Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010 3 July)

Bad Company's last platinum album, Holy Water is a formulaic yet reasonably engaging collection of AOR hard rock. Although the only original members on Holy Water are guitarist Mick Ralphs and drummer Simon Kirke, the band does a fair job of approximating the sound of classic Bad Company while adding enough elements of '80s pop-metal to make the record appealing to teenagers who grew up on power ballads. And the band does turn in a first-rate power ballad with "If You Needed Somebody," which rose all the way to number 16 on the singles chart. Surprisingly, that was one of three hits from the album – "Holy Water" and "Walk Through Fire" also received a fair amount of airplay.

10 from 6 is a compilation album released by British supergroup Bad Company in December 1985 on Atlantic Records label. All the songs on the album were previously released on Swan Song Records, a record label begun by Led Zeppelin in 1974. 10 From 6 means ten songs from six albums – namely, Bad Company's first six records, all of which were big hits on album-oriented rock radio. This brief yet very effective collection gathers all of the group's best-known songs ("Can't Get Enough," "Feel Like Makin' Love," "Shooting Star," "Bad Company," "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy," "Ready for Love") in one place. Although most album-oriented hard rock acts are better heard on the original albums, Bad Company's records tended to be more uneven than those of their peers, making 10 From 6 a valuable collection for the group's casual fans, who will want to bypass the cluttered studio albums and just get the cream of the crop.

10 from 6 is a compilation album released by British supergroup Bad Company in December 1985 on Atlantic Records label. All the songs on the album were previously released on Swan Song Records, a record label begun by Led Zeppelin in 1974. 10 From 6 means ten songs from six albums – namely, Bad Company's first six records, all of which were big hits on album-oriented rock radio. This brief yet very effective collection gathers all of the group's best-known songs ("Can't Get Enough," "Feel Like Makin' Love," "Shooting Star," "Bad Company," "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy," "Ready for Love") in one place. Although most album-oriented hard rock acts are better heard on the original albums, Bad Company's records tended to be more uneven than those of their peers, making 10 From 6 a valuable collection for the group's casual fans, who will want to bypass the cluttered studio albums and just get the cream of the crop.

Cut straight on the heels of Bad Company's 1974 debut - just a matter of three months later; not quite long enough to know how big a success the first LP would be - Straight Shooter is seemingly cut from the same cloth as its predecessor. It is, after all, a tight collection of eight strong, steady, heavy rockers that never, ever proceed in a hurry, but from the moment "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" kicks off the proceedings, it's clear that Bad Company have decided to expand their palette this second time around. Where Bad Company was stark, minimalist hard rock, Straight Shooter bears lots of different, vibrant colors: acoustic guitars are used for light and shade, guitars are channeled through chorus pedals, pianos and organs alternate with the occasional wash of strings, and the entire thing feels bigger and bolder than before…

Recorded live in 2010, Extended Versions features Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke, Lynn Sorensen, and Howard Leese performing some of the band’s biggest hits, including “Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy,” “Feel Like Makin' Love,” and “Shooting Star.”