Paul Rodgers & Friends: Live at Montreux 1994

A soulful belter who is the equal of any other British rock singer, Paul Rodgers hasn't always used his talent to best effect, all too often surrounding himself with journeyman musicians playing faceless, generic music (yes, he teamed with Jimmy Page in The Firm, but who can name a single one of their songs?), and such is the case for most of this 16-song set from Switzerland's 1994 Montreux Jazz Festival. While there are some well-known players in Rodgers' band, they don't bring a lot to the party; rather, guitarists Neal Schon (Journey), Steve Lukather (Toto), and even Brian May (Queen) spend way too much time simply wailing away in a notes-for-notes'-sake approach that turns even blues classics like “I'm Ready,” “Crossroads,” and “Good Morning Little School Girl” into standard hard rock fare (“Hoochie Coochie Man,” with genuine bluesmen Eddie Kirkland and Luther Allison sitting in on voice and guitar, is an improvement). Better are the songs from the catalog of Rodgers' first band, the restrained but rocking Free (including “Fire and Water,” “Little Bit of Love,” “Mr. Big,” and the inevitable “All Right Now”), as well as Bad Company's “Feel Like Making Love.” Presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo, this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Graham)