Bad Company - Bad Company

Released - June 1974

Genre - Hard Rock

Producer - Bad Company

Selected Personnel - Paul Rodgers (Vocals/Guitar/Piano); Mick Ralphs (Guitar/Keyboards); Simon Kirke (Drums); Boz Burrell (Bass)

Standout Track - Bad Company

Bad Company's eponymous 1974 debut album is one of those records to which I really owe my longstanding love of classic rock albums. I missed out on pretty much all that was actually going on in music in the 90s, and it's something that friends of mine occasionally wonder over - how I could have grown up in that decade without ever hearing of Nirvana, or why I only ever got round to listening to Radiohead this year. The simple answer is, I had no need to listen to whatever music was on the radio or in the charts when I could listen to my step-dad Rob's albums at home, and Bad Company was one that was on almost constant rotation. The sound of barnstorming opener "Can't Get Enough" is still evocative enough to take me back to London in the mid-90s and various mock wrestling nights we would indulge in while it played, because that was how we entertained ourselves back then. Bad Company are essentially one of the ultimates in ballsy, brash, powerful rock music with bucketloads of charisma and charm that's simply great enough to not need much sense of innovation or craft or intelligence. Who needs it?

Bad Company emerged from the debris of what was left of Free in 1973. In the wake of the band's final album Heartbreaker that year, it was clear that they couldn't continue, most notably due to guitarist Paul Kossoff's substance abuse, deteriorating mental state and unreliability onstage. Lead vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke felt it was a shame to abandon the idea of being in a rock band altogether as they were really onto something as songwriting duo, but that to continue Free without Kossoff simply wouldn't be the same thing. Around the same time, guitarist Mick Ralphs left Mott the Hoople due to musical differences with band leader and lead vocalist Ian Hunter. On Mott, the band's followup to the David Bowie-produced All The Young Dudes, Hunter had continued to follow the more whimsical, glam rock direction Bowie had sent them down and there was very little opportunity for the simpler, earthier blues rock Ralphs produced, so he soon called it a day. (Mott would continue with Bowie's former guitarist, Mick Ronson). These twin circumstances soon came together and it was immediately obvious that they would work well together. With the rather unusual addition of Boz Burrell on bass, the former bassist and vocalist for King Crimson on their Islands album (a more different rock band to Bad Company than King Crimson is difficult to imagine), Bad Company was born.

For me, I've always seen Bad Company as (with no disrespect to the incredible talent of Paul Kossoff) the crystallisation of everything that Free could have been. While they achieved intermittent brilliance with classic tracks like "All Right Now" or "The Stealer," Free were often reliant on more laid-black, folk-tinged blues numbers and only really seemed to truly come alive when going more all-out on the hard rock side of things. With Bad Company, Rodgers and co. immediately grab the listener by the scruff of the neck and go all-out with colourful, characterful rock music. Even on the quieter and more down-tempo songs, there's still a stronger sense of character and fun than on Free's more middling material. Rodgers, as ever, is on fine form vocally, with the gutsy, bluesy power of his voice injecting every song with immense charisma, while Ralphs' guitar playing has a kind of earthy, raw power to it that suits proceedings perfectly. He doesn't have the wiry, unpredictable nervous energy of Kossoff, but Bad Company is a band far more about stolid rockers rather than fiery explosive moments, so Ralphs is a perfect fit. "Can't Get Enough" is a classic song of rollicking, party-esque rock, with its sing-along chorus and Ralphs' gloriously simple riff. "Rock Steady" is a more menacing, slow track but one that builds to a raucous climax via Rodgers' angry vocal performance. The band's cover of Mott's "Ready For Love," penned by Ralphs and originally featured on All The Young Dudes, is a very different version. Rodgers' vocals are far more powerful than the reedier Ian Hunter, and Ralphs' guitar here has a stronger, more grounded feel to it than the sharper edges of the Mott version. Both have things to recommend them, but for me it's the Bad Company version that will always remain definitive.

The title track perhaps narrowly edges out "Can't Get Enough" as my favourite track of the album, largely because it plays a bit more interesting with its dynamics and pulls off a classic Bad Company trick, of starting as a quiet, introspective piano ballad and soon exploding into a powerful hard rocker, its unforgettable melody being belted out with great passion by Rodgers while Ralphs lays down another great riff. "Movin' On" is the other upbeat rocker on the album, and is great fun but doesn't do a huge amount to differentiate itself from something like "Can't Get Enough." "The Way I Choose" and "Seagull" are both more mellow ballads. The acoustic "Seagull" is decent enough, but on "The Way I Choose" the band prove that they really have a knack for selling a ballad that Free lacked. Predictably, it's largely due to Rodgers' committed and passionate vocals that they manage to pull the song off, but the melody of its chorus is undeniably pretty and emotive.

Overall, it's impossible to pretend that Bad Company marks the debut of a band who were particularly inventive or radical or thoughtful in their approach to rock music, but it does showcase a band who were able to grab rock music by the throat and do it with a panache and a commitment that few other artists ever managed, and who would, for a short time, be one of the definitive classic rock acts in the world. Over the next couple of years, Bad Company, along with the likes of label-mates Led Zeppelin, would rule the roost of British hard rock, before sliding into decline in the late 70s and becoming truly awful in the early 80s. Oddly enough, I'm actually a huge fan of their late-80s and 90s work, partly because much of it is produced by the uncle of my friend Helen Thomas (Terry Thomas was also the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the obscure rock band Charlie, who will crop up on this blog before too long). You won't find many Bad Company fans that will attest to it, but this band released three classic albums in the 70s and then three more over a decade later.

Track Listing:

1. Can't Get Enough (Mick Ralphs)

2. Rock Steady (Paul Rodgers)

3. Ready For Love (Mick Ralphs)

4. Don't Let Me Down (Paul Rodgers & Mick Ralphs)

5. Bad Company (Paul Rodgers & Simon Kirke)

6. The Way I Choose (Paul Rodgers)

7. Movin' On (Mick Ralphs)

8. Seagull (Paul Rodgers & Mick Ralphs)