Disco de Bad Company: “Bad Company”

This album has to be played loud! If you have neighbours or family who might complain, play it through headphones or play it in the car. But to do this album justice, don't play it quietly in the background. The drums sound particularly good on this remastered edition.

Bad Company almost defined stadium rock. Always more highly regarded in the US than in their native England, the band was formed from the remnants of Free, whom many believed had been the greatest British blues-rock band. Their final album, 'Heartbreaker' (1972), was a masterpiece whose qualities have become increasingly clear over the years. I remember my astonishment at the time that the sublime (but dead) Paul Kossoff was effectively being replaced on guitar by Mick Ralphs from the rather lightweight Mott the Hoople. And who was this Boz Burrell on bass? Which King Crimson albums had he actually played on?

It turned out that these niggles didn't matter. What held Bad Company and late Free together was the multi-talented Paul Rodgers. He didn't just have arguably the strongest voice. He also played both piano and a great guitar -- all the guitars and solos on the epic Free single 'Wishing Well', for example, are his. He continued on piano and 2nd guitar for the debut 'Bad Company', which for me is their equal best LP alongside the follow-up 'Straight Shooter'.

The title track is my favourite. It magnificently accentuates the image of outlaw drifters which their manager Peter Grant (of Led Zeppelin fame) worked hard to promote. It would seem to be the ideal soundtrack for an introspective cowboy Western, but I've yet to see the movie.

If this album has any minor flaws, or a song that isn't quite as superb as the rest, the problem can be resolved by playing this loud, or when drunk, or at any time when you want to enjoy rather than be super-critical. The high-quality production values shine through on this good-time rock CD.

Sets the standard for every rock group of the 70's and 80's. Every track, ROCKS! If you're going to buy any Bad Company album start with this one! Tracks like "Rock Steady", "Ready For Love", "Can't Get Enough" and "Bad Company" say it all.

Buy this CD while you can. It will never sound this good again. Obviously, if you are checking out this item you already know the songs as the majority of this album has been played on classic rock radio for years.

You're curious if sounds good. This CD was done by the same people who released DCC discs during the 1990's. The sound is incredible, it sounds like you are in the same room with the band. Steve Hoffman did a great job with this CD. We can only hope they will release the entire Bad Company catalog.

Also, check how much the CDs they released by Jethro Tull (Aqualung, Original Masters) or Paul McCartney are going for on ebay and you will know this CD will be selling for over $50.00 due to the limited production. Buy it while you can!

Back in the old days when albums just a little over 30 minutes long would still sell, Bad Company made an album that's become a classic rock staple and beloved by millions around the world. Now we get a very well designed mini lp replica sleeve version which not only very faithfully recreates the original lp in great detail but also has been very well remastered for an excellent sounding cd making it truly worthwhile to upgrade to this version and you'll want to chuck the other versions you have into the nearest bin. The sound quality is like night and day when I compared this to my previous unremastered cd which I have since sold to a used cd store. You also get all the lyrics in both English and Japanese in a 12-page booklet.

Although this album represents a debut for Bad Company the band name but it really isn't a debut for the band members which really are the remnants of Free and so this album sounds like an extension of that band but is still better quality overall than say "Fire and Water" but you could be forgiven if you mistook this band for Free. That aside, the songs here are good for the most part. "Ready For Love" is the strongest and most interesting track musically while I've read someone once who wrote that if you gave a room full of monkeys enough time, they'd compose "Can't Get Enough" but I guess that's the beauty of the track in that it's so damn simple but effective.

Overall, I just can't help but compare it with the other great rock bands around at that time and I can think of a quite a few with much stronger albums than this; "Not Fragile" by BTO comes quickly to mind and even Heart's "Little Queen" has got more interesting musical ideas but I guess timing is everything and the cool album cover helps...

This is a sweet recording. It made me cry the first time I put in this remastered version. I hope Hoffman decides to remaster "Run With The Pack".