Free Forever: Limited Edition, 2-disc DVD

briefly the biggest band in the UK

Film Review by Caroline Hurley | 13 Oct 2006
Film title: Free Forever: Limited Edition, 2-disc DVD
Forever Free is the most complete collection of live performances from the four-year career of a group whose legacy is becoming more and more evident amid the current swathe of blues-tinged bands.

The DVD makes no real attempt at narrative, and there's no explanation as to why these guys went from being briefly the biggest band in the UK to a Wrigley's advert. Yet their on-stage charisma comes through loud and clear, both in the studio performances and the Isle Of Wight footage, helping to explain how this unpretentious blues-rock outfit broke box office records previously held by Led Zep.

The inclusion of recent interviews is a dubious choice: the fake tan and meagre insights only serve to highlight that the absent Kosoff was really the only enigma in the Free story. Several songs occur more than once, but this too is a testament to how suddenly Free rose and fell; we tend to think they're all right now, but they were great back then. [Caroline Hurley]
Out now.