Bad Company Burnin' Sky CD

Live Recording

Bad Company: Paul Rodgers (vocals, piano, guitar); Mick Ralphs (guitar); Boz Burrell (bass); Simon Kirke (drums).
Recorded at Le Chateau Studios, Herouville, France in July & August, 1976.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Personnel: Paul Rodgers (guitar, accordion, piano); Mick Ralphs (guitar, keyboards); Mel Collins (saxophone); Tim Hinkley (keyboards); Simon Kirke (drums).
Recording information: Le Chateau Studios, Herouvilla, France (07/1976-08/1976).
The string finally ran out for Bad Company with their fourth album, Burnin' Sky. Their approach was so simple that it almost inevitably became formulaic, and although Mick Ralphs continued to screech with his sparse guitar leads and Paul Rodgers continued to present his lust in a soulful voice -- well, it'd been heard several times. By Burnin' Sky, Bad Company were getting sloppy around the edges, but the real reason this was the first Bad Company to miss the Top Ten in the U.S. and the U.K. is that there was no hit single. Clearly, it was time to try something new. ~ William Ruhlmann
The string finally ran out for Bad Company with its fourth album. Their approach was so simple that it almost inevitably became formulaic, and although Mick Ralphs continued to screech with his sparse guitar leads and Paul Rodgers continued to present his lust in a soulful voice -- well, one had heard it all before several times by now, hadn't one? A band that begins life declaring "I can't get enough of your love" doesn't really have anywhere to go, and by this, its fourth album, Bad Company was getting sloppy around the edges, tossing in a '50s pastiche in "Everything I Need," crooning "The Happy Wanderer" as if they were on a drunken pub crawl. There were plenty of those patented ominous mid-tempo rockers, too, of course, but nothing you'd want to add to the set list. Of course, the real reason this was the first Bad Company to miss the Top 10 in the U.S. and the U.K. is that last point: no hit single. Clearly, it was time to try something new, but after three years of stadium rocking, what the band wanted to try instead was a vacation -- they weren't heard from again for two years. ~ William Ruhlmann
Bad Company had seriously began to wane from critical favor with the release of BURNIN' SKY. Congratulated for the no-frills approach on their debut, Bad Company was subsequently taken to task for sticking with the dynamic that made them a great band in the first place! While nearly every other supergroup in rock history (excepting the Traveling Wilburys) succumbed quickly to the inviting airs of self-importance, Bad Company consistently fueled itself on boiling its blues-based rock down to its barest elements.
The title track alone is a potent reminder of the band's stripped down power and Rodgers' considerable vocal prowess. Even at his most passionate, Rodgers never gives in to histrionics or superfluous emoting. With a simple kick drum and snare pushing him, Rodgers rides over the insinuating two-chord riff in full rock & roll glory.