LED COMPANY!
Seeing as how the debut of the Firm is a simple, straightforward piece of work, we might as well get right to the point: This record stinks! Considering who’s involved, it’s a total outrage! Whether or not you’re a fan of Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers, you’ve gotta respect their track records.
LED COMPANY!
THE FIRM (Atlantic)
Jon Young
Seeing as how the debut of the Firm is a simple, straightforward piece of work, we might as well get right to the point: This record stinks! Considering who’s involved, it’s a total outrage! Whether or not you’re a fan of Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers, you’ve gotta respect their track records. The awesome
achievements of Page’s Led Zeppelin speak for themselves, and though Free and Bad Company may not have reached the same level of cosmic brilliance, Rodgers usually made sure they were hot little combos. So you’d at least expect the Firm to be interesting—and you’d be disappointed. Page and Rodgers have not struck out in a bold new direction and failed. (That would have been preferable.) No, the Firm rehashes too-familiar fare.
For instance, “Someone To Love” bumps and grinds with an edgy stop-and-start tempo plucked from the Zep bag of tricks. “Make Or Break” strives for the brawny selfassurance of Bad Co.’s “Can’t Get Enough.” But after all these years, don’t our heroes owe us more than a lazy repackaging job?