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Badfinger No Matter What - Revisiting The Hits Review by Gary Hill Badfinger were always a cool pop rock band. This new album collects a lot of their hits. Rather than re-releasing the original versions, though, each of these is a new recording, and they feature some great guests. The core band on this is Joey Molland (vocals and bass), Jürgen Engler (guitars) and Adam Hamilton (drums). This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2022 Volume 1. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2022.

Track by Track Review

No Matter What I dig this hard rocking number. The hooks are great, and the tune really has a great groove to it. This features Vanilla Fudge's Mark Stein on vocals and keyboards.

Come & Get It This mellower tune is a lot of fun. I dig the Beatles groove of it. Rick Wakeman plays the piano on this tune.

I Don't Mind Blues and psychedelia seem to merge on this cut. It's not quite the "grabber" the first two were, but it's still a strong number. Carl Glammarese of the Buckinghams plays the guitar and provides the vocals.

Day After Day Now, this Beatles-like tune is a classic. I like this version of it. It has some great musical layers and really showcases the magic of the time in which it was originally written. There are several guests here. Ian Anderson adds his flute to the mix. Terry Reid plays guitar and also provides backing vocals. The Manchester String Quartet bring their talents to the mix.

Love is Gonna Come at Last Rick Springfield plays guitar and sings on this number. It is another solid retro rocker. It's not one of my favorites, but it works well.

Baby Blue I like this one a bit better. There are some cool guitar hooks and the pop rock arrangement is so classy. Matthew Sweet plays guitar and adds backing vocals to it.

Midnight Caller This song feels like something that would have fit in John Lennon's solo catalog. It's a strong tune that has a lot of magic and drama in it. Edward Ka-Spel brings keyboards and devices to bear on this number.

Suitcase I dig the slide guitar (which is provided by guest guitarist Sonny Landreth) on this so much. This is another that wouldn't be out of place in Lennon repertoire. That said, it's a pretty standard 70s rock style. This has a lot of killer blues built into it, though. It's one of the highlights of the set, and I suppose Bad Company might be a valid comparison.

Sweet Tuesday Morning An acoustic based cut, I like this one a lot. It has some great hooks and there are some melodies that really stand tall. This is intricate and powerful. I suppose it's a ballad, but it feels a bit too rocking for that title. The guitar on here is by Albert Lee

Without You Todd Rundgren provides guitar and vocals on this song. This is a power-ballad, and it's both pretty and captivating. It's a very well-known song, having been recorded by more than 180 artists over the years since Badfinger wrote it. I like how this version sounds so much.

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