If
Fleetwood Mac
,
Humble Pie
, and
Foghat
had never formed,
Free
would be considered one of the greatest post-
Beatles
blues-rock bands, and
Fire and Water
shows why. Conceptually fresh, with a great, roots-oriented,
Band
-like feel, the album found
distinguishing itself with the public like
Black Sabbath
and
Deep Purple
did (in terms of impact only) in 1970.
presented itself to the world as a complete band, in every sense of the word. 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
. ~ Matthew Greenwald