Disco de Bad Company: “10 From 6 - Best of Bad Company”

I'm not what you'd call a die hard fan of this band, but as an almost lifelong fan of classic rock, quite a few of their songs are forever etched into my memory. With their interesting mix of 70's classic rock, pop, and even a little bit of country/southern rock, they almost made a new subgenre I'd call "mellow hard rock," as contradictory as it sounds.

In 1985, they released this 10-song collection. While in the CD era, this would seem quite skimpy (much like, say, Hall & Oates ROCK & SOUL PART 1 collection), it actually still serves as the best introduction to their mid-late 70's work, especially since they seemed like more of a singles band.

Their first two albums (self-titled, and STRAIGHT SHOOTER) are what most people remember them by, and with good reason. "Can't Get Enough" is a poppy yet hard boogie rock number, while "Movin' On" is a more laid back version of this style.

The rocking kind of early power ballad "Feel Like Makin' Love" and the country-inspired slow rocker "Ready For Love" showcase their lighter side, while their self-titled song is a perfect example of their unique easy-listening hard rock style (which reminds me of western movies).

Of course we can't forget the slower rock of "Shooting Star" which is a little more serious. In this song (also borrowing a bit from country music with its storytelling) tells the tragic and cautionary tale of a rock and roller named Johnny, all the way from getting introduced to rock, to becoming a big star, to dying young.

On their next album, RUN WITH THE PACK, we get the classic rock title track, and the long jam-styled piano rocker "Live For the Music," both of which are simply okay. Nothing is included from BURNING SKY, unfortuantely though.

DESOLATION ANGELS gives us "Electric Land" which explores a bit of a new style for the band in the form of a sparse sounding mid tempo rocker, almost akin to a combination of Pink Floyd and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

ROUGH DIAMONDS gives us the last chronological song, "Rock & Roll Fantasy" which is the closest thing to their first two albums here. However, this sprightly rocker is infused with some keyboards and hints at the 80's rock sound that would follow just a couple years later.

As the editorial review says, "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" would've been a nice inclusion, along with "Rock Steady" as well as something from BURNING SKY and their couple of early 80's albums not represented here. Still though, it's a near perfect album that can be listened to pretty much start to finish.

"10 From 6" means ten songs from the original Bad Company lineup's six different studio albums (actually the ten songs on this compilation were culled from only five of them - "Burnin' Sky" isn't represented).

And that's where the problem lies. If "10 From 6" should have truly included Bad Company's ten best songs, it would have had to skip three of the group's six albums instead of just one, and draw nine of its ten songs from the first two.

But what's here is good, sure it is. The slow, swaggering blues-rocker "Feel Like Makin' Love" is here, as well as "Can't Get Enough", "Rock & Roll Fantasy", "Movin' On" and the ballad "Shooting Star". It's just a little thin, that's all.

Bad Company's first two albums, which contained 9/10 of their best material, would be much better purchase, as would "The Original Bad Co. Anthology", which also includes some rarities and four new songs.

As a fan and collector of everything Paul Rodgers has done I had to buy this album. It's got some of the best music he's done so far on it and as such it's brilliant. However Bad Co also have a whole album that didn't get a look in on this compilation of their greatest hits. For that error alone I took off one star. If you want a brief overview of a great band then this album is for you, if you want to appreciate the band properly buy all the albums or get the new box set. A bargin box gem, but falls short of what a true fan would want.

I had heard a couple of Bad Co's songs (and loved them), so decided to buy this 80's compilation which covers 10 songs. It also was a bargain price. The good news is, the 10 songs chosen for this compilation are fantastic and a very good representation of what the band offered in its day. All the well known classics are here including:

- Rock and Roll Fantasy

- Can't get enough of your love

- Feel like makin' love

- Shooting Star

Basically, this album gave me a very good sample of this great band. I then went out and bought the double Anthology CD to get more of their songs. I'll still hang on to "10 from 6" because it features two great songs not found on Anthology ("Electric Land", and "Live for the Music").

Anthology is digitally remastered, but if you just want a decent snapshot of this great band, look no further than "10 from 6". Don't you know that you are a shooting star?

This has some great Bad Co. classics, but leaves to many classics aside!!! Where's Burnin Sky, Silver Blue and Gold,Rock Steady, Good Lovin Gone Bad and Youngblood? They are not to to found on this CD!!! 5 stars for the music!!! 1 star for the CD!!!