Free
The Vinyl Collection

Listening notes

Released in 2016 on Island Records, The Vinyl Collection (catalog number 473 187-9) brings together seven studio and live albums by Free in a single box set spanning fourteen sides of vinyl across seven records. The package works through the band's catalog in sequence, opening with Tons of Sobs and closing with Heartbreaker, and takes in Free, Fire and Water, Highway, Free 'Live', Free at Last, and Heartbreaker along the way.

The scope of the tracklist is considerable. The first two records alone cover Tons of Sobs in full, from the brief "Over the Green Hills Pt. 1" at forty-nine seconds through the extended "Goin' Down Slow" at eight minutes and nineteen seconds, before moving into the self-titled second album. Fire and Water follows on sides E and F, including the long version of "All Right Now." The live album occupies sides I and J, presenting performances of tracks that also appear in studio form elsewhere in the set — "I'm a Mover," "Mr. Big," "The Hunter," and "Be My Friend" among them. Free at Last and Heartbreaker round out the collection on the final four sides.

Free recorded within the blues rock, hard rock, and rock genres, and the breadth of the tracklist across these seven albums reflects the band's output during their active years. For collectors, the set provides a format-consolidated way to hold the core catalog, with Island Records serving as the issuing label for this 2016 edition. Anyone cross-referencing individual album pressings against this box set will find the tracklist here largely mirrors the original album sequencing throughout.