Free Will

by Gil Scott-Heron

Free Will cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: August 1972
  • Label: Flying Dutchman
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 36:48
  • Community rating: 3.73/5 from 4 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Divided distinctly into two halves, the poet and musician's third album pairs lush, conventionally sung soul tracks with aggressive, percussion-backed spoken word performances. Collaborating tightly with flutist Brian Jackson, the lyrics provide biting, incisive commentary on systemic racism, Vietnam, and American hypocrisy. It is a vital, uncompromising document of radical Black political thought in the early 1970s.

Genres

Descriptors: political, melodic, conscious, rhythmic, soulful, spoken-word, groove-laden, storytelling

Tracklist

  1. Free Will (3:42)
  2. The Middle of Your Day (4:32)
  3. The Get out of the Ghetto Blues (5:11)
  4. Speed Kills (3:18)
  5. Did You Hear What They Said? (3:30)
  6. The King Alfred Plan (2:46)
  7. No Knock (2:10)
  8. Wiggy (1:36)
  9. Ain't No New Thing (4:32)
  10. Billy Green Is Dead (1:28)
  11. Sex Education: Ghetto Style (0:50)
  12. ...And Then He Wrote Meditations (3:13)

Credits

More from Gil Scott-Heron: full discography