Bad Company: Paul Rodgers (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano); Mick Ralphs (guitar); Boz Burrell (bass); Simon Kirke (drums).

Engineers include: Robin Black, Ron Nevison, Chris Kimsey.

Recorded between November 1973 and November 1998. Includes liner notes by John McDermott.

Digitally remastered by Steve Croxford, Jack "Jacko" Adams, and Walter Coehlo

(Masterpiece Mastering, London, England).

Somehow or other, Bad Company got lumped in with other '70s rock dinosaurs. In a way they were -- not because their music was excessive or dated, but because when Bad Company walked the earth, the ground shook. Featuring the voice of Paul Rodgers, one of rock's greatest singers, the thoroughly excellent Original Bad Company Anthology re-establishes Bad Company as a force in the music world. The 33-song, two-CD set contains all the classic songs that made the band a top-selling recording and concert attraction, as well as four brand new songs and six B-sides and outtakes. The new songs are (surprise!) awesome. All four tracks (two by Mick Ralphs, two by Paul Rodgers) sound like they could be on the band's classic early albums. The first single, "Hey Hey," is a blustery rocker; "Tracking Down a Runaway," a totally exhilarating number, sounds like a future hit. The rarities include "Easy on My Soul," a remade Free song from the Straight Shooter sessions -- complete with Paul Rodgers' signature piano -- that blows the Free version out of the water, and might just be the best track Bad Company has ever done. Other highlights include "Superstar Woman," a soulful outtake from the first LP sessions, and "Smokin' 45" from the Burnin' Sky sessions. "Little Miss Fortune," with its cool lyrics and groove, is a former B-side finally seeing the light of day in the CD age. The set draws from all of their albums, emphasizing the first two, but the band even found two good tracks from the utterly pathetic Rough Diamonds; if those songs are good you can be sure the rest kick some serious butt as well. ~ Geoff Ginsberg

Bad Company's 1974 self-titled release stands as one of the most important and accomplished debut hard rock albums from the '70s. Though hardly visionary, it was one of the most successful steps in the continuing evolution of rock & roll, riding on the coattails of achievement from artists like the Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. From the simple electric guitar lick on "Can't Get Enough" to the haunting bassline in "Bad Company" and the fast beats of "Movin' On," Bad Company exemplified raw rock & roll at its best. Erupting out of an experimental period created by the likes of Pink Floyd, Bad Company signified a return to more primal, stripped-down rock & roll. Even while labelmates Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy and IV featured highly acclaimed, colorful album artwork, Bad Company's austere black and white record cover stood out in stark contrast. Six years later, AC/DC used the same idea on their smash Back in Black. Throughout the 35-minute album, Paul Rodgers' mesmerizing and gritty vocals hardly vary in tonal quality, offering a perfect complement to Mick Ralphs' blues-based guitar work. Several songs include three-chord verses offset by unembellished, distorted choruses, filled rich with Rodgers' cries. Bad Company is an essential addition to the rock & roll library; clearly influential to '70s and '80s hard rock bands like Tom Petty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Boston. ~ Gautam Baksi

1974's BAD COMPANY laid the groundwork for much of the mainstream hard rock that would dominate FM radio and album sales in the 1970s and '80s. In contrast to the expansive canvases of psychedelic music and the virtuoso excesses of prog rock, Bad Company's debut stripped the blues-rock model down to its essentials, playing muscular, amped-up power chords over driving 4/4 beats. Though the singing of vocalist Paul Rodgers (who had previously been in the blues-based band Free) has a rather flat affect, it is powerful and distinctive, meshing perfectly with the bluesy riffs of guitarist Mick Ralphs.

The tightly structured songs are cut from similar cloth, but the exuberant "Can't Get Enough," the snarling "Bad Company," and moody, spectral "Ready For Love" provide enough variety to keep things interesting. The gentle "Seagull," though uncharacteristically introspective for the band, is one of Rodgers/Ralphs's finest compositions. Subsequent Bad Company albums would rework the same basic themes, but BAD COMPANY, the group's opening salvo, was their defining work. It remains a classic of straightforward, blues-based rock.

Bad Company's formation in 1973 signaled the arrival of a blues-rock supergroup. Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke came from Free, guitarist Mick Ralphs was Ian Hunter's foil in Mott The Hoople and Boz Burrell had done time with King Crimson. ANTHOLOGY collects many of their well-known hits/classic rock staples ("Can't Get Enough," "Shooting Star," "Rock And Roll Fantasy") on two discs alongside four new tracks recorded in 1998.

Bad Company was the first signing to Led Zeppelin's Swan Song label. Songs such as "Bad Company" and "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" benefited from his Paul Rodger's rich, bluesy vocal delivery. Much of the band's material reflected a fascination with the Old West, particularly numbers such as "Deal With The Preacher" and "Whiskey Bottle." Other, overlooked numbers include "Silver, Blue And Gold" and "Oh Atlanta" (a favorite of Alison Krauss, who's been known to do it in concert). The newly recorded material finds the band returning to their blues-rock roots as they prepare to saddle up for the new millennium.