Free: Fire And Water CD Track Listing

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Free Fire And Water (1970)
(Mini LP CD Packaging)\nFire And Water (Mini LP CD Packaging)\nOriginally Released 1970\nUS CD Edition Released 1988 ??\nUK Remastered Edition Released October 15, 2001 or June 17, 2003\nJapanese Mini LP Version Released January 8, 2002 \n2001 Universal Island Records Ltd. - Victor Entertainment, Inc. - Japan\n\nAlbum Details (Mini LP CD Packaging)\nDigitally remastered Japanese limited edition featuring a miniature LP style sleeve for initial pressing. \n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: 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 Fire and Water 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. Free presented itself to the world as a complete band, in every sense of the word. From Paul Kossoff's exquisite and tasteful guitar work, to Paul Rodgers' soulful vocals, this was a group that was easily worthy of the mantle worn by Cream, Blind Faith, or Derek and the Dominos . \n\n[The 2002 Japanese reissue includes several tracks not included on the original: an "Alternate Vocal Take" of "Oh I Wept," two versions of "Fire and Water," and three versions of "All Right Now."] -- Matthew Greenwald\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (Japanese Mini-LP Edition)\nBaby Bad Company! Okay Sound Quality!, October 24, 2006 \nBy Frederick Baptist (Singapore)\nThis album can be best described as a draft or work-in-process version of Bad Company; it can also be called "All Right Now" plus fillers. The record company seems to feel the same way as well which would explain there being no less than 4 versions of "All Right Now", 3 versions of "Fire & Water" and 2 versions of "Oh I Wept." This shows just how short at just 7 tracks the original album was. Unfortunately, the decision was made to include multiple versions of the same tracks as described above which really takes away from the overall enjoyment of the disc; surely some other more fitting tracks could have been chosen instead. Everyone knows "All Right Now" which became the hit track that the band is still renowned for and the album version with the longer guitar work of Paul Kossoff is still the best version on this cd and even the Steve Miller Band ripped off the main riff for their own hit "Rockin' Me Baby" but the rest of the album is really very ordinary and quite uninspiring. The title track sounds a lot like a draft version of what would eventually become the great Bad Company hit "Ready For Love." After the tragic death of the very competent guitarist, Paul Kossoff, some of the remaining band members went on to form Bad Company and this album by Free sounds like the outtakes and/or rejects from their great self-titled debut album. \n\nThe mini-lp packaging design is nice to behold although the quality of the too-soft cardboard leaves much to be desired. All the lyrics in English and Japanese are included as well as an eight-page colour booklet with interesting liner notes. What is disappointing is the patchy sound quality of the "remastered" sound. The title track starts out with very low and muddy sound levels which appears to progress to too much bass on the second track and then the sound quality appears to improve gradually over the remaining tracks. \n\nOverall, given the price of this thing, the fact that the sound quality isn't consistently good is very disappointing indeed. You will have to decide if this is worth paying for 4 versions of "All Right Now" and fillers. Unless you're a diehard fan and don't yet have this album, it's hard to see the value of this very high-priced filler-fest with patchy, average at best, remastered sound quality. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (UK Remastered Edition)\nFree at the peak of their powers, April 12, 2006 \nBy William M. Feagin (Upstate New York, USA)\n1970's Fire and Water was Free's third album, and the one which made them international stars. They were featured at the Isle of Wight Festival that year; the liner notes to this CD tell of how Pete Townshend approached the group on the ferry over to the Isle of Wight and congratulated them on the success of "All Right Now." \n\nAnd they certainly deserved it--on Fire and Water, Free are hitting on all cylinders for sure. This was the best thing Paul Rodgers ever did, bar none; closest match might be Bad Company's eponymous 1974 debut. Paul Kossoff's guitar playing shows just why Eric Clapton wanted to learn how to get the kind of vibrato Kossoff was getting out of his Les Paul (which totally floored Kossoff--hadn't everyone been saying, just a few years previously, "Clapton is God"? Talk about affirmation!). Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke make up one of the most solid rhythm sections in the history of rock 'n' roll. And the songs? And how! \n\nThe title cut absolutely smokes--'nuff said. "All Right Now" was a hit, and deservedly so; 36 years later, this bluesy tale of picking up a girl and trying to hit on her still rocks. "Oh I Wept" has enough soul to have done Otis Redding proud. The bonus tracks are nice, if not terribly essential. The remastering is crystal clear and very warm. The only question I have is this: Why has Island's UK office been the only one to step up to the plate? A&M was the band's US label (not to mention the US label of several other Island artists, such as Fairport Convention), and apart from the Molten Gold 2 CD anthology from 1993, they haven't bothered. Thank all the gods of rock 'n' roll somebody did; kudos to Island. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (UK Remastered Edition)\nAll right... then and now, December 28, 2005 \nBy G. G. Hansford (Newborough, Victoria Australia)\n\nThis is it... the album that countless bands still refer to as the inspiration and starting point for their own musical efforts. If you have never heard of Free before or maybe you've just heard the huge single lifted from it - All Right Now - then buy this with confidence. This is Free's watershed album - it marks the band's shift from its blues roots and tackles the dilemma of popular acceptance versus critical acclaim head on. The band is at its zenith - Kossoff's playing is agonisingly great, Fraser's bass playing superb; Kirke's drumming deceivingly effortless; Rodger's singing - just brilliant, as always. Even your grandma would like this album... there's something for everyone on it. \nYes all the tracks appear on other compilations - go for it if that's your thing, but if you want to own a bit of rock history, get this album... \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (UK Remastered Edition)\nGood, solid album. Stay the hell away from it, September 2, 2003 \nBy Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae)\nProbably Free's best album at the time, "Fire And Water" features the group's biggest hit, "All Right Now", as well as several other good, well-structured blues-rockers.\nHaving said that, I strongly advise you not to buy it.\nThat's right. Six of these seven songs are on the superb "Molten Gold - The Free Anthology", and that one is the only Free CD you'll ever need...it gathers virtually every Free song of note onto two discs.\nAnd besides - this remastered edition (which hasn't yet taken the place of the original seven-track CD in the US, and thus costs a lot more) isn't worth the extra cash...there may be six bonus cuts, but five of them are various alternative renditions of either "All Right Now" or the title song. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (US Original A&M CD Edition)\n4.5 stars - Arguably their best album, May 5, 2005 \nBy Darth Kommissar (Las Vegas, NV (USA))\nFire And Water (1970.) Free's third album. \n\nAlthough Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke would later rise to classic rock fame as members of the legendary rock supergroup Bad Company, the stuff they did prior to that tends to go unnoticed. Prior to Bad Company, the two played in the blues rock outfit Free, along with guitar genius Paul Kossoff. Although the band never received any great popularity, in 1970, they got as close to it as they ever would. The band released All Right Now, their only big hit, in this year. Because the song came from the Fire And Water album, released that year, it has sense become their most popular album. How does this album measure up? Read on for my review of Fire And Water. \n\nThis is arguably the best album Free ever released. The obvious attraction here is All Right Now, the song that often causes the band to be billed as a one-hit wonder. Sure enough, that's an excellent song and one of classic rock's true masterpieces, but this album has a lot more to offer than just that one song. There are seven songs total, and they all rock. With Paul Rodgers' vocals, Simon Kirke's percussion, and Paul Kossoff's guitar mastery (this guy was SO underrated...) the group shells out some of the finest work they did in their times together. The music on this album is certainly a premonition of the future successes that would befall Kirke and Rodgers (Kossoff, sadly though, would die a premature death a few short years later.) It's tough to recommend just one Free album since all of them are good, but if I had to pick a favorite, this would be a very likely candidate for that lofty position. Fire And Water is one of many great classic rock albums from 1970. \n\nFree's catalogue, sadly, is not available domestically. Fortunately though, there are import solutions. A European remaster adds on a ton of bonus tracks. Alternatively, you could get the Russian reissue, which combines the album with another classic Free release, giving you all the more bang for your buck. I personally recommend the Russian version since you get two classic albums instead of just one, but the European issue is great too. What version you decide to get is your decision. \n\nAnd that's Fire And Water. They say the third time around is the charm, and with Free, that remark was certainly a true one. Rodgers, Kirke, and Kossoff really outdid themselves on this one. Although I wouldn't call it a perfect album (Rodgers and Kirke's performance abilities would peak in the early Bad Company days), I stand by the fact that this is a great recording, featuring some of Free's finest work. If you only get one Free album, this would be a good bet.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (US Original A&M CD Edition)\nHaunting, May 2, 2005 \nBy Rollie Anderson (Forney, Texas United States)\nFree sounded unlike any other band in the world when they released this gem in the early 70s. While others were trying to push the tempo envelope farther and faster towards metal, these guys were working at a much more mysterious, soulful pace. But these songs are not lightweight by any means. The drums and guitars are right up front and they growl with an intensity that pulls the listener into the room with them. And Paul has never sounded better or more intense vocally. I highly recommend this album to young and old. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (US Original A&M CD Edition)\nageless classic, February 4, 2005 \nBy skyfly\n\nI recently caught up with "Fire and Water" after a gap of about 30 years and was amazed that it had lost absolutely none of its soulful, emotional power. For those who know Free, this review will be preaching to the converted however, younger rock/blues fans who are unfamiliar with the band must get hold of this album. Every single track is brilliant, from the title track opener, with Paul Rodgers' smouldering vocal, Paul Kossoff's powerchord riffs and police siren lead, through to the close of the band's anthem, "Alright Now". "Oh I Wept", "Heavy Load", "Don't Say You Love Me" are all slow paced, moving soul ballads, the latter two building steadily to concluding crescendos of Rodgers' desperate, Otis Redding-like pleading twinned with Kossoff's crying leads - glorious, heart-rending songs. "Remember" and "Mr Big" are both slow-paced, powerful rockers, the latter climaxing in a breathtaking guitar duel between Kossoff's lead and Andy Fraser's bass. This is such a brilliant, mature album that it is impossible to imagine that all of the band were teenagers at the time and that this is the same Paul Rodgers who would later churn out so much tedious corporate rock with Bad Company. Although Free's last three albums, "Highway", "Free At Last" and "Heartbreaker" would all have sublime moments and are all worth getting hold of, the band's internal tensions and Kossoff's drug problems would prevent them from ever fulfilling their true potential or from putting together a work so consistently superb as "Fire and Water". This was when it all came together for Free, resulting in what is surely one of the top ten all-time great rock albums. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (US Original A&M CD Edition)\nEvery single day, I got a heartache comin' my way...., December 17, 2003 \nBy Kevin Kartchner (Albuquerque, NM United States)\n\nI first listened to this album after it came out in 1970, when my older brother bought it on 8-track, and since then I've owned it on LP, cassette, and CD. Of course, it boasts one big hit ("All Right Now") and one near-hit ("Fire and Water"), both great songs; however, the tune that continues to haunt my memories is "Oh I Wept," a spare, bluesy number that captures perfectly the paradoxical combination of despair and hopefulness that characterized my childhood and adolescence.\nIt's curious that the most interesting solo on the album is Andy Fraser's bass solo on "Mr. Big." Paul Kossoff had a vibrato and tone to die for, but a careful listener will note that almost all of his guitar solos on this album are built around the same lick; he obviously had his technical limitations. Simon Kirke's nifty drum solo at the end of "Fire and Water" doesn't jibe with his rudimentary (boring, really) drumming on the first Bad Company album; one wonders if he acquired a serious drinking problem in the interim! And Paul Rodgers, who is as close to being a virtuoso singer as there has ever been in rock music, was never better than on this record. Add it all up, and you have one of the seminal albums of the era, one that is well worth owning. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (US Original A&M CD Edition)\nIncandescent Bloozerock Minimalism, July 7, 2001 \nBy BluesDuke "A sacred cow is worth but one thin... (Huntington Beach, California)\n\nFree was nothing if not the proof that less is more; what distinguished them from their bloozerocking peers was the point that they didn't need to shove themselves into overdrive to make their point. Minimalists in the best sense of the word, they set a legitimately funky rhythm section behind the strikingly simple but gripping guitar playing of the late Paul Kossoff and the thrusting vocals of Paul Rodgers and delivered as singular a hard bloozerock attack as could be found during their brief but bristling existence.\n\n"Fire and Water" was their best selling album and still the album on which their reputation rests (though the predecessor, "Free," was no less effective). The title track impressed Wilson Pickett enough to make a striking soul hit out of it. And "All Right Now" remains a masterpiece of pure rocking R and B fire; never mind Rodgers's only too classic lyric of predatory obsession-compulsion (so he doesn't get the girl in the sack, she's too smart to fall for his jive, but you know damn well it isn't going to stop him from hunting fresh prey and probably landing one less gullible), the chunky verse playing is relentless, and that classic midsection, piano and bass nudging Kossoff to his most memorably melodious solo (that's saying something considering his consistency), is impossible to resist. The album cut has long since buried the hit single version (which contained a different rhythm guitar sound, shortened up that midsection a little bit, and eliminated the second verse coda entirely; it's available on the new anthology of the band, and it's worthy in its own right), and you probably know a few dozen "classic rock" bar bands who give it a whirl at least once a night and get a guaranteed round of applause with it after they've cranked out a little Bad Company to whet the appetite a bit.\n\nBad Company, in fact, seems to have forged a career out of trying to recapture that lightning and exercising the frustration involved when they see it but don't quite capture it. Though they outpointed Free for commercial endurance, they never really did get their hands around "Fire and Water"'s lightning long enough, notwithstanding that ("Straight Shooter," especially) it was occasionally fun to hear them try. Essentially, Bad Company was Free if you imagined the band merely replacing Kossoff and bassist Andy Fraser with former Mott the Hoopler Mick Ralphs (who lacked Kossoff's subtleties) and former King Crimsonite Boz Burrell (who rumbled where Fraser would have rocked) and turning their elemental flame into arena rock cliche (though Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke never really did lose their hop), but they only serve to make Free look that much better in retrospect. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (US Original A&M CD Edition)\nThe ultimate less-is-more band at their peak, November 27, 1999 \nBy The Sanity Inspector (USA)\nFree was the best (and only) practitioners of blues minimalism. Kossoff peeled off his guitar licks like kung-fu chops. Catch that little bit of vibrato he wrung our toward the end of his lines. Impressive... And Paul Rodgers was at his greatest at this time, probably the best vocalist in rock. Proof that you don't have to break the notes-per-second record, or create an avalanche of feedback to make a lasting impression. \n\n\nHalf.com Album Notes\nFree emerged from the British blues boom with a tight, muscular style that framed Paul Rodgers' throaty voice. Guitarist Paul Kossoff provides the perfect foil with incisive, measured solos exemplified by his contribution to "All Right Now." This successful single transformed the group from club to festival status. Free's unhurried, careful intensity is captured perfectly on the album's title track and "Oh I Wept," two songs charged with emotion. Where many contemporaries tended towards excess, Free implied a resonant power, particularly through Andy Fraser's liquid bass work, which weaves between the melody lines, rather than asserting them. FIRE AND WATER is a high spot in heavy rock; rather than merely asserting masculine qualities, this album also shows a rare vulnerability.\n\nIndustry Reviews\n4 stars out of 5 - ...The definitive Free album - rock has rarely been better...\nQ (12/01/2001)
This rock cd contains 7 tracks and runs 35min 27sec.
Freedb: 67084d07
Buy: from Amazon.com

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