Heartbreaker
by
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Release type:What's this?
studio album
First released:
1973

Overview Edit

Heartbreaker is the seventh and final album by English rock group Free, that provided them with one of their most successful singles, "Wishing Well". It was recorded in late 1972 after bassist Andy Fraser had left the band and while guitarist Paul Kossoff was ailing from an addiction to Mandrax (contemporary photographs show him looking gaunt and emaciated), and features a different line up to previous albums: Tetsu Yamauchi was brought in to replace Fraser, while John "Rabbit" Bundrick became the band's keyboard player to compensate for the increasingly unreliable Kossoff (singer Paul Rodgers played keyboards on the previous album Free at Last, but was nowhere near as proficient a player as Bundrick). Both Yamauchi and Bundrick had played with Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke on the album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu & Rabbit during that period in late 1971 where the band had broken up. Also, several other musicians were used on the album. This, plus the fact that the album was co-produced by Andy Johns as well as Free, resulted in the most professional and well-produced album for some time, and also one that is considerably mellower and more mature than many previous efforts. Indeed, there are almost no points of comparison between this and their debut album Tons of Sobs in 1968.

The Overview appearing in this section is attributed to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbreaker_(Free_album). Portions of this Overview may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details.

This particular version Edit

Record label:
Catalog number:
unknown
Release dates:
  • Jun 9 1992

Genres

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR), Classic Rock. Vote on Genres

What do Amazon.com customers think?

5 stars Where theres smoke theres fire...
Hearbreaker finds a young band stepping into maturity to defy the process of disintegration. Whatever was happening to them at the time, Free turned out one of the best and most enduring recordings of 1972. Though Bad Co. would rock harder and sell many more records, they never came close to the sublime majesty of this one.

Free's song structures, based on blues, gospel, and rock-steady elements, sound more potent and less contrived than ever. Paul Rodger's lyrics have finally grown out of teen…
Written by Vaughan Otter
3 stars Free Mach II
Even though Andy Fraser had left the group after the Free at Last debacle, efforts were sought to continue the band and so Tetsu Yamauchi took Fraser's place on Bass, while John "Rabbit" Bundrick was added on keys exclusively to add another element of depth within the ensemble. Paul Kossoff's unreliability was paramount during the sessions for Heartbreaker, although his playing is on at least 85% of the recordings; Snuffy Walden, a friend of Rabbit's, also filled in guitar duties to help smoothe…
Written by Thirty-Ought Six "music fiend"

Track listing Edit

Credits Edit

  1. performer

    1. Andy Fraser [bass]
    2. John "Rabbit" Bundrick [instrument]
    3. Paul Kossoff [instrument]
    4. Paul Rodgers [vocals]
    5. Simon Kirke [instrument]
    6. Tetsu Yamauchi [instrument]
  1. producer

Other versions Edit

Heartbreaker 14 tracks format: 1 x CD
record label: Island UK
catalog number: IMCD288
release dates: Feb 11 2002
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Heartbreaker 14 tracks format: 1 x CD
record label: Island Records
catalog number: IMCD288
release dates: Feb 4 2002 in United Kingdom
view details
Heartbreaker 8 tracks format: 1 x CD
record label: MCA Special Products
release dates: Jun 9 1992
view details
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