Evan Cater at AllMusic said the album "was a disappointment for admirers of the Imperials' daring 1987 effort, "This Year's Model.' Producer Bill Schnee retained a few elements of the big electronic sound developed by his predecessor, Brown Bannister. But most of the power and texture of the production, as well as the dark, mysterious tone that had generated so much excitement about the so-called 'new' Imperials the previous year, were discarded completely." Cater also said from the This Year's Model review that "the new Imperials had gone the way of the moonwalk, as the band turned in the styling gel and retreated to the safer, church-friendly vibe that made them famous"[5] for this album.
Over at Cross Rhythms, Mike Rimmer rated the album 7 out of 10 saying that This Year's Model "had taken them in a rockier direction and they'd lost fans so for 'Free The Fire' they returned to a poppier sound, although it was still infused with plenty of slick, '80s production from Bill Schnee and several of the tracks here sounded more than a bit like a black R&B group." Rimmer also highlighted songs like "You", "which is dripping with cool sax riffs to the opening title track with its robust pop rock sounds and catchy chorus and the groovy "Higher Things" with the Nashville '80s pop sound." Rimmer complimented the Imperials saying that Free the Fire "proves that there was life left in the old dog yet, even after 25 years!"
