Top Artists – Free

Free / Fire and Water – Hats Off to Roy Baker

Hot Stamper Pressings of British Blues Rock Albums Available Now

More Demo Discs for Big Speakers that Play at Loud Levels

Roy Baker engineered the album (later to be known as Roy Thomas Baker), the man responsible for the amazing recordings of The Cars, Devo, Queen, T-Rex and too many others to name. His work here is hard to fault.

This is a true Demo Disc. On our system it is anyway. Our stereo is all about playing records like this, and playing them at good loud levels as nature — and the artists — intended.

This is the sound of a real rock ‘n’ roll band — no gimmicks, no tricks — just guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. This album has stunning live-in-the-studio rock sound that must be heard to be believed. 

The recording sounds more alive than 99 out of 100 rock records we’ve played, and we’ve played the best sounding rock records ever made

It’s got exactly what you want from this brand of straight-ahead rock and roll: presence in the vocals; solid, note-like bass; big punchy drums, and the kind of live-in-the-studio energetic, clean and clear sound that Free practically invented.

(AC/DC is another band with that kind of live studio sound. With big speakers and the power to drive them YOU ARE THERE.)

Side one leads off with Fire and Water, and boy does it ever sound good. This track will show you exactly what we mean by live in the studio sound. You can just tell they are all playing this one live; it’s so relaxed and natural and REAL sounding.

One thing that really took us by surprise on the first track is how BIG and FAT the toms are on the best copies and how thin and small they are on the average copy. Play a few copies for yourself and just listen for the size and power of the toms. Most copies will leave you wanting more.

Want to find your own top quality copy?

Consider taking our moderately helpful advice concerning the pressings that tend to win our shootouts.

Fire and Water should sound best this way:

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Free / Fire and Water

More Rock Classics

More British Blues Rock

  • Fire and Water is finally back on the site after a four year hiatus, here with hard rockin’ Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on both sides of this wonderful copy of the band’s third release
  • Yes, it takes us about four years to find a copy that sounds this good and plays this quietly – if you want to find your own Hot Stamper pressing, we wish you the best of luck
  • The recording sounds more alive than 99 out of 100 rock records we’ve played, and we’ve played the best sounding rock records ever made
  • Present, spacious and lively, with a solid bottom end – this is the lean and mean sound you want from Free
  • Top 100 and 4 1/2 stars: “From Paul Kossoff’s exquisite and tasteful guitar work, to Paul Rodgers’ soulful vocals, this was a group that was easily worthy of the mantle worn by Cream, Blind Faith, or Derek & the Dominos.”
  • This is our pick for Free’s best sounding album. Roughly 150 other listings for the best recording by an artist or group can be found here on the blog.

To find a copy that plays this quietly and sounds this good is no mean feat, but here one is.

This is one of our favorite recordings and a member of our Top 100, but it only works when you get the right pressing. This one has the big, spacious soundstage and punchy bottom end to bring this album to life.

This is the sound of a real rock ‘n’ roll band — no gimmicks, no tricks — just guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. This album has stunning live-in-the-studio rock sound that must be heard to be believed.

It’s got exactly what you want from this brand of straight-ahead rock and roll: presence in the vocals; solid, note-like bass; big punchy drums, and the kind of live-in-the-studio energetic, clean and clear sound that Free practically invented. (AC/DC is another band with that kind of live studio sound. With big speakers and the power to drive them you are there.)

Side one leads off with “Fire and Water,” and boy does it ever sound good. This track will show you exactly what we mean by live in the studio sound. You can just tell they are all playing this one live; it’s so relaxed and natural and real sounding.

One thing that really took us by surprise on the first track is how big and fat the toms are on the better copies and how thin and small they are on the average copy. Play a few copies for yourself and just listen for the size and power of the toms. Most copies will leave you wanting more.

If you’re a fan of big drums and jump out of the speaker sound, this is the album for you.

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Free / The Free Story – Another Dubby Compilation

Reviews and Commentaries for the Music of Free

Hot Stamper Pressings of British Blues Rock Albums Available Now

This is a Limited Edition Black Label Island Numbered Import 2 LP set.

The sound is passable at best. Unfortunately, like many of the compilations done over the years, this is a very dubby sounding album. It’s smeary, veiled, and lacks space.

The good vintage pressings of the original albums just kill it. 

Not all compilation albums are bad. Here are some with the potential for very good sound.

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Fire and Water on a Mythical Pink Island

Important Lessons We Learned from Record Experiments 

Reviews and Commentaries for Island Pressings on the Pink Label

Free’s Third Album on the original British Island pink label — wow!

Found one at a local record store a while back. It was the first one I’d ever seen in nice enough condition to buy. Checking the dead wax was a bit of a shock though. Care to guess where it was mastered? Right here in the good old U S of A. In fact, at one of the worst mastering houses of all time: Bell Sound in New York. [This is not fair. We have found many good pressings mastered at Bell Sound.]

Now what does that tell you about British First Pressings? Are those the ones you’re looking for? Don’t get me wrong; I look for them too. But you had better look before you leap, or you’ll end up with a bad sounding, probably quite expensive pressing.

It’s one more reason why we try to play as many records as we can here at Better Records. You can’t rely on anything but the grooves.

Rules of Thumb

Which brings up another interesting issue. Some audiophiles use the following rule of thumb for rock record collecting.

If it’s an English band, get the import pressing. If it’s an American band, the tapes should be here in this country, so the original domestic pressing should be the best.

As a rule of thumb it’s not bad. It’s just wrong so often (Led Zeppelin, Cat Stevens, The Eagles, etc.) that you must be very careful how you apply it.

Same with reissue versus original. Nice rule of thumb but only if you have enough copies of the title to know that you’re not just assuming the original is better. You actually have the data — gathered from the other LPs you have played — to back it up.

Further Reading

Free / Tons Of Sobs – A Classic of British Blues

More Free

More British Blues Rock


  • Crazy good Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close it from start to finish, this was clearly the best copy from our shootout – reasonably quiet vinyl too
  • This early UK Island pressing gave us exactly what we were looking for from these British Blues Rockers – it’s smooth, weighty, and overflowing Tubey Magical richness
  • It’s tough to find these imports in audiophile condition, which is why they only hit the site at most every two years or so
  • 4 1/2 stars: “…a blistering combination of youth, ambition, and experience that, across the course of their debut album, did indeed lay the groundwork for all that Zeppelin would embrace. …Tons of Sobs has a density that makes Zeppelin and the rest of the era’s rocky contemporaries sound like flyweights by comparison.”

Here is just the kind of sound you want on an album like this — Big and Bold!

If you’ve got the full range dynamic speakers to play Tons of Sobs good and loud, you will discover, as we have, what a powerful British Blues Rock album this is. No hits, just heavy electric blues played with feeling, months before Zeppelin would come along and take the genre to a whole new level.

Years ago — in 2011 to be exact — we said the following in a listing for a very good sounding domestic pressing:

Solid bass, present vocals, plenty of energy — the only thing missing here is the Tubey Magical richness and sweetness that only the British originals (in our experience) have, and in spades by the way. But try to find one. Over the last two or three years I think we’ve managed to get hold of exactly one clean copy.

Fast forward a number of years and we’ve only had a couple more! I personally have seen the original British pressing of this album sell on the web for more than 1000 dollars, which might explain why we rarely have them. (more…)

Free – Self-Titled

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  • An insanely good sounding Island import pressing with Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from start to finish and one of the few copies to hit the site in many years! 
  • These side were doing everything right — incredibly big, full-bodied and spacious with tons of big rock energy and a solid bottom end
  • Exceptionally quiet vinyl throughout — Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus
  • “… an album that stands alongside its predecessor as a benchmark of British blues at the turn of the 1960s.” – All Music, 4 Stars 

KILLER sound throughout! It’s got exactly what you want from this brand of straight ahead rock and roll: presence in the vocals; solid, note-like bass; big punchy drums, and the kind of live-in-the-studio energetic, clean and clear sound that Free practically invented. (AC/DC is another band with that kind of live studio sound. With big speakers and the power to drive them YOU ARE THERE.) (more…)