Badfinger: Straight Up

STRAIGHT UP is a big disappointment coming after Badfinger's previous superb album, No Dice. I remember reading a quote by drummer Mike Gibbons saying that Straight Up would be a "natural progression" from the previous album–as is usually the case with such supposed progressions, the result here is self-consciousness in place of spontaneity, solemnity in the place of former exuberance, and a general all-around deadness where infectious energy was previously the rule.