After the huge success of Fire and Water, helped by the smash All Right Now, Free were now under the radar and enjoying some well deserved commercial exposure for their hard work and efforts. Enter the follow-up recording of Highway, which, at the time, went belly up as far as their continued commercial fortunes were concerned. The 2002 remaster, featuring band biographer, Phil Sutcliffe's liner notes, attempts to explain the main reasons for the misfortune. Some in the Free camp pointed out that the designed front cover only had their faces adorned with the title Highway shown on the cover and the group's name was nowhere to be found. Another factor lay at the feet of the record company for not properly promoting the effort hard enough. Regardless of these factors, there is no doubt about the music, songwriting, arrangements and playing throughout this release, which I feel, is Free's pinnacle as a blues/rock quartet.

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Opening with the Highway Song, it starts with drummer Simon Kirke's  snare shuffle, followed by Paul Kossoff's stately guitar rhythm and a tinkling piano line to accompany the main melody. The arrangement given is quite organic and there is a lot of light and shade worked within this number and as was noted by Paul Rodgers, the group had developed an admiration for the Canadian group, The Band and so, "Highway Song" is heard as an homage to them; albeit, with a rich and well meaning tribute.  The Stealer follows in with a typical Kossoff guitar riff that has a menace about it, not unlike Mr. Big from the previous Fire and Water set. As the song progresses, the rhythm section of Fraser and Kirke, the powerful vocals of Paul Rodgers, coupled by a few tremendous solos from Koss, the Stealer is a hidden, buried gem within Free's repertoire. On My Way is a lilting, carefree tune having a laid-back vibe of love and innocence included. Rodgers' vocals yearn for the love and desire of a woman, while Koss accompanies duly with a sparse, but meaningful guitar performance. Be My Friend is a slow, contemplative blues number, driven by piano and Fraser's bass, adding an extra depth to this strong cut. 

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Sunny Day and Love You So are coupled together as the ballads of the record and are driven by Rodgers' vocals which give the songs a velvety smooth touch and finish to them; they seem a bit lightweight, but also help to balance the record out. Ride On a Pony is another blues/rock classic for the band and remains an archetypal Free number with all of the groups' collective talents fully intact. Bodie is a bit of a country/folk offering here, and like the majority of the record, has a positive, carefree quality that accompanies. The 2002 remaster offers up 6 bonus songs, 2 of which were cut afterwards from the sessions and continue the earthy vibe displayed on the release, My Brother Jake b/w Only My Soul. Rain remained an outtake from this same session and is an alternate mix from the released version that appeared on the Songs of Yesterday compilation posthumously. "Jake" should've been included on the Highway album, even though it was cut immediately after its release, it would've fit in perfectly within the context of the material.  

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Overall, Highway remains a classic album and shares a spot with Fire and Water as the best albums to represent the sound of this band. Not long after its release, tensions began to mount more among Fraser and Rodgers, coupled with Kossoff's slow decent into substance abuse and would signal a quick ending to the group; they would reunite a short time later, but things ultimately were never the same, unfortunately...

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Rating Grade- A