Almost entirely written by the Fraser/Rodgers partnership, Free's second studio album sold poorly even if the material is among the best the rock blues scene had to offer at the time of its release. "I'll be creeping" builds a sophisticated theme about the blues recurring figure of the possessive lover. "Songs of yesterday" is strictly led by the bass, from which the tune has been composed, and benefits from appropriate time changes and a free rein storming performance by Paul Kossoff. "Lying in the sunshine" is a beautiful muffled acoustic intermission, like a lazy summer nap, where we can enjoy a different canon in precious Rodgers' vocals, backed by a somewhat slightly doo-wop chorus. Some more exciting hard blues comes with the quartet penned "Trouble on double time" with another blues lyrical theme, this time the relentless cheater leading a double life. "Mouthful of grass" is the second interesting bracket from the rock clamour and closes side one. "Woman", the best song in the selection, is gifted with an amazing big guitar riff that just anticipates the pop rock consecration of "All right now" even if at halved tempo. "Free me" and "Mourning sad morning" have a liturgical feel enhanced with layered vocal harmonies. "Broad daylight" is constructed to launch its glorious chorus, as a Joe Cocker hit single allusion, but failed miserably in the charts. In the end this record set the things right, pointing how Free was not yet another mere blues rock act, but a major british popular music crafting act to be, with top class authors and enviable performing skills, but sadly internal misunderstandings and mixed fortunes prevented this fantastic band to consolidate its position.
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