Free - 20th Century Masters - The Best Of Free - The Millennium Collection

Year of Release: 2002
Label: Universal
Catalog Number: 606949073527
Format: CD
Total Time: 42:48:00

Free, the legendary rock blues band, now has one CD available that encapsulates their career in a more than adequate way. As this CD will attest, their popularity wasn't an anomaly. As Dave Thompson notes in his excellent liner notes - In 1968 when the band was conceived, they were a bunch of inexperienced teenagers, unlike rock heavyweights such as Cream and Led Zeppelin that boasted seasoned veterans like Page and Clapton, they had to start from the very beginning. He makes a very good point. What they did was even more eye opening when you give all of those facts consideration. His views are very valid. There is no doubt that Free made a huge impact on blues-rock and their importance cannot be overstated. 20th Century Masters - The Best Of Free - The Millennium Collection will bring your ears to attention and help to cement these thoughts and feelings.

Right from the opening scorcher "I'm A Mover," Paul Rodgers and company make a statement. "All Right Now" has been a radio staple since its release; it has some of the most familiar opening chords in rock history, and those notes come jumping off the frets of Paul Kossoff's guitar. "Mr. Big," which is a live version of the song, is as good as it gets for a live recording, and of course the classic "Wishing Well" always sounds great. This may not be enough of Free for all the diehards out there; irregardless, this collection sure puts together a lot of tremendous songs on one CD. It's more than enough to make you realize what a great group they were, and still are.

Sadly Kossoff became another rock 'n' roll casualty and died at an early age, succumbing to his drug addiction. Rodgers and Kirke would go on to form an even more successful band called Bad Company. The rest is now history.

Tracklisting:
I'm A Mover (2:55) / Walk In My Shadow (3:30) / I'll Be Creepin' (3:27) / Fire And Water (3:57) / All Right Now (5:32) / Heavy Load (5:19) / The Stealer (3:14) / Mr. Big (Live) (6:10) / Catch A Train (3:26) / Wishing Well (3:40) / Come Together In The Morning (4:38)

Musicians:
Paul Rodgers - vocals, electric & acoustic guitar
Paul Kossoff - lead guitar
Andy Fraser - bass
Simon Kirke - drums, percussion, vocals
Tetsu Yamauchi - bass, percussion
Rabbit Bundrick - electric & acoustic pianos, organ, vocals
Snuffy Walden - guitar
Rebop Kwaku - congas

Discography:
Tons Of Sobs (1968/2002)
Free (1969/2002)
Highway (1969)
Fire And Water (1970/2002)
Free Live (1971/2002)
Free At Last (1972/2002)
Heartbreaker (1973/2002)
The Free Story (1973)
The Best Of Free (1973)
Free & Easy Rough & Ready (1976)
Completely Free (1982)
All Right Now (1991/2001)
Molten Gold: The Anthology (1993)
Walk In My Shadow (1998)
Songs Of Yesterday (2000)
20th Century Masters - The Best Of Free - The Millennium Collection (2002)

Genre: Rock

Origin UK

Added: August 25th 2002
Reviewer: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck
Score:
Artist website: www.paulrodgers.com
Hits: 2295
Language: english