Customer Reviews

Can You Follow

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I have been a Jack Bruce fan for almost 40 years. His work in Cream started a life long love affair with the blues for me. He is a great song writer, a great singer, and one of the 10 best blues/rock bass players ever. However, his story is far greater the Cream. This collection really does justice to his long and illustrious career. It includes a disk of his work before Cream, a disk of Cream (with a couple of cuts from his Manfred Mann days) and 4 disks of post Cream music. What really stands out is the range of his music and the range of other musicians represented here. Zappa, John McLaughlin, John Mayall, Leslie West, Carla Bley, Billy Cobham, Clapton, Ginger Baker... The list goes on. It is extraordinary to consider what a long and varied career Bruce has had and the extensive contributions that he has made to rock, blues, and jazz. It is is an inspiring look at the career of an inspiring musician. It is hard to go wrong with this one. If only there was a DVD to go with it!

What a feast! Scroll through the track listing and you'll see what an amazing selection these six discs hold. Aside from his many solo albums, Jack Bruce has played with many stars of Blues, Rock and Jazz; many different artists are thus featured here. A whole lot of time & TLC went into this project, and it shows. There's a few rare tracks and previously-unreleased goodies too. Bruce is perhaps best known for his innovative and influential bass playing with Cream, but he should be at least equally famous for being an extraordinary composer and singer as well. The man's career goes back nearly 50 years, and listening to this box is something of a tutorial on postwar Anglo music. From earliest white blues, through psychedelia, hard rock, jazz-rock, Fairlight-driven 80s pop, world music and drums n' bass, Bruce has nearly tried it all. Remarkably, every style he tried retained his trademark identity, solid songwriting and quirky originality. And he proves, hands down, that there is always a welcome place for interesting and articulate bass playing, no matter what the decade or genre. Jack Bruce is one of music's greatest treasures, and this box serves his legacy very well.

What a great set of music from one of Scotlands finest. From the earliest recordings on this set(1962) to the latest(2003), you get a nice sampling of Jack Bruces' varied tastes. The man never sits still. Never repeats himself. Few "rock" musicians have diversified themselves as much as Jack has over the years. To me, one of the most imazing things about his career, is how much he was involved in bands that changed peoples thinking about music. Coming from a jazz background, he introduced jazz to rock via Cream's legendary improvisational jamming. Then he turns around and through the Tony Williams Lifetime introduces rock to jazz. And never receives the credit for it. This set touches upon all of this. A wonderful overview of an amazing career. Now we wait for the live music set!!

Hey,we all know Jack's tenure in Cream....that's history... If you want to hear the majority of Jack's best work... this is a must buy set. I have been a fan since 1967.... It's a valuable collection for the new and old fan & the serious collector..Set cover Jack's whole career from pre Graham Bond through the present. Hey... Eric & Ginger.... never forget the excellency in Jack... a true classic set.., well mixed & presented, LONG OVERDUE!!!!!!

Jack Bruce is a true musician. He has never seemed to be concerned with fame and fortune. Maybe the success of Cream allowed him to be the eclectic musician. Or maybe he is just a true musician, more interested in the journey than the destination. This box set seems to prove that he follows his muse and remains just as fresh now as in the 60s. He is always inspired and this box is worth getting. If you can't afford this box then start with the Songs for a Taylor CD.

So much great stuff from a long and exceptionally fruitful career. Amazing really. A true shame Clapton is so much better known among the Cream boys.
If you like British rock at it's best, this is a must. One of the best boxed sets out there.

Jack is a true musical virtuoso, by far the most accomplished and versatile musician of the three from Cream if you consider his song-writing/composing expertise, vocal ability, and instrumental brilliance. (EC is the guitar god and he takes EVERY song and makes it his own. From that standpoint, nobody does it better than EC.)

Jack's work with Cream is by far his best, and even he feels this way if you read his biography. Jack's vocal style with Cream was authoritative, wide-ranging, tonally beautiful, soulful, and on-key. Listen to Jack singing on early versions of Spoonful, Sleepy Time, Sweet Wine - my god he is incredible. I don't know if musical historians appreciate what a phenomenal vocalist Jack was. During these early years, he was a far better vocalist than EC (by the way, this is certainly not true today as Eric is simply an incredible singer now). Jack Bruce was the voice of Cream in my book.

The material on the box set demonstrates Jack's continued brilliance in writing, singing, and playing. One thing that I did not like - there were songs in which Jack sounds too similar to Steve Winwood, and I wondered if he did this intentionally?? He could do so many things with his voice but this sort of stood out for me in a negative way.

I enjoyed this extensive box set but I keep finding myself coming back to all of the Cream efforts. This band left us 2 - 3 albums too early, but that is another story for another day.