Customer Reviews

Cream of Clapton

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Clapton has a few diferent "best of" CDs, but this is the best. Clapton has an incredible amount of good material. This CD, however, covers most of the very best. It covers some of his songs with Cream. I would reccomend buying Strange Brew: The Very Best of Cream, also. It has some of the best songs from Blind Faith and Derek And The Dominos, including Layla. Finally, it does a great job of covering alot of his solo songs up to 1980. Even though he has had alot of great stuff since then, the 60s and 70s were Clapton's best years. If you want one CD by Clapton, this is the one to buy.

****1/2

It is very hard to represent the very best of Clapton's career on one CD. However, this CD does a very excellent job of doing just that.

First, this compilation only covers the Polydor years (from I Feel Free by Cream up to I Can't Stand It from 1981). Therefore, later hits like Forever Man, and I've Got A Rock and Roll Heart (Warner Brothers) are not included.

Only one hit of any consequence is missing: Lay Down Sally. Strange Brew would have also been welcome, and After Midnight is presented as a single edit due to time constraints (the disc runs over 79 minutes.

Excellent liner notes plus superb sound makes this the one choice to own if you want only one Clapton CD.

Certainly this is the best release on the market that covers Clapton's 1968-1981 years. Nothing comes close. >>>HOWEVER>>>
Why has no one mentioned the abysmal sound quality of the first 5 cuts??? It is glaringly apparent that Polydor did NOT obtain anywhere close to first generation masters for the CREAM cuts. On this release they sound DREADFUL. Dull, muffled and sitting way back in the speakers. Particularly "Badge" which sounds like it was dubbed from a $19.95 Montgomery Wards cassette deck. <>
On the tracks which Polydor obviously had the masters to, cuts 6 on...this release sounds great, but because of the unforgivable taste of the sour cream..and the strange omission of "Lay Down Sally"...have to dock this from 5 to 3 stars.

Here you'll find nineteen fantastic songs that tells the story of this musician who was once (and still is) called "God". Here are the best songs of a musician who calls himself a "blues guitarrist". In my opinion he's wrong. He's a guitarrist with his soul in the blues (Crossroads, Bell bottom blues) travelling through rock (Sunshine of your love, Cocaine), Reggae (I shot the seriff, Promises), romantic songs (Wonderful Tonight),... He is a great songwriter, who also performs songs from other people, as in Bob Dylan's Knockin' on heaven's door. If you don't know Eric Clapton, or if you want to have his best songs in one CD, this is it. And take my advice: if you're listening to it for the first time, pump up the volume and start from track 11, Layla. Then you'll know why he's so great.

"The Cream Of Clapton" chronicles Eric Clapton's 15-year stay with Polydor, and these 19 songs offer a very good overview of that period (1966-81), even if several good songs are obviously missing. But the CD runs for all of 79 minutes, and all the must-have classics are here: "Layla", "Bell Bottom Blues", "Wonderful Tonight", "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", "Blues Power", "Let It Grow" and five Cream tracks as well.

If you just want the very best (up until 1981, that is), this CD is a fine choice. It may even make you want to pick up the magnificent live album "Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert" and the superb box set "Crossroads"!

This album's title pun refers best to Eric Clapton's membership in Cream, rock's seminal power trio, then again as his best, best-known tracks from his first 15 years (1966-81) under Robert Stigwood's management with Atlantic/RSO Records. Either way, despite some omissions ("Lay Down Sally," "Only You Know and I Know" with Delaney & Bonnie), "The Cream of Clapton" is a classy, well-assembled one-disc collection from arguably classic rock's major solo figure.

Hard to believe most of the disc's first half covers but four years' recording. Clapton seemed to walk from one band to another leaving seminal rock anthems: Cream's five tracks from 1966-68 (omitting "Tales of Brave Ulysses"), Blind Faith's 1969 "Presence of the Lord," 1970's eternal "Layla" and "Bell Bottom Blues" with Derek & the Dominos remain definitve, howlingly personal experiences more than 30 years later. This is consistent with Clapton's love and understanding of blues as a means of personal expression.

"Anyone who has followed the traumatic experiences of Eric Clapton in the 1990s will know that he has an avalanche of experiences with which to draw," Clapton biographer Ray Coleman (who wrote my title quote) mentions in the liner notes. "And yet...he always did provide true individuality through his music to mark himself out as unrepeatable."

But the disc's second half, especially after 1974's #1 "I Shot The Sheriff" and the gleaming "Let It Grow," finds Clapton focusing on vocals and song interpretation over guitar playing. The results ("Hello Old Friend," a weak "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," 1978-79's pleasant country-rock hits "Wonderful Tonight" and "Promises" ) are only nostalgic ear candy, with "Cocaine" and 1981's Top 10 "I Can't Stand It" the only standout rockers. Clapton not so much wastes as sublimates his distinctive talent on these; a trait which, sadly and with some exceptions, followed him the next 20 years despite hit singles and deep personal tragedies.

Coleman later adds that Clapton is "one of an elite band for whom the mere mention of his name carries a signature of class, of self-styled artistry, of inimitable identity." This collection affordably surveys that identity's public formation and is tailor-made for new fans and those seeking a one-disc retrospective over multi-disc murals ("Those Were The Days," "Crossroads" I & II) and budget-disc snapshots ("Time Pieces," "Strange Brew"). Highly recommended for its first half, with those songs essential within their original LPs.

If you are wanting just one CD of Eric Clapton's best work then this is the one to own. With one exception, all the great mainstream tunes are here. His work with Cream still sounds awesome. My only gripe is that the song, "Tales of Brave Ulysses" was excluded. "Knockin on Heavins Door" should have been replaced by it. But other that that, it is a grat CD of his work up till the 80's.

An outstanding single disc representation of this R`n R guru. Unlike the majority of world-renowned solo artists, Eric Clapton in this collection has bowed down and unselfishly retraced his musical band history for public satisfaction. In this important career anthology, he went that one step further and gave credit to the best hits from his early days with Cream, Derek&The Dominos and Blind Faith. Of course, had this guitar majesto delved further to include time spent with other participating bands (The Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers, etc.), this compilation undertaking would have been left out of perspective and short of prime track material - a no doubt helpful and appropriate label contribution. The outcome has produced none other than prime quality musical recordings listeners can treasure. Better than average `Greatest Hit` arrangements, this is not some cheap and purposely deprived compilation. 79 minutes of sheer Clapton and company classics have been made available on this CD for most all expectant fans to both cherish and enjoy...

Often called the world's greatest guitar player, Eric Clapton is certainly in the upper echelon of the rock elite. His career has spanned five decades, as both a member of three successful bands and later a brilliant solo career.

"The Cream Of Clapton" contains 19 tracks from all stages of Eric's career, from his days in Cream ("Sunshine O Your Love", "White Room", "Crossroads", "Badge"), Blind Faith ("Presence Of The Lord"), Derek And The Dominoes ("Bell Bottom Blues" and of course "Layla") and his solo career ("I Shot The Sheriff", his great cover of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door", "Cocaine", "Wonderful Tonight", "Promises, "I Can't Stand It"). All the songs sound great, even though they could still use a tad bit more tweaking.

My only major qualm with this collection is that there are a few good songs missing. "Lay Down Sally", for example, got all the way up to number three on the Billboard Hot 100, yet it did not make it onto this collection. Also, while it was most likely not included for personal reasons (though it made it onto the later, inferior collection "Clapton Chronicles"), "Tears In Heaven" was also a huge hit. "Forever Man" was one of Clapton's few quality recordings in the 1980s', and it also warrants a place on this collection. And last but not least, Clapton did have two pretty big hits after this collection was released: "Change The World" (which made it to number five on the Hot 100 and stayed there for nearly a year) and "My Father's Eyes". Granted, I know they came afterwards, but I'd like to see them appear on a collection someday.

Hopefully, Clapton will get a two cd collection of all his best work someday, but until now, "The Crwam Of Clapton" offers exactly, what it promises, even if it's only a sampler.

This compilation was originally released as "The Cream of Eric Clapton" in Australia, UK and Germany in 1987. That tracklist was quite similar to this 1994 compilation except it had a number of differences. For example, it included "Lay Down Sally" and two mediocre hits "Forever Man" and "Behind the Mask". The remainder of the CD was essentially the same. In 1994, Australia upgraded the compilation and dropped the "eric" from the title to match the new USA compilation. While the tracklisting was virtually the same, we still got the classic "Lay Down Sally" while USA opted for the equally enjoyable "Hello Old Friend". There are one or two more differences but its a close draw between the two regions.

But, it still needs to be said - there is not a definitive Clapton CD out there which takes advantage of the Cream Days, the Clapton 70's and then his transition in the 80's and 90's. One complete anthology taking up three or more CD's would be gratefully accepted by fans worldwide (Polydor take note). One CD does not do the man justice.