Baby I'm-A Want You
is
Bread
's best album, showcasing its soft and hard sides (yes,
had a hard side) at their respective peaks.
"Mother Freedom,"
with its crunchy
James Griffin
guitar solo, and the superb soft rocker
"Baby I'm-A Want You"
made a brilliant opening which the rest of the album had a hard time matching. The songs range from wistful sentimentality (
"Diary"
) to spirited protest (
"This Isn't What the Government,"
a poor man's
"Taxman"
with an anti-war slant). The high points outnumber the flat spots, and the playing is very polished (with unexpected
hard rock
flourishes on
"Dream Lady"
), but this is still a '70s period piece. Reissued in 1996. ~ Bruce Eder