#29 was Al Stewart’s Year Of The Cat, so we’re skipping ahead to #28.
You may remember we talked about Bad Company’s 1976 album, Run With The Pack. The band quickly began recording a new album that summer, but delayed its release to keep it from competing with the current album. I think that concern was overstated. In order to explain why, I’ll start by pointing out that Frampton Comes Alive! came out just two weeks before Run With The Pack. On the Billboard 200, in the chart week of April 10, 1976, Frampton Comes Alive! peaked at #1 while Run With The Pack peaked at #5. In the chart week of July 24, 1976, Frampton Comes Alive! hit #1 again while Run With The Pack had dropped to #170.
At #112 that same week was Band On The Run by Paul McCartney & Wings, an album that came out three years earlier.
To reiterate, while Run With The Pack was a hit, it did not have nearly enough legs for the band to worry about a new album competing with it. But they still waited until March 1977 to release Burnin’ Sky, which peaked at #15 on the Billboard 200. In that regard, the delay hurt more than it helped. On the other hand, Burnin’ Sky got mixed to negative reviews, so maybe the delay could have helped if the band used the extra time to keep working on the album.
Or rather, that’s what I would say if Burnin’ Sky was actually bad. I think the album just didn’t have any big hits. Most of the album is really good. Some songs lean towards a more mellow style, like “Morning Sun,” “Leaving You,” “Peace Of Mind,” “Passing Time,” and a weird cover of a German song written after World War II. But the album also has heavier songs like the title track and “Everything I Need,” which were the two singles. “Everything I Need” was not released in the U.S. at all, and was only a minor hit in Australia. The title track only peaked at #78 on the Hot 100, but it was a hit on rock airplay and has been regarded as one of the band’s best songs. Other good heavy songs include “Heartbeat,” “Too Bad,” and “Man Needs Woman.”
The album does have some weaker tracks, namely “Like Water” and the closer “Master Of Ceremony.” All in all, though, I think Burnin’ Sky is a bit underrated.
Leave a Reply