Free-Man
Free-Man is the debut, and only, studio album by American rock band Freeman, led by Ween co-founder Aaron Freeman, known better as Gene Ween.
| Free-Man | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | May 23, 2014 |
| Recorded | 2014 |
| Genre | Alternative rock, Indie rock, Pop rock |
| Length | 46:58 |
| Label | Partisan Records |
| Producer | Chris Shaw |
Background
In May 2012, Gene Ween left Ween and began performing under his legal name, Aaron Freeman and immediately released his debut solo LP, Marvelous Clouds, a collection of Rod McKuen cover songs produced by Ben Vaughn. Freeman continued to perform both solo shows and shows accompanied by Joe Young from 2012-2014. Freeman, who had relocated to Woodstock, New York and begun teaching at Paul Green's School of Rock, assembled musicians from the Brooklyn, New York area, as well as North Carolina, to form a new group and record an album.
Partisan Records released the album, Free-Man, on May 23, 2014. Free-Man was produced by Chris Shaw who had previously produced Ween's White Pepper album. The live version of the band, featuring Joe Young on bass and Zach Tenorio-Miller on keyboards, along with Chris Boerner and Kyle Keegan, toured throughout July 2014 in support of the album.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| Consequence of Sound | B[1] |
| Exclaim! | 7/10[2] |
| Mojo |  [3] |
| Pitchfork Media | 6.5/10[4] |
| Spin | 7/10[5] |
Free-Man received generally favorable reviews from critics. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "If anything, Free-Man is a tighter record than McCartney -- it's not homemade, it's all complete songs -- but there's no denying it shares the same spirit; that it is the sound of breaking dawn of a new day."[6]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Covert Discretion" | 4:54 |
| 2. | "The English and Western Stallion" | 3:18 |
| 3. | "(For a While) I Couldn't Play My Guitar Like a Man" | 4:45 |
| 4. | "El Shaddai" | 4:23 |
| 5. | "Black Bush" | 2:52 |
| 6. | "Gimme One More" | 4:54 |
| 7. | "More Than the World" | 3:02 |
| 8. | "All the Way to China" | 3:57 |
| 9. | "Golden Monkey" | 5:12 |
| 10. | "Delicate Green" | 4:24 |
| 11. | "There is a Form" | 3:09 |
| 12. | "I Know a Girl" | 2:08 |
Personnel
- Aaron Freeman - composer, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, synthesizer, primary artist
- Dave Godowsky - co-composer (tracks 2 & 3), acoustic guitar, organ, piano, vocals
- Chris Boerner - electric guitar
- Brad Cook - bass
- Kyle Keegan - percussion
- Chris Shaw - producer, engineer
- Marco Benevento - organ, piano, Wurlitzer
- Tracy Bonham - vocals, violin
- The Black Bush Boys - percussion
- Greg Calbi - mastering
- Paul Q. Kolderie - mixing
- Nick LaVecchia - cover photo
- Zeynep Sankaynagi - drawing
References
- Comaratta, Len. "Freeman - Freeman". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2015-01-07.
- Sylvester, Daniel. "FREEMAN FREEMAN". Exclaim!. Retrieved 2015-01-07.
- "Reviews for Freeman by Freeman". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
- Harvey, Eric. "FREEMAN FREEMAN". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2015-01-07.
- Gehr, Richard. "On 'Freeman,' the Former Gene Ween Recovers More than Just His Name". Spin Magazine. Retrieved 2015-01-07.
- Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Freeman". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-01-08.