Customer Reviews

Tons of Sobs

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have just received this new remastered version and it is absolutely fantastic! The sound quality is excellent, especially considering that it was recorded in the late sixties. The drums have been cleaned up and the guitars / vocals subtly tweaked. The bonus tracks are great especially 'Visions of Hell' and 'Woman by the sea' which later was released as 'Remember' on the Fire and Water album. I'm going to replace my existing Free CDs with these new remasters!

Tons of sobs is one of the finest rock albums in my collection from one of the greatest bands Free.I got this yesterday and have been listening to it continously since then .This is their best effort along with Fire and Water.This classic cd has such masterpices as Walk in my shadow,Goin down slow,I'm a mover and The hunter.Highly recommended.

I missed this one, for some reason, during the late 60's/early 70's, My mistake!! This is GREAT!! It's right up there with "Heartbreaker", or any of their releases. Free's rendition of the blues classic "Goin' Down Slow" is alone worth the price of admission. I received this CD today 03/20/04 (shipped 09/15/04!!) and I feel really good about today - because of this CD. Absolutely Great.

This album deserves 5 stars and then some. The song going down slow will blow your mind, and is worth it alone. Paul Kossoff's ( Guitar absoutly screams! It is so ,bluesy and heartfelt, that it send shivers down your spine. Brilliant and masterful playing.This is a must have not only for blues/rock fans, but anyone who is into good music. Solid start to finish, you won't be sorry.

If you're a Free fan then this album is a must have. It's their Genesis album, their musical launch pad. Before the hype, before the egos, before the drugs... there was Tons of Sobs. A technically raw album, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the energetic, early potential of this group. The album is a Sgt Pepper's style journey, beginning and ending with the haunting 'Over the Green Hills' Some great performances are wedged in between... Worry, Walk in my shadow, I'm a mover, and the classic Hunter. Kossoff's fluid guitar work, intense vibrato laden lead work dominates while Kirke and Fraser provide a solid musical backing. Rodgers voice is gritty, with his distinctive phrasing punctuating the riff laden tracks. Close your eyes and be transported back to a time when the music and the vibe did the talking...

Free's first album (the self-titled one was the second) is a typical late-60s slice of British blues, filled with liquid bass lines, crunchy guitar chords and the occational piano and organ riff. And this remastered and vastly expanded edition offers eight bonus tracks, including three good BBC session cuts and some studio alternates.

There are some really fine songs here, most notably teh single "I'm A Mover", the great, riff-driven "Walk In My Shadow", and Free's rendition of the Albert King-classic "The Hunter". And Paul Kossoff plays some impressive blues guitar on songs like "Going Down Slow" and "Worry".
The bonus cuts are a bit of a mixed bag; the BBC-recording of "Waitin' On You", a song which didn't appear on the original album, is a real highlight, though, and the instrumental "Guy Stevens Blues" has merit as well.

The slow, bleak folk-blues "Moonshine" takes itself a little too seriously, and there are a couple of performances here which are just too indistinct and unfocused, lacking structure (and melody, too, to be honest). The good songs certainly dominate the album, but Free were still learning.

If you're a serious Free fan you probably already own this album (or you're planning to buy it again because of the bonus cuts).
If you're not - think twice about it. It's not a bad record, certainly not, but virtually every really good song on "Tons Of Sobs" can be found on the excellent double-disc "Molten Gold - The Free Anthology".
That one collects almost every Free song of note, and the casual listener really won't miss very much even if that's the only Free CD they ever buy.

What a magnificent debut album "Tons Of Sobs" is! Recorded October 1968 - around the same time Led Zeppelin recorded their first album - Free was then one of the most promising acts to have come from the UK. Their music was impressively solid, full of raw energy and great musical taste. In short, the band - Paul Rodgers, Paul Kossoff, Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke - was "cooking"!
Beginning and ending with the magically acoustic "Over The Green Hills pt 1&2" was an interesting decision as it sets the mood for things to come perfectly just to calm things down from all the thunder at the end. The moment "Worry" kicks in with that screaming guitar then followed by the rawest, purest singing Paul Rodgers has ever commited to tape, we know this must be one of those treasures from the late sixties. They then carry on with the heavy, bluesy riffing of "Walk In My Shadow", get well into the blues with "Going Down Slow" with Kossoff's great licks followed by "I'm A Mover", "Moonshine", "Sweet Tooth"... They just can't do no wrong here. Impossible. This is one of those rare moments captured for posterity. Quite a shame they would never be this focused and spontaneous as shown by their subsequent releases which seemed to have let Free's raw power dwindle.
I would definitely recommend this remastered edition as it brings forth all the brilliance this once great band emanated! The fact 'Tons of Sobs' is a classic in every way is undeniable.

I still have the vinyl that I bought in Europe when I was there in the 60's. I was hoping with technology that it would be transfered someday & I wasn't disappointed. The xtra cuts make it that much more enjoyable. A must for all Free fans plus the "Live" and Fire and Water CD. Can't beat the groups from those days. Too Bad they didn't make it as big in the States as the rest of the world.

Free was by any stretch of the imagination, a legendary rock band. Blues prodigies by the ripe old average age of seventeen and a half, Paul Rodgers, Paul Kossoff, Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke should be in the Rock n' Roll hall of Fame. Alas, the idiots that select that crap haven't considered their contributions as meaningful enough. Should you care? Listen to their debut, `Tons of Sobs' which was released in the late winter of 1969, though it should have come out about three months earlier. The album is powerful and raw, much heavier by contrast to their later more well known releases such as `Fire and Water'. "Walk in My Shadow" is pulverizing in its intensity and anger and "Worry" is justifiably titled. Kossoff is amazing on this record and why he isn't as well known today is a crime. "I'm A Mover" and "The Hunter" are the most well known songs from the record but will never get any American radio airplay! "Wild Indian Woman" is very sexual and you can hear the lust in Rodgers' voice. It is very hard to remind yourself that these were kids, "The Heavy Metal Kids" if Chirs Blackwell, Island's label boss, had his way. "Goin' Down Slow" and "Moonshine" would be the slow blues highlights of this remarkable record. `Sobs' was not a big commercial success but put Free on the map of British blues and on to bigger and richer pastures. You may be pleasantly surprised at the ferocity of this LP but Free were for real, as young and punchy as they were.

In an early 2009 interview in Guitar Player magazine, Joe Bonamassa named Tons of Sobs as one of his top 5 blues albums - he wasn't even born when this came out, but he knows great music when he hears it.

Pop music benefitted in the 70's from blues artists like Fleetwood Mac and Paul Rodgers crossing over to create amazing hits. But they earned their songwriting chops on albums like this - the foundation guitar licks, clean bass lines, and simple production values to let the music shine through.

This is "roots" music for blues artists today but with great beats and rock lines that anyone can relate to. While I don't think you'll go wrong with any Free album, enjoy this one for great songs like The Hunter and Walk In My Shadow. You won't be disappointed.