Free
Fire And Water

THE REVIEW

The Free are a “one hit wonder” group, or rather, they're remembered as such, thanks to the immortal riff of “All right now”, dating back to 1970, used in countless commercials and included in an equally large number of rock, hard-rock, disco rock, blues-rock collections, etc.

In short, with just one hit they managed to build a decent bank account. But if there's usually just fluff behind a group with a (albeit million-dollar) single hit, in this case only time has taken away the honors that this excellent album deserves: to be clear, we're not looking at a masterpiece, but…

When the Free were founded in '68, the four members barely added up to 72 years of age: the youngest was sixteen-year-old Andy Fraser, bassist and cornerstone of the group's sound along with Paul Kossoff's guitar; the oldest were drummer Simon Kirke and singer Paul Rodgers, who penned lyrics about heart-breaking women and the melancholy of life, reminiscent of delta bluesmen.
They mostly covered blues tracks, and what stands out is Rodgers' perpetually hoarse, theatrical voice, imitating blues intertwined with soul styles, alongside Fraser's prodigious use of the bass, with pulsating lines and phrases that don’t strictly follow the guitar chords: essentially, rock mixes with the groove of black soul, adding depth to Kirke's solid drumming and Kossoff's fluid and classy guitar, one of those who believes a note in the right place is worth more than seven played with teeth at a dizzying speed.

They became known for their live performances rather than their first two albums, until in '70 they released this very “Fire and water”, the pinnacle of their brief career both artistically and in terms of sales. The opening is the title-track, with an evocative guitar phrase leading to a logical chord progression, almost consequential and necessary in its course, here accompanied by the bass: Rodgers narrates in an almost monotone voice about a cruel woman, whose love disappears as quickly as it arrives, while Kossoff crafts a splendid solo by overdubbing three guitars, the first holding high notes for several seconds, while the second and third intertwine and arpeggiate in an almost psychedelic manner. It all ends with a brief drum solo.
The Free can be defined as one of the groups that attempted a true contamination of rock with other genres: for example, take the almost reggae interventions in the chorus of “Oh I wept”, reflected in the progression of the beautiful “Remember”, a sunny track that (another blues trope) talks about the days of youth gone by, with an unmissable guitar solo, over Fraser's warm and almost danceable bass line. “Heavy load” is another example of how this isn’t a common rock group: an almost dissonant piano intro that drifts into the dark, with Fraser metronomically striking his strings, Rodgers' ragged voice, notes that seem to get lost in a darkness with no way out, the only glimmer provided by a couple of distorted guitar hints anyways intoxicated.

“Mr. Big” is yet another stroke of genius in the album: the first two minutes are insignificant, another rock progression, what's important is the guitar starts to rise around two minutes and twenty seconds, heralding something, like a carriage climbing to the highest point of a roller coaster. Then, the descent: a long, vibrant, and exhausting bass solo, with Fraser climbing and digging into increasingly baritone notes, using every known way along the E scale, with the guitar (note how roles are reversed) called to assume a purely rhythmic role. A real treat. “Don’ t say you love me” confirms the rule that every hard rock album needs a slow song, and what a slow song it is: a perfect blues in B minor with a soul rhythm, showcasing Rodgers' real vocal abilities, almost like a crooner; the structure is raw, but the involvement is total and the atmosphere is perfect. Finally, the band’s double-edged sword, “All right now”, famous riff in A, clean solos by Kossoff, bass in great shape, Kirke’s drumming perfectly matching the song’s needs.

Masterpiece? No, I wouldn’t say so, even though the overall average is extremely high: it's simply an excellent album, thoroughly enjoyable almost forty years after its release, offering an original vision of hard rock, ahead of the crossovers of the years to come; nonetheless, it's a pity the Free didn't continue on this path: after releasing a dispensable live album and a decent couple of albums, they disbanded in '73. Kossoff died in '76 with a needle in his vein; Rodgers has recently reinvented himself as the frontman for the reformed Queen.

But that's another story…