No Dice

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No Dice

Studio album by Badfinger
Released	U.S. November 9, 1970 and UK November 27, 1970
Recorded	?
Genre	Power pop
Length	55:55
Label	Apple
Producer(s)	Geoff Emerick
All Music Guide link
Badfinger chronology
Magic Christian Music (1970)	No Dice (1970)	Straight Up (1971)

No Dice is a pop album by Badfinger, issued by Apple Records and released on November 9, 1970. Their second album under the Badfinger name, No Dice significantly expanded the British group's popularity, especially abroad.

Although this was the second album released as "Badfinger," it was actually their first album. The preceding Badfinger LP release, Magic Christian Music, was rather a compilation of tracks recorded by an earlier version of the band, The Iveys, which included different personnel. No Dice was the first album recorded as Badfinger and included guitarist Joey Molland. The group would release their next four albums, and their most successful recordings, with this line-up.

No Dice peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. Widely praised in music reviews at the time, Rolling Stone Magazine observed that it represented what The Beatles would have sounded like had they retained their initial formula [1].

The single from this LP, "No Matter What," peaked in the United States at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970. The song, which is often regarded as an early offering in the power pop genre, is by far the album's strongest cut and the only one Badfinger ever made that, despite what was written in Rolling Stone Magazine, actually stands comparison with the work of their mentors, the Beatles. The other standout tracks are "Better Days" - like several other songs on the album, inspired by the Beatles' later work - and the closer "We're for the Dark". The album also contains the original version of the MOR evergreen "Without You". Although Badfinger never released the song as a single, it was taken to #1 on the Billboard charts in 1972 by Harry Nilsson, and again became a hit for Mariah Carey in 1994. "Without You" has been the top money-earner for Badfinger in publishing royalties.

Production-wise, the next Badfinger album, Straight Up. was a major improvement.

'No Dice' is a slang term meaning "not possible." It was the first of three albums titled by bassist Tom Evans meant as put downs towards Apple Records. Put together they are No Dice, Straight Up, (your) Ass.