Bad Company

Run With the Pack was recorded when Bad Company were well into their peak. It may not feel as much like a greatest hits collection as the band's first two records did because its songs weren't played on the radio ten zillion times. But its meaty drums, closely double-tracked guitars and Paul Rodgers' ability to go from a nice-guy croon to his signature scratchy horndog persona -- all hallmarks of the band -- are stamped all over "Honey Child," the title cut and "Live for the Music," for starters. Their Coasters cover, "Young Blood," is of particular interest.

Run with the Pack, Bad Company's third and best album, reiterates the raw, rowdy style of
their debut, Bad Co., solidifies the loose ends that marred Straight Shooter and adds new
directions of its own. Maybe most importantly, the record is refreshing proof that rockers
don't have to produce literature in their lyrics or cultivate personae to create good art.
Bad Company's is a purely musical triumph. Paul Rodgers's voice and Mick Ralphs'... More >

Almost imperceptibly, album by album, they soften their Free-derived formalism--not only does this one include ten (why, that's almost eleven!) different tunes, but the dynamics shift and the tempos accelerate slightly and Paul Rodgers actually sounds a little soulful. Which needless to say is a mixed blessing. It's not just that the lyrics are dumb, although there are smarter ways of being dumb than this, but that Rodgers emotes these egregious hip-and-funky clichés as if he's never run across such sentiments before in his life. Ordinarily, that's what a (soulful) singer should do. This time, though, it adds a false note that endangers the entire illusion. (Grade: B-)