Set You Free

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Sample Album
Set You Free album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 17   Total Length: 56:46

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Check out Ted's Early Work

slainte

If you like his work with the Rx'ers, you should listen to Chisel. Standout tracks--River High and On Warmer Music.

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Power Trio

gregrmurphy

Seconding all the recommendations for this one - crunch and hooks abound. Ted Leo's songwriting took a big leap here (and continues to do so) and Chris Norborg's harmonies add an extra punch.

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Forgotten Gem of the 1990's

dsippel

If you're a Ted Leo fan, then you absolutely must check out Chisel, his great, previous band. Set You Free, released in 1996, could be considered one of the top ten releases of the decade, I kid you not. This has Ted's trademark manic energy, but even more so. These songs rock with punk abandon, while also providing strong melodic ideas. Traditional song structures are often represented, but with the pleasantly surprising twists and turns that would be prominent in Ted's later work. Stand out tracks include: The Unthinkable Is True, The Town Crusher, All My Kin, and The O.T.S., but you really have to listen to the whole thing to get the full impact and scope of Chisel's achievements. Highly recommended!

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They Say All Music Guide

Faced with the task of following up the previous year’s 8 A.M. All Day — an album which generated major buzz in the indie community — Chisel came up with Set You Free, the best effort of a career that ended shortly after its release. Each of the album’s 17 tracks is indispensable, from the surprisingly melodic repetition of the music-scene critique “On Warmer Music” to the slow meditation of “The Last Good Time.” In between, the group builds upon its pop skills to include horns (“The Unthinkable Is True”) and keyboard (“In Our Time”), without them ever being intrusive. An overlooked and underrated gem. – Brian Raftery