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| No Dice | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 9 November 1970 | |||
| Recorded | 18 April – 26 August 1970 | |||
| Studio | EMI andTrident in London | |||
| Genre | Power pop[1] | |||
| Length | 40:00 | |||
| Label | Apple | |||
| Producer | Geoff Emerick,Mal Evans | |||
| Badfinger chronology | ||||
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| Singles from No Dice | ||||
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No Dice is the third studio album by Britishrock bandBadfinger, issued byApple Records and released on 9 November 1970. Their second album under the Badfinger name, but their first official album under that name, and first to include guitaristJoey Molland,No Dice significantly expanded the British group's popularity, especially abroad. The album included both the hit single "No Matter What" and the song "Without You", which would become a big hit forHarry Nilsson, and later a hit forMariah Carey.
Although this was the band's second album released under the Badfinger name, the previous album,Magic Christian Music, was originally recorded asThe Iveys but released as Badfinger. It was the band's first album recorded after new guitaristJoey Molland joined the group, replacing bassist Ron Griffiths, but Molland's addition causedTom Evans to switch fromrhythm guitar tobass. Badfinger would release five albums, generally their most successful recordings, with this line-up.
The model depicted on the album cover has never been formally identified. According to Molland, "the woman was a model hired by Gene Mahon and Richard DiLello for the shoot, they designed the cover, [and] we never actually met her." When he asked DiLello about her "at a Beatlefest in the 70s," DiLello gave her name as Kathy. (Molland's own wife, Kathie, also worked as a model.[3])
No Dice peaked at number 28 on theBillboard Hot 200 chart. Widely praised in music reviews at the time,Rolling Stone magazine opined that it represented whatthe Beatles would have sounded like had they retained their initial formula.[4]
The single from this LP, "No Matter What", peaked in the United States at number 8 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart in 1970. The song is often regarded as an early offering in thepower pop genre.[5] The album also contains the original version of "Without You". Although Badfinger did not release the song as a single in Europe or North America, it was taken to number 1 on theBillboard charts in 1972 byHarry Nilsson, and became a hit forMariah Carey in 1994. "Without You" has been the top money-earner for Badfinger in publishing royalties, having been covered by over 200 artists.[6] The song was also picked to provide the title forDan Matovina's 1997 biographyWithout You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger.
In October 1991,No Dice was digitally remastered atAbbey Road Studio byRon Furmanek. The remastered album was released in 1992 byCapitol Records and Apple, with five previously unreleased bonus tracks. Of the bonus tracks, "Friends Are Hard to Find" was an outtake from the sameMal Evans-produced session that saw the recording of "No Matter What" and "Believe Me". "Get Down" was originally attempted with Evans, but the version here was recorded withGeoff Emerick. The three remaining tracks, "Mean, Mean Jemima", "Loving You", and "I'll Be the One", were recorded with Emerick between January and March 1971 (after the completion ofNo Dice) for the intended follow-up album that was never released.[7]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B[9] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [10] |
| The Great Rock Discography | 7/10[11] |
| Mojo | [12] |
| MusicHound Rock | 5/5[13] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [14] |
| Tom Hull | B[15] |
| Uncut | [16] |
Reviewing forCreem in 1971,Mike Saunders wrote effusively about the album and the band itself: "Badfinger is one of the best songwriting groups around, one of the best singing groups anywhere, and now with an absolutely great lead guitarist in Pete Ham, they're really one fucking whale of a group."[17]Robert Christgau was somewhat less enthusiastic, writing inChristgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): "I don't think these guys imitatethe Beatles just soPaul will give them more hits — they've got hits of their own. But from the guitar parts (play 'Better Days' right after 'I Feel Fine') and harmonies (the Paul of 'I've Just Seen a Face' atop the Paul of 'Long Tall Sally') to concept and lineup, an imitation is what this is, modernized slightly via some relaxed countrification. They write almost well enough to get away with it, too. But somehow the song that stands out is 'Blodwyn,' a simulated (I think) English folk ditty about a swain and a spoon that has nothing to do with the Fab Four at all."[9]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Can't Take It" (Pete Ham) | 2:57 |
| 2. | "I Don't Mind" (Tom Evans/Joey Molland) | 3:15 |
| 3. | "Love Me Do" (Molland) | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Midnight Caller" (Ham) | 2:50 |
| 5. | "No Matter What" (Ham) | 3:01 |
| 6. | "Without You" (Ham/Evans) | 4:43 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blodwyn" (Ham) | 3:26 |
| 2. | "Better Days" (Evans/Molland) | 4:01 |
| 3. | "It Had to Be" (Mike Gibbins) | 2:29 |
| 4. | "Watford John" (Evans/Gibbins/Ham/Molland) | 3:23 |
| 5. | "Believe Me" (Evans) | 3:01 |
| 6. | "We're for the Dark" (Ham) | 3:55 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Get Down" (Evans/Gibbins/Ham/Molland) | 3:43 |
| 14. | "Friends Are Hard to Find" (Molland) | 2:28 |
| 15. | "Mean Mean Jemima" (Molland) | 3:41 |
| 16. | "Loving You" (Gibbins) | 2:51 |
| 17. | "I'll Be the One" (Evans/Gibbins/Ham/Molland) | 2:54 |
2010 CD bonus tracks
2010 digital bonus tracks
Badfinger
Additional personnel
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