Home Free - DAN FOGELBERG****

To The Morning/Stars/More Than Ever/Be On Your Way/Hickory Grove/Long Way Home (Live In The Country)/ Looking For A Lady/Anyway I Love You/Wysteria/The River

Home Free was the debut album from American soft rock singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg. He would achieve consistent commercial success in the USA during the second half of the 1970s.

“Dan's singing is surprisingly raw here, and that's not a good thing when his songs and his style demand the kind of lush and pretty and polished singing that he would go on to develop. On this debut his voice sounds stranded between somewhere he should be going and somewhere he shouldn't.”

“From the first ethereal strings of To The Morning to the lingering ending of The River, this album stands as a quintessential example of Fogelberg's talent. There is little artifice here, musically or lyrically.”

“To me, his later releases lack the raw emotion that this album so perfectly portrays. Every song here is great. Listen to the sheer beauty of Be On Your Way or the raw emotion of More Than Ever. This record is Dan's milestone.”

“I have worn this album out. It has a little bit of everything, a slight folksy, country sound, but great meaningful songs and melodies. This was his first album and a real taste of what was to come. If you like Dan Fogelberg, this is a must have.”

“This album turned me on to Dan Fogelberg's awesome style of lyrics that weaved intricate imageries with the creative music that has made him so popular.”

“Home Free is a good piece of work that contains fast country-pop tunes, symphonic ballads and folky songs. This first effort reveals that Dan Fogelberg wasn't just a good composer, or a folky who told pretty stories and memories. He was a pioneer also. Home Free was ahead of its time. Dan sounds like modern ambient and electronic music, with much resemblance to new age orchestrations.”

“After all these years, this is still one of my favourite Fogelberg albums. It has a nice freshness to it, and a delicacy that's lacking later on. It's neatly produced too, better in fact, than many of his later albums, and packed with memorable, rather melancholy tunes.”