Track Listing

1. I'm A Mover
2. I'll Be Creepin'
3. Mourning Sad Morning
4. All Right Now
5. Heavy Load
6. Fire And Water
7. Be My Friend
8. The Stealer
9. Soon I Will Be Gone
10. Mr. Big
11. The Hunter
12. Get Where I Belong
13. Travelling Man
14. Just For The Box - Paul Kossoff, Simon Kirke, Tetsu Yamauchi, John "Rabbit" Bundrick
15. Lady
16. My Brother Jake
17. Little Bit Of Love
18. Sail On
19. Come Together In The Morning

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4483 in Music
• Released on: 1996-09-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 77 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Respected as one of the finest blues rock bands of their time, The Free Story reminds us that there is much more to them than standard classics like "Alright Now". This compilation, spanning all six of their albums, opens in true form with the swaggering groove of "I'm A Mover" taken from Tons Of Sobs. Singer Paul Rodgers' soulful wailing and the band's inventive playing brings the blues to life with their own brand of traditional folk and sultry rock. The parade ends with a single track from their final album, Heartbreaker. By this time, founder guitarist Paul Kossoff had left the group, to be replaced by Rodgers on guitar; this accounts for the complimentary song writing on "Come Together In The Morning". Often shadowed by the legendary supergroups of the early 1970s, Free hold a quiet authority as the masters of understatement and pure musical passion. --David Trueman.

Customer Reviews

Perfect Basic Rock.
There is little to say about this album which hasn't already been said by my fellows here, other than to say that having to select tracks for a 'Best Of Free' album must have been the most difficult job in the world; it'd have been easier just to release a box set of their whole back catalogue!
Herewith, a taster, you will need more...

Not the best way to remember the band
When 'The Free Story' was originally released in 72/73, the ads claimed this was a strictly limited release and the masters had been thrown away. A couple of years later, mail order firms started selling a version from Canada. Suddenly the 'strictly limited edition' lost its credibility, but since this was still the only greatest hits album available, those who had missed out first time around got a second chance to buy the double LP. The advent of CD ten years later enabled the chance for several new Free greatest hits collections, and put 'The Free Story' under pressure.

There are three problems with this album: the first is that it doesn't contain 'Wishing Well', which I still rate as one of the greatest singles of all time, even though the guitar is played by Rodgers, not Kossoff. The second is that the sound is muffled, compared to the 'deluxe' versions of the original albums now available on CD. And the third problem is that this CD, like a couple of other ageing Island CDs I own, has started to corrode -- i.e. some of the tracks now jump. When people started warning in the 1990s that CDs weren't necessarily going to last a lifetime, this is precisely the sort of CD they were worried about -- the molecules on the surface start moving around!

My own recommendation would be to start with their last album, 'Heartbreaker', buy a can of Carlsberg Special, and set your amp to loud. Although Heartbreaker marks the total disintegration of the band, it is also, to my mind, their masterpiece.

The very best of Free. A spectacular showcase of songs from a band of young innovators.
Free were one of the very best and most influential bands in the history of rock and pop music. Many rock bands have come and gone, but this british band of young lads left a legacy which will last forever due to their exceptional songwriting abilities and their unique blend of rock, soul and pop. Much of their talent is displayed in this wonderful compilation which was released soon after Free split when the guys were in their early 20's.

They were still in their teens (Andy Fraser was only 17) when when they had their first major hit "All right now", but this so-called classic rock anthem was merely a sample of the incredible range and depth of their material as showcased in this compilation. You will be treated to a fantastic collection of songs delivered with the most soulful singing, emotionally charged and heart-rending guitar solos, highly innovative melodic and rhythmic bass lines all driven along by intense and precise drumming. Many bands have tried to emulate their sound and some still do today, but nobody has ever come close, because each member of Free had their own individual sound.

If you like classic rock and pop, then look no further than this, because these guys were among the great innovators that have shaped popular music over the last few decades.