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{{redirect|Blodwyn|a similar sounding name|Blodwen (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2010}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = No Dice
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Badfinger]]
| cover      = BadfingerNoDice.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = 9 November 1970<!--Do not also list November 27 as a release date; only the earliest known date of release should be specified. Subsequent release dates can be listed in a Release History section. -->
| recorded   = 18 April{{snd}}26 August 1970
| studio = [[Abbey Road Studios|EMI]] and [[Trident Studios|Trident]] in London
| genre      = [[Power pop]]<ref name=AllMusic>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/no-dice-mw0000270661 AllMusic review] by Stephen Thomas Erlewine</ref>
| length     = 40:00
| label      = [[Apple Records|Apple]]
| producer   = [[Geoff Emerick]], [[Mal Evans]]
| prev_title = [[Magic Christian Music]]
| prev_year  = 1970
| next_title = [[Straight Up (Badfinger album)|Straight Up]]
| next_year  = 1971
| misc       = {{Singles
 | name        = No Dice
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = [[No Matter What (Badfinger song)|No Matter What]]
 | single1date = 12 October 1970<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iikEAAAAMBAJ&q=badfinger+no+matter+what&pg=PA27|title=Billboard|date=17 October 1970}}</ref>
}}
}}

'''''No Dice''''' is the third studio album by British [[rock music|rock]] band [[Badfinger]], issued by [[Apple Records]] and released on 9 November 1970. Their second album under the Badfinger name, but their first official album under that name, and first to include guitarist [[Joey Molland]], ''No Dice'' significantly expanded the British group's popularity, especially abroad. The album included both the hit single "[[No Matter What (Badfinger song)|No Matter What]]" and the song "[[Without You (Badfinger song)|Without You]]", which would become a big hit for [[Harry Nilsson]], and later a hit for [[Mariah Carey]].

== Background ==

Although this was the band's second album released under the Badfinger name, the previous album, ''[[Magic Christian Music]]'', was originally recorded as ''The Iveys'' but released as Badfinger. It was the band's first album recorded after new guitarist [[Joey Molland]] joined the group, replacing bassist Ron Griffiths, but Molland's addition caused [[Tom Evans (musician)|Tom Evans]] to switch from [[rhythm guitar]] to [[bass guitar|bass]]. Badfinger would release five albums, generally their most successful recordings, with this line-up.

The model depicted on the album cover has never been formally identified. According to Molland, "the woman was a model hired by Gene Mahon and Richard DiLello for the shoot, they designed the cover, [and] we never actually met her." When he asked DiLello about her "at a Beatlefest in the 70s," DiLello gave her name as Kathy. (Molland's own wife, Kathie, also worked as a model.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://magnetmagazine.com/2020/10/21/a-conversation-with-joey-molland-badfinger/ |title=A Conversation With Joey Molland (Badfinger) |date=21 October 2020 |website=Magnet |access-date=26 July 2024}}</ref>)

== Release ==
''No Dice'' peaked at number&nbsp;28 on the [[Billboard Hot 200]] chart. Widely praised in music reviews at the time, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine opined that it represented what [[the Beatles]] would have sounded like had they retained their initial formula.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.superseventies.com/badfinger.html | title=Badfinger – No Dice | website=SuperSeventies.com | publisher=Super Seventies RockSite | access-date=28 December 2016}}</ref>

The single from this LP, "[[No Matter What (Badfinger song)|No Matter What]]", peaked in the United States at number&nbsp;8 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart in 1970. The song is often regarded as an early offering in the [[power pop]] genre.<ref>{{cite book|page=156|title=Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger|first=Dan|last=Matovina|year=2000|publisher=Frances Glover Books|ISBN=9780965712224}}</ref> The album also contains the original version of "[[Without You (Badfinger song)|Without You]]". Although Badfinger did not release the song as a single in Europe or North America, it was taken to number&nbsp;1 on the ''[[Billboard Magazine|Billboard]]'' charts in 1972 by [[Harry Nilsson]], and became a hit for [[Mariah Carey]] in 1994. "Without You" has been the top money-earner for Badfinger in publishing royalties, having been covered by over 200 artists.<ref>{{cite web|website=SecondHandSongs|title=Without You|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/work/4258/versions#nav-entity|accessdate=October 30, 2023}}</ref> The song was also picked to provide the title for [[Dan Matovina]]'s 1997 biography ''Without You: The Tragic Story Of Badfinger''.

In October 1991, ''No Dice'' was digitally remastered at [[Abbey Road Studio]] by [[Ron Furmanek]]. The remastered album was released in 1992 by [[Capitol Records]] and Apple, with five previously unreleased bonus tracks. Of the bonus tracks, "Friends Are Hard to Find" was an outtake from the same [[Mal Evans]]-produced session that saw the recording of "No Matter What" and "Believe Me". "Get Down" was originally attempted with Evans, but the version here was recorded with [[Geoff Emerick]]. The three remaining tracks, "Mean, Mean Jemima", "Loving You", and "I'll Be the One", were recorded with Emerick between January and March 1971 (after the completion of ''No Dice'') for the intended follow-up album that was never released.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=No Dice |others=Badfinger |year=1992 |type=CD |publisher=Capitol Records/Apple Records |id=CDP 7 98698 2}}</ref>

== Critical reception ==
{{Album reviews
|title = Retrospective professional reviews
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1165/review|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review]</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
|rev2Score = B<ref name="CG">{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: B|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=B&bk=70|access-date=February 21, 2019}}</ref> 
|rev3 = ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
|rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' (4th edn), ''Volume 1|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York, NY|year=2006|isbn=0-19-531373-9|page=358}}</ref>
|rev4 = ''[[The Great Rock Discography]]''
|rev4Score = 7/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strong |first1=Martin C. |title=The Great Rock Discography |date=2004 |publisher=Canongate |location=New York |page=79 |ol=18807297M |edition=7th}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]''
| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite news |first=John|last=Harris|title=Strange Fruit: Various, Original Apple albums, 1969–73 |work=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |date=November 2010 |page=116}}</ref>
|rev6 = ''[[MusicHound|MusicHound Rock]]''
|rev6score = 5/5<ref name="MusicHound">{{cite book|editor-last1=Graff|editor-first1=Gary|editor-last2=Durchholz|editor-first2=Daniel|title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide|publisher=Visible Ink Press|location=Farmington Hills, MI|year=1999|isbn=1-57859-061-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/65 65]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781578590612/page/65}}</ref>
|rev7 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide#Third edition|The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
|rev7Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=Mark |editor1-last=DeCurtis |editor1-first=Anthony |editor2-last=Henke |editor2-first=James |editor3-last=George-Warren |editor3-first=Holly |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1983 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=0679737294 |page=31 |chapter=Badfinger}}</ref>
|rev8 = [[Tom Hull (critic)|Tom Hull]]
|rev8Score = B<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|date=December 2010|url=http://tomhull.com/ocston/arch/cg/cg10-12.php|title=Recycled Goods|magazine=Static Multimedia|access-date=8 July 2020|via=tomhull.com}}</ref>
|rev9 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
|rev9score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=Muze>{{cite web|url=http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8300812&style=music&fulldesc=T|title=Badfinger – No Dice CD Album" > "Product Description|publisher=[[CD Universe]]/[[Muze]]|access-date=26 August 2014}}</ref>
}}
Reviewing for ''[[Creem]]'' in 1971, [[Mike Saunders (musician)|Mike Saunders]] wrote effusively about the album and the band itself: "Badfinger is one of the best songwriting groups around, one of the best singing groups anywhere, and now with an absolutely great lead guitarist in Pete Ham, they're really one fucking whale of a group."<ref name="Saunders">{{Cite magazine |last=Saunders |first=Metal Mike |date=March 1971 |title=Badfinger: 'No Dice' |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/badfinger-ino-dicei |magazine=[[Creem]] |access-date=24 May 2019 |via=[[Rock's Backpages]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Robert Christgau]] was somewhat less enthusiastic, writing in ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'' (1981): "I don't think these guys imitate [[the Beatles]] just so [[Paul McCartney|Paul]] will give them more hits — they've got hits of their own. But from the guitar parts (play 'Better Days' right after 'I Feel Fine') and harmonies (the Paul of '[[I've Just Seen a Face]]' atop the Paul of '[[Long Tall Sally]]') to concept and lineup, an imitation is what this is, modernized slightly via some relaxed countrification. They write almost well enough to get away with it, too. But somehow the song that stands out is 'Blodwyn,' a simulated (I think) English folk ditty about a swain and a spoon that has nothing to do with the Fab Four at all."<ref name="CG"/>

== Track listing ==

{{Track listing
| headline = 1970 LP: Side one
| title1 = I Can't Take It
| note1 = [[Pete Ham]]
| length1 = 2:57
| title2 = I Don't Mind
| note2 = [[Tom Evans (musician)|Tom Evans]]/[[Joey Molland]]
| length2 = 3:15
| title3 = Love Me Do
| note3 = Molland
| length3 = 3:00
| title4 = Midnight Caller
| note4 = Ham
| length4 = 2:50
| title5 = [[No Matter What (Badfinger song)|No Matter What]]
| note5 = Ham
| length5 = 3:01
| title6 = [[Without You (Badfinger song)|Without You]]
| note6 = Ham/Evans
| length6 = 4:43
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = 1970 LP: Side two
| title1 = Blodwyn
| note1 = Ham
| length1 = 3:26
| title2 = Better Days
| note2 = Evans/Molland
| length2 = 4:01
| title3 = It Had to Be
| note3 = [[Mike Gibbins]]
| length3 = 2:29
| title4 = Watford John
| note4 = Evans/Gibbins/Ham/Molland
| length4 = 3:23
| title5 = Believe Me
| note5 = Evans
| length5 = 3:01
| title6 = [[We're for the Dark]]
| note6 = Ham
| length6 = 3:55
}}

* Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–12 on CD reissues.

{{Track listing
| headline = 1992 CD bonus tracks
| title13 = Get Down
| note13 = Evans/Gibbins/Ham/Molland
| length13 = 3:43
| title14 = Friends Are Hard to Find
| note14 = Molland
| length14 = 2:28
| title15 = Mean Mean Jemima
| note15 = Molland
| length15 = 3:41
| title16 = Loving You
| note16 = Gibbins
| length16 = 2:51
| title17 = I'll Be the One
| note17 = Evans/Gibbins/Ham/Molland
| length17 = 2:54
}}

'''2010 CD bonus tracks'''
# <li value="13">"I Can't Take It (Extended Version)" (Ham) – 4:14
# "Without You"(Mono Studio Demo Version) (Ham, Evans) – 3:57
# "Photograph (Friends are Hard to Find)" (Molland) – 3:24
# "Believe Me" (Alternate Version) (Evans) – 3:04
# "No Matter What" (Mono Studio Demo Version) (Ham) – 2:57

'''2010 digital bonus tracks'''
# <li value="18">"Love Me Do" (Instrumental Version) – 2:57
# "Get Down" (Alternate Version) – 5:13

== Personnel ==
'''Badfinger'''
* [[Pete Ham]] – vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, piano, [[tack piano]] on "Midnight Caller", [[Rhodes piano|Fender Rhodes electric piano]] on "Without You"
* [[Tom Evans (musician)|Tom Evans]] – vocals, bass guitar
* [[Joey Molland]] – vocals, rhythm and lead guitars
* [[Mike Gibbins]] – drums, backing vocals on "It Had To Be", lead vocals on "Loving You"

'''Additional personnel'''
* [[Geoff Emerick]] – producer
* [[Mal Evans]] – producer
* Mike Jarrett – mixing
* John Kurlander – engineer
* Richard Lush – engineer
* Keith Hodgson - additional session musician
* Steve Kolanijan – liner notes, sleeve notes
* Mike Jarratt – engineer, mixing
* Marcia McGovern – pre-production
* Roberta Ballard – production manager
* Gene Mahon – design
* [[Richard DiLello]] – design, photography
* 'Kathy'<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.badfingersite.com/questions-and-answers-with-joey-molland-june-6-2011-2/ |title=Questions and Answers with Joey Molland – June 6, 2011 |date=2011-06-06 |access-date=2022-11-14 |website=Badfinger Official Website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108022440/http://www.badfingersite.com/questions-and-answers-with-joey-molland-june-6-2011-2/ |archive-date=2011-11-08}}</ref> - cover model 
* [[Ron Furmanek]] – digital mastering, mastering, mixing (CD re-release)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Discogs master|type=album|92498}}

{{Badfinger}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Badfinger albums]]
[[Category:1970 albums]]
[[Category:Apple Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Trident Studios]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Geoff Emerick]]