In some respects, this is a sad album. The band had actually broken up in April 1971, with no intention of ever working together again, But when it became obvious that Kossoff was suffering from major drug problems, brought on by the split in the band for who he had so much affection, it was decided to reunite the line-up, almost as a way of saving the guitarist’s life.
Under those conditions, it would be expected that ‘Free At Last’ would be anything but a decent album. However, against all the odds it turned out a lot better than expected or feared. Sure there are times when Kossoff’s erratic playing had to be covered by either Rodgers or Fraser playing piano. And there’s an melancholic air to some of the lyrics, possibly reflecting Kossoff’s state of mind. Yet, set against this is the fact that the band seemed to immerse themselves in a new style.
The swagger of old had gone, maybe unsurprisingly, but the new introspection not only suited the mood of the band, but also gave them a fresh direction to explore. And there is no way that songs like ‘A Little Bit Of Love’ were inferior to past glories. This album seems to be almost uniformly criticized in reviews but I would make a case that it holds its own fairly well against the rest of Free’s catalogue. True, it is not all up to the consistent high standard of ‘Fire and Water’ or ‘Heartbreaker’, but it nevertheless contains much good material and demonstrates clearly the evolving style of the band, away from the relatively simple arrangements of the early albums and towards the keyboard-dominated sound of ‘Heartbreaker’. This album was the last by the original four members of Free, but though he is not credited I suspect that some of the keyboard work might have been by John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick, who officially joined the band later, for their final album. There are more good tracks than bad. Child, Guardian of the Universe and Magic Ship all hint at Rodgers chosen direction, and there are similarities with his later work with Bad Company and his solo efforts. Although there are a couple of tracks which some might regard as ‘filler’, the standard of composition and playing is high, with the shorter more concise songs near the start and the later songs being more lengthy, slow and thoughtful.
The album got to number nine in the UK and number 69 in America.
The Fat Angel Sings 