« Back to Top Level | Free

Free - Fire and Water (1970)

Track listing:
  1. Fire And Water
  2. Oh I Wept
  3. Remember
  4. Heavy Load
  5. Mr. Big
  6. Don't Say You Love Me
  7. All Right Now

Notes


If Fleetwood Mac, Humble Pie, and Foghat were never formed, Free would be considered one of the greatest post-Beatles blues-rock bands to date, and this record shows why. Conceptually fresh, with a great, roots-oriented, Band-like feel, Free distinguished itself with the public like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple did (in terms of impact, only) in 1970. A lot of people thought that they were in the same league; buttressed by the FM hit "All Right Now," the entire album and group presented itself to the world as a complete band, in every sense of the word. From Paul Kosoff's exquisite and tasteful guitar work, to Paul Rodgers' soulful vocals, this was a group that was easily worthy of the Cream, Blind Faith, or Derek and the Dominos mantle.