Cut Loose is a funny name for an album by a singer who hasn't been able to shake free from his old English blues-rock roots. On his first solo outing, former Free and Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers falls back on the same fuzz-toned guitar crunch, slow bruiser rhythms and get-down-baby-on-the-highway lyrics. And unfortunately, when Rodgers gets down, he stays there, trapped by the static arrangements and leaden pace of his songs.

Rodgers' voice is still a magnificent instrument in itself, an exhilarating, sandpaperlike howl that gives the rugged Bad Company kick of "Morning after the Night Before" a hearty pop lift. But ultimately, this one-man show (Rodgers plays all the instruments and produced the LP) lacks the gutsy interplay and hard blues fire of the singer's classic performances with Free. Next time, Paul Rodgers should really cut loose–or just cut out. (RS 414)

DAVID FRICKE