Artist: Free
Label: Island Records
Release: 1970
Blues rock hit the peak of its thrilling journey in the late sixties, sure, but that doesn’t mean its dusty old bag ran out of dirty tricks in the years that followed, tricks that practically every English schoolboy of the time wanted to learn to handle. Still, at the turn from the sixties into the golden seventies, the British bands ran out of steam. The initiative slowly started slipping over to their counterparts across the pond, who went at the roots of the blues in a different way. The fresh approach of bands like the Allman Brothers gave an already overdue overhaul of how we understand the blues as a genre a proper “shock”. The honor of the blues rock cradle, Great Britain, the land that had once offered shelter to blues legends who were more or less unwelcome elsewhere, like Sunny Boy Williamson, Albert King and the rest, was this time saved by Ten Years After and above all by the phenomenal quartet Free, whose inimitable Paul Rodgers is without a doubt one of the best vocalists in the business.
Free are a musical phenomenon all their own, at least when it comes to putting out that recognizable, flinty blues vibe. The essence of their message steers clear of the often tiresome mix of showy guitar strutting and extravagant vocal projection, and is built entirely on simply shaped riffs, whose presence might strike many people, at least by the standards of blues rock’s loudmouthed character exhibitionism, as a little too reserved. Put simply, this is an extremely disciplined, tight and homogeneous form of four excellent musicians, where, apart from the exceptional Rodgers, you’d struggle to find any one element that really stands out. Rodgers’ voice is incredibly muffled. At times it feels almost like a mystical, yet still deeply emotional rustling high above the clouds, one that often smells of soul. His traditionally convincing delivery takes in the melancholic Heavyload, Don’t Say You Love Me and the superb Oh I Wept, all three an obvious showcase of the singer’s incredible abilities. These songs mirror a meticulously polished and distinctive musical identity that, at least as far as image goes, sadly also sets Free apart from the many far more successful bands of a similar genre. Then there’s a different story, character-wise, revolving around a young man named Paul Kossoff. Though the laid-back feel of his playing will probably drag on many a listener, don’t underestimate the determination of the guitarist’s clear sympathy with Rodgers’ deeply raspy vocal approach, which, besides the triumphs mentioned above, proudly parades through the unusually snappy Fire And Water and, above all, through the anthem of the golden generation of rock & roll that everyone knows by now, All Right Now. After a quarter hour of melancholic sailing it hits you in the head like a sudden, supremely electrified emotional eruption, vagabond by nature, much like the unpredictability of the opening Fire And Water, with which this inimitable document sweeps in and opens a new chapter in the evolution of rock music. The stunning energy, locked in the tight grip of the omnipotently catchy nature of these two out-of-series Free gems, symbolizes the creative peak of one of the most unjustly overlooked blues rock collectives of all.
Lineup
Paul Rodgers: vocals
Andy Fraser: bass
Paul Kossoff: guitar
Simon Kirke: drums
Production
Free
Tracklist
1.Fire And Water
2.Oh I Wept
3.Remember
4.Heavyload
5.Mr. Big
6.Don’t Say You Love Me
7.All Right Now
Album length: 35.03
