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iTunes Review

If you’re looking for one Bad Company collection that gives you the group’s highlights in one spot, this is the simplest, most direct anthology possible: ten tracks from the band’s first six albums. The group’s self-titled debut defined an entire era of R&B-based hard rock for the 1970s. “Can’t Get Enough,” “Bad Company,” “Movin’ On,” and “Ready For Love” are featured here, alongside the band’s further accomplishments, which essentially modify their tough, crusty formula with surefire crowd-pleasers such as “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” “Shooting Star,” and “”Rock n’ Roll Fantasy.” FM radio depended on these guys and those they inspired, from Boston to Foreigner, to deliver compact anthems for the arena rock crowds. Former Free vocalist Paul Rodgers could sing anything with bravado and conviction while ex-Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs took the basic chunky rhythms of the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards and stretched them out for the hard rock crowd, upping the distortion and heightening the tension. Toss in a no nonsense rhythm section with drummer Simon Kirke adding only the subtlest touches and Bad Company come together as a balanced, focused group for the era.