Bad Company: Hard Rock Live

Capturing a reunion engagement the British rockers played at Florida's Seminole Hard Rock Live in 2008, this offering (available on either DVD or Blu-ray, with both versions including a bonus audio CD) features original Bad Company members Paul Rodgers (vocals, guitar, piano), Mick Ralphs (guitar), and Simon Kirke (drums), who join forces with Lynn Sorensen (bass) and Heart's Howard Leese (guitar). Looking fit and trim in a motorcycle jacket, Rodgers dedicates 1979's “Gone, Gone, Gone” to bass player (and ex-King Crimson member) Raymond “Boz” Burrell, who died of a heart attack in 2006. The frontman's voice, always the band's centerpiece, sounds the same as ever, but as a sign that the veteran players have aged a bit since their 1970s heyday, when Rodgers sings, “I'd better do some drinking fast” during the aforementioned number, he adds, “O.J., that is.” Rodgers then introduces “Run with the Pack,” by saying, “Nineteen seventy-three, we started out running, and we're still running.” While the group tends to speed a few songs up unnecessarily, they offer a solid 17-song set that includes all of the expected hits, both slow-burning numbers (“Shooting Star”), and straight-ahead rockers (“Bad Company,” “Feel Like Makin' Love,” etc.). The accompanying CD is missing only one song, “Sweet Lil' Sister,” the set's weakest selection. Presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.0 and stereo, this is recommended. Aud: P. (K. Fennessy)