Freedom - Freedom At Last (2024) [Hi-Res]

Freedom's first album after drummer/singer Bobby Harrison totally revamped the lineup was typical lumpy British hard rock circa 1969, with nothing in the way of interesting songwriting or instrumental innovation to grab one's attention. In a way, they made for an ideal support act for an emerging and insecure headliner; they weren't going to upstage anyone. Sometimes they would leave off the generic blues-flavored hard rock for poppier or folkier material with harmonies, but melody and originality were not present in abundance. And it's playing a losing game to record covers of the Beatles' "Cry Baby Cry" and the Zombies' "Time of the Season," both of which had just been released, in much better and more popular versions of course, by the original artists; the Howlin' Wolf covers don't do the master much credit, either. The record has been reissued as half of a double CD that also includes their 1971 album Through the Years. © Richie Unterberger