I really like the way "The Free" plays blues-rock, psychedelic, syncopated, melodic, aggressive.... I'm not an expert on this band, so I have some questions: -- Tons Of Sobs / Free / Fire And Water / Highway / Free At Last / Heartbreaker / Free Live! all remasters with bonus tracks + Live At The BBC (2CD) / Fire And Water (Deluxe Edition)(2CD) / Songs Of Yesterday (5CD Box), these CDs contain the whole production or is there something else? -- Paul Rodgers - vocals, Paul Kossoff - lead guitar, Andy Fraser - bass, Simon Kirke - drums is the classic line-up, in which tracks there are variations respect to this line-up? For example in "Mourning Sad Morning" Chris Wood plays the flute, but who plays the piano in "My Brother Jack"? Heartbreaker album then is very complicated.... Thanks
Your list sums up the official bundle of releases. There may be the odd rarity or session missing, but nothing essential. To go beyond your list would take you into live recordings and other unofficial stuff.
I agree with this. The 2016 remasters on cd and vinyl are excellent but you do not get the bonus tracks.
The compilation Free - Molten Gold: The Anthology 2x CD (1994) is worth adding. IT was only released on CD and cassette. It is an excellent collection and the sound quality is very nice. Mastered by Joseph M. Palmaccio.
I don't recommend any of the 2001 remasters. I bought Fire And Water and it was remastered 'loud' and had a harsh sound quality.
I recommend Free - Molten Gold: The Anthology (1993) I am not an expert on mastering, But I really like the remastering by Joseph M. Palmaccio.
Sadly I agree which is a shame as the packaging and bonus tracks are excellent. I was so used to hearing Free on vinyl before these were released, and even though I don't think they're awful, I've never got used to the sound of them. To me they make Free sound heavier and less laid back, which isn't a good thing.
There were the LPs made in the EU that are fantastic. I have the Japanese Cds with the bonus tracks and thought those were also great. Worth noting past that, the BBC 2CD is for "fans only" but "Songs Of Yesterday" box is well worth getting. As far as antique Cds, the original A&M CD for Fire & Water is also great (different mixes, some) and The Free Story is nice.
Thanks for the information, it is always difficult to do a search with the name "Free". I will read the thread calmly when I have time, hoping to find news that interests me. That thread is closed and we could continue here to exchange information and opinions.
The compilation 'The Free Story' was my starting point back in the day - it's a good overview and the original Island CD sounds terrific. I agree that the remasters of the individual albums are not the way to go - they're mastered loud and harsh. Try to find original Island issues. On CD that is. I'm not familiar with Free LP's. Oh, and it's 'Free' BTW, not 'The Free'. The Free were a soul band from Holland...
The 2001 remasters are too loud, which is a shame - as others have said -because of all the great bonus material they contain (though not so much on Free At Last, which I'd rate as their worst album). I've heard good things about the 2015 remasters but don't feel motivated to purchase.
I highly recommend the recent Andy Pearce remasters with the wonderful label artwork, as mentioned, (the 2001s have their use for the bonus tracks unless there's another way to acquire them), amazon have them for something like £5 each which is frankly criminal for such an amazing young band
The Free Story has the song Heartbreaker live, Songs of Yesterday some extras as well as B sides. Free-A Pop Chronik has Andy Frasers Toby doing Travelling Man. The Best of Free has some terrible Bob Clearmountain remixes. The original Free Live has the original Tyr..Rex intro. I think that's it.
the recent Andy Pearce remasters sound great to me and are not expensive at all - I wanted to expand beyond the Molten Gold anthology, which I agree is excellent, so picking up the entire catalog was a no brainer. And I'm glad I did. I had the Molten Gold anthology for years and years and figured that was all I needed. As soon as I listened to the entire albums, I realized pretty much every note is worth having. Great, great band.
The Free Story....then Heartbreaker, followed by Back Street Crawler(the album) then Sharks First Water and Bad Company (the album) and finish with 2nd Street by Back Street Crawler (the band).
Iirc only the vinyl Free Story has the live version of Heartbreaker. The CD lost it probably due to time limitations. I never understood that choice, taking off the rare track and leaving all the ones that were widely available. Duh Songs Of Yesterday has it and a load of good stuff but the rather heavy handed mastering NR wise is a shame. It’s not bad though sonically. Fortunately Andy Pearce did a fantastic job with the 2016 remasters so no excuse for not owning all the main releases. Fabulous band.