Consumer Guide Album

Free: The Best of Free [A&M, 1975]
I could complain that the format automatically glosses over their austerity with an uncharacteristic catchiness, but in fact it sounds better and says more about them than Highway. Just as annotator Jim Bickhart claims, the band wasn't "only effective at gut-level; it was effective as music." But often the gutty moves--Rodgers's or Kossoff's crowd-pleasing flourishes--weren't musical, while the arty touches--the deliberate pace and general sense of containment--socked you right in the cerebrum. Which is why Bad Company grandstands, and why I'm on the critical fence. B+