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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
***1/2. Not perfect, but '24 Nights' still has its moments, June 6, 2003
Seeing how this album only has fifteen tracks, I think it's safe to say that not all of Eric Clapton's 24 Royal Albert Hall performances are represented.
Never mind, though. "24 Nights" is still worthwhile, even if it is a far cry from the gritty and powerful "Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert" from '73.
Recorded in 1990 and 1991, "24 Nights" draws from material recorded through his entire career, and the listener has plenty of opportunities to complain about the songs that aren't here.
But let us focus on what is here instead. The man from Surrey draws no less than five songs from his then-current studio album "Journeyman", and all of them work well in this live setting, souning a little less polished than they do on the studio recordings. Especially "Pretending", which comes off slick and over-produced on "Journeyman", but rocks reasonably well here.
The first four songs are recorded with Eric Clapton's touring band (bass, drums, keyboards and Clapton himself), and they come of a little bit bland at times.
Of course I'm always looking for more grit and more real blues riffing in Clapton's playing, rather than just extended soloing, and "24 Nights" doesn't really deliver too much of that, but that is not to say that the arrangements are bad, and Clapton was never too big on the blooze-and-boogie-stuff anyway.
Still, I much prefer the next four tracks, which are recorded with Robert Cray and Chicago blues king Buddy Guy. The two additional guitars make for a richer sound, and lend a real blues-rock feel to "Watch Yourself". The slow, groovy renditions of "Hoodoo Man", and "Worried Life Blues" fare pretty well, too, but I don't know if we really need yet another version of "Have Your Ever Loved A Woman".
The third installment (tracks 9-13) features seven musicians and two backup singers, and that band includes a second guitarist (Phil Palmer, who has worked with everybody from Ralph McTell to Robbie Williams), which bolsters the sound nicely, particularly on the aforementioned "Pretending" and on "Bad Love". This set also includes an unfortunately listless rendition of the classic "Bell Bottom Blues", which features some awful 80s-style keyboard playing and which largely lacks the soul and the intenstity of the original.
The final two songs are recorded with the Royal Philharminic Orchestra (in addition to a full rock band). Whether or not that adds anything interesting to "Hard Times" or "Edge Of Darkness", which aren't the most interesting songs to begin with, is probably a matter of taste.
All in all, "24 Nights" is a pleasant, somewhat laid-back live album. The arrangements are more pop than blues at times, but the songs are generally well executed, and the sound quality is excellent.
3 1/2 stars. A good purchase if you like Eric Clapton's solo years, particularly from the late seventies onwards.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great album that could've been even better..., April 3, 2000
Clapton played the Royal Albert Hall several times in 1989, 90, and 91. Most of those shows were professionally recorded for this album, and after the death of Eric's son, Conor, in 1991, he went into a sort of seclusion, leaving the decisions about this album to the producers. The result? An album that compiles a nice little collection of performances but for some nonsensical reason leaves off some of his best from that run. Perhaps my favorite version of "Layla" came from these shows, with a long, orchestral-dressed opening leading into a fiery performance true to the original recording. Also gone is a marvelous performance of "Cocaine," perhaps the greatest version of "Holy Mother" he ever played, and "I Shot the Sheriff," which was performed with a mesmerizing solo that led to a giant climax - certainly his best ever performances of that song as well. All that is gone. But all is not lost. "Badge," "Bell Bottom Blues," and "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" are reason enough to buy this album. The version of "Wonderful Tonight" released here is an edited version of the live performances (which is too bad, because the unedited version was outstanding), but is still good, albeit about the millionth live release of "Wonderful Tonight" the public has seen. I usually stop "Sunshine of Your Love" about 5 minutes into the song, I really don't see much of a point to that agonizing drum solo. I do have to give the producers a hand for this edit, however, because the original live performance of this one was usually about 15 minutes long, with an annoying chant and crowd interaction sequence following that drum solo. Overall, still definitely a must-have. But, as seems to be the tradition in live albums, it could've been a whole lot better. Complete live performances from this run can easily be found through RoIO trades, and I recommend those as well.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eric's best live album, September 29, 1998
This is Eric's best solo live album. It has a great selection of songs, and the band backs him up perfectly. His blues band, with Buddy Guy and Robert Cray, plays incredibly, especially in Watch Yourself. He plays great versions of Cream songs, especially Badge, and from his Journeyman album, particularly Pretending. This CD has his best version of Wonderful Tonight, with beautiful backup singing by Katie Kisson, who is great in Bell Bottom Blues, too. There's also Hard Times, one of his favorite songs, and his heartfelt version is wonderful. Heart of Darkness is an odd choice to be in the CD, but it's good too. All in all, a must-have.
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