Released in 1989 when the post-Apple albums were hard to come by, Rhino's
The Best of Badfinger, Vol. 2 does an excellent job of summarizing the last three
Pete Ham albums (
Badfinger,
Wish You Were Here, and the unreleased [until 2000]
Head First), adding a couple of selections from
Airwaves for good measure. Fanatics can complain about missing tracks (and, at a certain stage, most
Badfinger fans were fanatics by their very nature), yet this hits most of the high points, offering proof that the group remained viable -- in some ways getting better -- until the end.
Wish You Were Here remains essential, and Capitol's 2000 The Very Best of Badfinger is the best overall compilation, yet as a sampler of the group's latter days, this is hard to beat. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide