Widespread Panic
Free Somehow
Release Date: Feb 12, 2008
Genre(s): Rock
Record label: Widespread
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Album Review: Free Somehow by Widespread Panic
Fairly Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 6/10
Another Widespread Panic album, another attempt to transfer the band's live energy onto tape. Free Somehow isn't Widespread's best studio effort to date, nor does it pack the same punch as the band's ever-popular concerts, where extended solos and long-running jams are more likely to illicit dropping jaws than drowsy, nodding heads. Still, this disc is nothing to sleep through, even if Widespread Panic haven't learned to utilize a studio's amenities as well as Phish or moe.
Opinion: Very Good
Widespread Panic is still best consumed live, where the band's songs can evolve into musical magic. Free Somehow, the Georgia sextet's 10th studio work, once again proves that axiom true. It's certainly their most adventuresome, but overdone production touches from Terry Manning (ZZ Top, Al Green), who brings horns and an orchestra into the mix, blur some material.
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