Customer Reviews

Is More Than a Word

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...More of a lost treasure

Despite their hard-rocking live reputation, in the studio Freedom were a pretty eclectic band with a keen sense of subtlety and dynamics. After recording a few different albums for a few different labels they finally signed to Vertigo. Released in 1972, this was their second album on that prestigious label, and their last one overall

Freedom were always strong vocally, and yet indulged in some extended instrumentals. Like many bands formed in the late 60s, their style is hard to define- although undoubtedly influenced by the blues, there are frequent funky guitar licks that indicate the direction Bobby Harrison would take with his next project, Snafu

Among tracks such as "Little Miss Louise", "Brainbox Jam" and "Ladybird" you'll find several ballads, but sitting alongside these there's a barnstorming cover of the Don Nix standard "Going Down". Thanks to the efforts of reissue label Angel Air, the band's output is now available for all to enjoy on CD

You'd think an album like this could live up to the incendiary words on its cover, but alas, the only freedom touted by the musicians here is the freedom to answer that clarion call of mediocrity. The first song, Together starts out promisingly enough, as most first songs on albums usually do. A hint of some very hard, no-nonsense rock is offered. They even wear the funk hat comfortably on the next song, "Miss Little Louise"; arguably (and very ironically) this song anticipates some of what would be Little Feat's finest work in the later seventies. All too quickly, the band loses its way on "Sweaty Feet", a boring fuzz guitar Chuck Berry clone. "Brainbox Jam" is a grim parable of why you should never mix a wah-wah pedal, with distortion and funk. Suffice it to say, this song does not jam. "Direction" tries to return things back from the never never land of the previous song; it is a great echo of Bobby Harrison's previous band, Procol Harum. "Going Down" is what this album should have been: everything works here; it's heavy and hard hitting with a killer guitar solo and vocal to boot. After that, things get really weird as you enter balladland with "Dream" and "Ladybird". The former tries to show off the band's sensitive side and the latter exhibits the bands jazz sense. Both songs are out of place, because the orchestral/horn dubs completely drown out the band's playing and muddy up what was already a shakey musical identity. Freedom's album isn't a total loss to the ear, but it could have used a stronger musical direction.