Fire and Water

Free emerged from the British blues boom with a tight, muscular style that framed Paul Rodgers' throaty voice. Guitarist Paul Kossoff provides the perfect foil with incisive, measured solos exemplified by his contribution to "All Right Now." This successful single transformed the group from club to festival status. Free's unhurried, careful intensity is captured perfectly on the album's title track and "Oh I Wept," two songs charged with emotion. Where many contemporaries tended towards excess, Free implied a resonant power, particularly through Andy Fraser's liquid bass work, which weaves between the melody lines, rather than asserting them. FIRE AND WATER is a high spot in heavy rock; rather than merely asserting masculine qualities, this album also shows a rare vulnerability.