The final
Free album,
Heartbreaker was patched together from a variety of sessions -- and it often sounds like it. Aside from drummer
Simon Kirke and singer-guitarist
Paul Rodgers, the band was in fragments. Lead guitarist
Paul Kosoff -- who was suffering from the drug demons that would eventually kill him -- appears on only half of the album, and it certainly takes away some of the communal vibe that
Free was all about. There are some great moments, however, most notably the opening track, "Wishing Well," which was a minor FM hit in the United States in 1973. Although
Kosoff isn't on this track, it has most of the power and glory that defined the band. The rest of the record is by no means filler, but only proves what a great band
Free was, even if their ranks had dwindled. ~ Matthew Greenwald