Heartbreaker

About

Though the band was in dire straits—founding bassist Andy Fraser had left, and a drug addiction was slowing destroying guitarist Paul Kossof—Free’s guiding concept was so durable that its final album turned out to be a classic despite those setbacks. Replacement bassist Tetsu Yamauchi would later join The Faces, a likeminded act whose influence crops up on “Travelin’ in Style,” “Come Together in the Morning," and “Muddy Water”; all have a loose and organic delivery punctuated by John "Rabbit" Bundrick's glittering honky-tonk piano. Lest you assume that Free was loosening the reigns on its sound, the album also features some of the group’s heaviest riffs. “Heartbreaker” and “Seven Angels” revive the slow, stamping grooves of Free's early albums, while Bundrick’s piano proves to be just as heavy as Kossof’s guitar on the astonishing “Common Mortal Man.” The band’s last big hit, “Wishing Well,” combines the crunchy riffs of the early years with the more flowing instrumentation of the later years. It’s one of the band’s best songs, presaging a style of hard rock that would come to fruition in the late '70s and '80s.

via Apple Music