is a very catchy and powerful rocker with great commercial potential. "Keep Believing" was written to Joey Molland and it's a typical Ham ballad; a very beautiful melody. Pete's third track is a short instrumental called "Saville Row". Tom Evans is back as a very important songwriter on the album. He's written two songs alone and two songs in collaboration with with Mike and Mike/Bob. The first two are angry comments to the music business; both of them very intense; especially Mr. Manager is bound to become an all-time Badfinger favourite. Rock'n Roll Contract was rerecorded for Say No More, but this version is much better - I love the middle part. Passed Fast and Moonshine are well-known from Best of Badfinger Vol 2 - both of them very strong and indicating that this new line-up might have become their most interesting ever. Bob Jackson demonstrates powerful vocals and songwriting abilities on Turn Around; a track that could have been written and sung by Steve Winwood. Mike wrote Back Again and Rocking Machine. Back Again is close to My Heart Goes Out in style and feeling - perhaps even better. Rocking Machine though it sounds a bit unfinished is a charming little tune; I think Mike sounds a lot like George Harrison.

All in all the band play and sing their best on this album that is among Badfinger's strongest - perhaps the best. Pete Ham does not sound burdened by having to play all guitars and they all appear extraordinary inspired.

Forbidden Records had originally planned to release the album in April 1999, but there were complications and delays. Forbidden Records did not possess the original master-tapes but a 4-track reference master copy. The original master-tapes which have been considered lost seem to have been rediscovered in the vaults of Warner Brothers. This means that they may release the album some time in the future. or maybe license it to another label. Until that may happen luckily we have this Snapper release remastered from Mike Gibbin's tape copy of the original Apple mixes.

The bonus tracks are all great songs; some are them are at an early stage and the sound quality is not very good on most of them. Still it's always nice to hear new songs by Pete Ham. I believe his 4 new songs here could have been developed into great Badfinger tracks. Of the other songs I especially like Mike's You Ask Yourself Why