Ted Nugent Free For All CD

Personnel: Ted Nugent (vocals, guitar, bass); Derek St. Holmes (vocals, guitar); Meat Loaf (vocals); Steve McRay (keyboards, background vocals); Rob Grange (bass); Cliff Davies (drums, percussion, background vocals); Tom Werman (percussion).
Producers: Tom Werman, Cliff Davies, Lew Futterman.
Reissue producer: Bruce Dickinson.
Recorded at the Sound Pit, Atlanta, Georgia. Includes liner notes by Gary Graff.
Digitally remastered by Vic Anesini (Sony Music Studios, New York, New York).
While Ted Nugent's second solo album, 1976's Free-for-All, was another raging slab of rock & roll, it wasn't quite as consistent as his self-titled debut. The main reason was due to singer/rhythm guitarist Derek St. Holmes' departure from the band just as recording of the album began (due to constant grappling with the Nuge about certain musical issues). To solve the problem, producer Tom Werman convinced a then-unknown singer by the name of Meat Loaf to handle the vocal chores on the songs Derek was going to sing. While it seems like a mismatch in theory, the results were not catastrophic -- such rockers as "Writing on the Wall" (a virtual rewrite of "Stranglehold"), "Street Rats," and "Hammerdown" are classic Nuge stompers. But they would have been stronger with St. Holmes' contributions, as evidenced by a bonus outtake of "Street Rats" with St. Holmes on vocals and the turbo-charged "Turn It Up." But still, the title track is one of Ted's all-time best (featuring a downright vicious groove), as is the rocking tale about the 1967 Detroit riots, "Dog Eat Dog." Despite St. Holmes' absence (he would return in time for the album's subsequent tour), Free-for-All solidified Ted's commercial success, reaching the Top 25. [Note: As with Nugent's other 1999 reissues, an insightful essay on this Ted era by journalist Gary Graff is included, plus bonus tracks.] ~ Greg Prato
After the commercial success of TED NUGENT, the wildman guitarist decided to stick to his same brand of energized hard rock. Consistency paid of as FREE FOR ALL became his first platinum record. But all was not well in the Nugent camp. During the sessions, vocalist Derek St. Holmes left the band due to "creative differences." Although St. Holmes would rejoin the band after the album's release, future superstar Meat Loaf was brought in to sing.
The lasciviously suggestive "Free for All" earned some decent FM airplay thanks to Tom Werman's slick production. Meat Loaf's theatrical vocals work well on "Writing on the Wall." St. Holmes does manage to sing on two songs: "Turn It Up," a great slab of Detroit heavy metal and on an alternate version of "Street Rats" (a bonus track included on this reissue). "Together" slows things down and features Steve McKray on keyboards and a soulful performance by Mr. Loaf. On the contrary, "Hammerdown" is probably the heaviest tune Meat has ever sung. FREE FOR ALL is a great rock & roll party record.