No Dice was the precursor to Straight Up, Badfinger's and the genre of Power Pop's magnus opus, while this is a harder rockin album itdoesn't have the eclectic material, heavy pop arrangements this had some solid melodies too though not as punchy or colourful as the follow up. There's is the rip roaring opener I Can't Take It, which showed they like most 70s bands tried to revive that 50s RnR style alongside their more contemporary stuff. I Don't Mind is a gentle laidback track full of harmonies far too reminiscent of the Fab Four whose label Apple they were on but the song is good while the closer We're For The Dark features a crystal clear acoustic guitar on it's own with a typical Pete Ham composition centered around romance and despair, just ignore the orchestra stabs which are unnecessary though incredibly mixed. The album contains the staples Without You (famously covered by Nillson and Mariah Carey) and the upbeat hook laden pop of No Matter What too.
But Believe Me is by far the best song with Tom Evans with it's soaring lead vocals and close harmony singin a gem that was of course overshadowed by the famous WIthout You but is worth another listen as a statement of intent of this band on the precipice of their artistic peak.
No comments:
Post a Comment