Badfinger

No Matter What: Revisiting The Hits

All-star cast pay tribute to power pop legends.

While Badfinger’s story is one of the most tragic and rancorous, in pop history, the music they made continues to reverberate through the years.

Overseen by last surviving member Joey Molland, this slickly presented collection – available on tri-colour vinyl – is clearly a labour of love for all concerned. Highlights include Mark Stein’s (of Vanilla Fudge fame) spirited rendition of No Matter What, Todd Rundgren’s orchestral revamp of megaballad Without You, and Matthew Sweet’s sparkling Baby Blue, but each of these 13 faithful renditions has something to offer, from Rick Wakeman’s tinkling piano on Come And Get It to Rick Springfield’s wholehearted version of late-period gem Love Is Gonna Come At Last.

A fitting tribute to Apple Records’ second-most successful act. ■■■■■■■■■■

muscle and howling, echodrenched vocal exhortations. Sometimes their stop-start rhythmic assault, as on Lovers In Death are full of dramatic tension at the expense of a groove, but when they adopt a more direct assault on What You Feed and Nickels And Diamonds it’s satisfyingly scatter-gun fun. ■■■■■■■■■■