Bad Company Run With The Pack CD

Live Recording

Bad Company: Paul Rodgers (vocals, guitar); Mick Ralphs (guitar); Boz Burrell (bass); Simon Kirke (drums).
Recorded in Grasse, France in September 1975.
Digitally remastered by George Marino.
Personnel: Paul Rodgers (guitar, accordion, piano); Mick Ralphs (guitar, keyboards); Simon Kirke (drums).
Recording information: Grasse, France.
It was no surprise when Straight Shooter, Bad Company's second album, came out sounding like a carbon copy of their first, Bad Company. After all, the first one had topped the charts. And with Straight Shooter also selling well, it was no surprise they wouldn't mess with the formula on this, their third album. But it was becoming increasingly clear that it was a formula, and an unusually restrictive one. (They tried adding strings on the title track, which is one of the rewrites of the song "Bad Company," abut that was just a pretension, not a new direction.) With the band slogging through the stadiums of the world and momentum on their side, Run With The Pack shot up the charts, too, but it didn't get quite as high or stay quite as long as its predecessors, mostly because of the lack of really memorable material -- the biggest single was a cover of The Coasters' hit "Young Blood," a tired warhorse. "Honey Child," one of the "Can't Get Enough" rewrites that was released as a single, didn't make the Top 40, an ominous sign the band did not heed. For today's listeners, well, you only really need one Bad Company album to get the idea, and why not just get the first one? (Or, for a more complete view, the greatest hits LP 10 From 6.) Then, if you really love what you hear, this record is more of the same. ~ William Ruhlmann
By this, their third album, it was becoming increasingly clear that Bad Company's music was a formula, and an unusually restrictive one. (They did try adding strings on the title track, which is one of the rewrites of the song "Bad Company.") With the band touring the world and momentum on their side, Run with the Pack shot up the charts, too, but it didn't get quite as high or stay quite as long as its predecessors, mostly because of the lack of really memorable material -- the biggest single was a cover of the Coasters' hit "Young Blood." ~ William Ruhlmann
By the time of Bad Company's third release, RUN WITH THE PACK, the critics had begun hitting the band with charges concerning its formulaic approach. The assertion bears some validity but completely misses the only point that really counts: Bad Company had a damn good formula. It is impossible to refute the merits of album opener "Live for the Music." With a cutting three-chord riff and a tugging backbeat, Bad Company levels the overblown art rock of the '70s with a simple 4/4 kick to the gut. The album's highlights are numerous. The glorious "Silver, Blue and Gold," is possibly the band's best love song, while the title track travels on a lean path of bedrock. The band also takes a good whack at the Coasters' classic tale of hormonal surges, "Youngblood."