Straight Shooter is the second studio album by British supergroup Bad Company. The album was released on 2 April 1975, a month after the release of the single “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad” and four months before the album’s second single “Feel Like Makin’ Love”.

It peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales exceeding 500,000 copies a month after its release. It was remastered and reissued in 1994.

Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke stated on In Studio, which devoted an episode to Straight Shooter, that Paul Rodgers’ song “Shooting Star” was lyrically inspired by the deaths of Paul Kossoff, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.

In June 1974, Bad Company released their self-titled debut album. Three months later, the band and engineer Ron Nevison recorded at least eight songs at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire, England. Shortly thereafter, Nevison mixed these songs for Straight Shooter at Air Studios in London. The album’s cover art was designed by Hipgnosis, who also designed the cover of their first album.

The first single from the album, “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad”, was released in March 1975 and peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was released in April. The album’s final single, “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, was released in August and peaked at number 10 on the Hot 100.

Straight Shooter received mixed reviews from various music critics. In a new review of the album for Allmusic, Gautam Baksi attributes the album’s popularity to the acoustic ballads “Shooting Star” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love”.

Straight Shooter is a tight collection of eight strong, steady, and heavy rock tracks that never rush forward, but by the time Good Lovin’ Gone Bad gets going, it’s clear that Bad Company has decided to expand their musical palette on this second LP. As hard-edged and minimalist rock as they may have been, Straight Shooter has many, diverse, and vibrant colors. Acoustic guitars are used for both light and shadow, as the corresponding electrics are channeled through chorus pedals, while piano and organ alternate with the occasional wash of strings, making the whole thing seem bigger and bolder than before, with the two hits, “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and “Shooting Star”, becoming classic connecting links due to this expanded vocal vocabulary, even with rock songs of the range of “Good Lovin’ Gone Bad” and “Deal With The Preacher”.

At the same time, the group feels comfortable enough to get into a relentless rhythm on “Anna” and “Call On Me.” This skill of Bad Company prevents us from not listening to the album’s strong funk rock track “Wild Fire Woman” and shows that the band can sound equally powerful and threatening even when not focusing on heavy guitar runs.

From this excellent album we I select “Feel Like Makin’ Love”.

Tracklist

1. Good Lovin’ Gone Bad 3:35
2. Feel Like Makin’ Love 5:12
3. Weep No More 3:59
4. Shooting Star 6:14
5. Deal With The Preacher 5:01
6. Wild Fire Woman 4:32
7. Anna 3:41
8. Call On Me 6:03