After four albums and some hit singles, the shaggy-haired Badfinger managed to get out of its contract with the collapsing Apple Records and sign with Warner Brothers. This is the first of Badfinger's two Warner albums from 1974. Both were produced by Chris Thomas (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols), who helped the mismanaged group through an extremely rushed and shambolic recording (and touring) schedule. (Recording sessions for Badfinger started just six weeks after the group finished Ass, its last album for Apple; many of its songs were hastily written in the studio.) Rushed or not, the album is no underachiever. Country-rock sparkles on both “Shine On” and “My Heart Goes Out,” while “Love Is Easy” is pure-pop Badfinger. The languid and unironic “I Miss You” ranks alongside “Day After Day,” “Baby Blue," and “Without You” as one of Badfinger’s best singles, while themes of love and confusion are double entendres on a very Lennon-esque pair of songs (“Why Don’t We Talk” and “Where Do We Go from Here”). In all, Badfinger is the sound of a band searching for a state of grace, despite the odds.