Bad Company made Burnin’ Sky in 1977 after an intensive period of touring left the band exhausted, with singer Paul Rodgers describing them as “burned”. The album has often been overlooked beside the group’s earlier successes, but the article argues it deserves recognition as a strong, largely forgotten entry in their catalogue and a record shaped by the pressures of life on the road.

While promoting the album, the band based themselves in Palm Springs and travelled to shows by private jet. Rodgers, photographed in a karate gi for the cover, said he was trying to stay fit after witnessing how touring could leave people badly affected; the image reflected an effort to regain discipline and control amid the band’s hard-living reputation.