Happy 30th: Bad Company, DANGEROUS AGE

30 years ago today, Bad Company released their second album with Brian Howe fronting the band, and the end result accomplished something that their previous LP had failed to do: it helped bring them back into the upper reaches of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.

Produced by Terry Thomas, who also effectively served as the fifth member of Bad Company during the course of the recording process, DANGEROUS AGE may not have proven that having Keith Olsen helm the band’s previous album, FAME AND FORTUNE, was a tactical error, but it certainly showed that Thomas’s presence was a reinvigorating one for Bad Company. Granted, it probably also helped that he co-wrote all 11 tracks on DANGEROUS AGE, thereby providing him with a familiarity with the material from the very beginning.

Admittedly, it’s an album with production that’s right in line with the era in which it was made, which is to say that it’s a bit dated to those listening with 2018 ears, but there are plenty of classic AOR tunes on DANGEROUS AGE, with the key three being “Shake It Up,” “One Night,” and the album’s biggest hit, “No Smoke Without a Fire.” Better yet, the album served to step up the band’s profile, resulting in enough momentum from this gold-selling LP to provide Bad Company with platinum-selling sales for their follow-up album, 1990’s HOLY WATER.