03. Bad Company Bad Company 1974 (Swan Song)
Hard Rock-Soft Rock
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An unembellished set of rock songs built to last!
Overview
Bad Company were one of the first really true supergroups that dominated the hard rock genre. I say true, because when I think of supergroups I tend to think of bands that were big commercially, rather just than being members of other known bands. The genre had already contained supergroups such as Cactus etc, but none of these came close to achieving the level of commercial success that Bad Company would achieve during the rest of the decade! Bad Company were led by Paul Rodgers, whose lengthy stint with his previous band Free, had always seen him flirt with huge commercial success, but due to a serious of misfortunes (see previous Free album reviews) the band had never achieved the true heights that Paul Rodger’s melodic hard rock so desperately sought. Paul Rodgers brought Free drummer Simon Kirke with him and these two were joined by the highly respected and equally brilliant Mick Ralphs from Mott the Hoople whose praises I’ve often sung on here and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company were formed in 1973 and direction-wise they were the baby of Paul Rodgers, who had continued with the basis of the sound that had been laid down across the Free discography, Bad Company of course and keeping with the times would be far less bluesy than his previous band Free in every aspect. But Paul Rodgers I guess in terms of leading the band, had learnt to compromise after his previous clashes with Andy Fraser in the Free set-up, which in the end turned out to be detrimental to the stability of the band. This time around though, the input of guitarist Mick Ralphs became just as important as that as Paul Rodgers, so much so that he was involved in about fifty percent of the writing credits on the album. As both commercial fame and success were the band’s primary aim, the band basically got all their groundwork spot on, not just with the band personnel but also in hiring Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant, who had an uncanny way of promoting bands stateside and that was where the big bucks were! It was largely thanks to Peter Grant and the bands stripped down sound that they became a huge draw stateside throughout the decade.
Paul Rodgers- Vocals
Mick Ralphs- Guitar
Boz Burrell- Bass
Simon Kirke- Drums
Production- Bad Company
Album
Can’t Get Enough- With its mid-tempo beat, tuneful sound and simple guitar lick, the opening track is the perfect example of the melodic Bad Company sound and was solely written by Mick Ralphs.
Rock Steady- A return to heavier territory here with a heavy percussion beat, before the songs builds up to a heavier main section, one of the best songs on the album without any doubt.
Ready for Love- One of the most beautiful and accomplished slower songs ever written in the 1970s! The song had originally been penned by Mick Ralphs whilst he was with Mott the Hoople (it was previously reviewed) but now its vocals are delivered by Paul Rodgers along with some actual changes to the song.
Don’t Let Me Down- A slow burning track with a soulful almost gospel type sound, which really relies on Paul Rodger’s voice and he also his guest piano spot as well.
Bad Company- The title track starts off with a subtle piano intro, before moving into some heavier rocking fare, before then moving down a gear and then kicks off again…… the song is one of the pillar of the album!
The Way I Choose- The slowest song on the album and despite being a nice track, really lets us know that the emphasis of this album is most definitely on the slower more melodic material.
Movin’ On- Penned by Mick Ralphs and a very upbeat track throughout.
Seagull- Mostly acoustic and the song has a great flowing feel to finish what is a very polished and accomplished album. The album also had some additional omitted tracks and these include
"Superstar Woman" a standard rocker and the best of the three, along with two b-sides
"Little Miss Fortune" and
"Easy on My Soul" which had previously been recorded with Free.
Verdict
The
Bad Company debut was one of the big commercial success stories of the year and thus it achieved the aim of Paul Rodgers and company. Now what’s so special about the
Bad Company debut, is that we have four artists that were already highly respected individuals who were masters of their trade and were fully capable of going toe to toe with anybody out there! But what we got was a perfectly stripped down brand of melodic hard rock, that was propelled by Mick Ralph’s guitar and driven by the ever soulful voice of Paul Rodgers, whose voice it should be said dominates every song. The album also had an enviable rhythm section of Boz Burrell and Simon Kirke, in fact Simon Kirke might be my pick of the musicians on here. Most of the compositions are perfect examples of the previously mentioned stripped down melodic hard rock, which has no complexities and certainly no thrills! The songs were built around basic licks and uptempo beats and they don’t get any more basic than on a song like “Can’t Get Enough” but the album’s stellar highlights include a number of timeless classics such as “Rock Steady” “Bad Company” and the glorious “Ready For Love”. This song is such a classic, that it always begs the question on which version was better, the original Mick Ralphs version from Mott the Hoople or the better known Bad Company version with Paul Rodgers singing? This album is so solid that there is no real filler and certainly no weak tracks to speak off! The
Bad Company debut, may well have also been one of the biggest influences for the future AOR movement, the album doesn’t always get the credit it deserves in that respect, but this album was in many aspects an album that had so many softer rock elements, which would be a dominant feature in the AOR sound. At just 34 minutes running time, the
Bad Company debut may well be one of the finest examples of hard rock meets soft rock from its era. The band tried duplicating this formula throughout the rest of the decade, but they could never quite match the shining light of this debut set.