Customer Reviews

Slowhand

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After his major comeback in 1974 with 461 Ocean Boulevard, Eric Clapton shied away from the mainstream with his next two releases. There's One In Every Crowd & No Reason To Cry. With Slowhand, he returned to the sounds that made 461 a hit. On his first solo album, he had a major triumph with J.J. Cale's "After Midnight". He returns to the Cale catalog for another triumph, the searing "Cocaine". The song has a propulsive riff and a ringing guitar solo. On the flip side of that is "Wonderful Tonight" which is built around his waiting for his wife to get ready for a party. The song is among the prettiest things he's ever done and it his easy picking of the guitar shows that subtle playing is just as powerful as in your face power chords. "Lay Down Sally" has a country flavor and was a big hit becoming his second top ten single and peaking at number three. The best song on the album is the lengthy "The Core". The song has some marvelous vocal interplay between Mr. Clapton and Marcy Levy and some stellar guitar work. Slowhand was a return to the top ten for Mr. Clapton reaching number three in early 1978.

Slowhand is clearly one of Eric Clapton's stronger solo releases. Whereas there are plenty of guitar solos and effects, many of these tunes are quite pleasing. A little bit mellow but certainly quite focused.

The lead off track, Cocaine features a very distnictive riff and steady instrumental support. Like the gutiar solo in the middle. Wonderful Tonight will always be known as a classic wedding song. One of Eric's best compositions. Lay Down Sally features some mellow guitar picking and a nice chugging rhythm. Next Time You See Her features some good drumming by Jaime Oldaker in addition to some tasty guitar licks. We're All The Way is a pleasant focused ballad.

The second half kicks off with a riveting duet between Eric and Marcy Levy on the Core. Super guitar solos by George Terry and Eric as well as a good saxaphone break by Mel Collins. May You Never is a catchy tune with cute vocal styling by Eric. Mean Old Frisco is a fine blues number and Peaches And Diesel is a pretty instrumental with touching guitar parts.

A solid if not overly spectacular release that showcases the mellow side of Eric Clapton.

"Slowhand" ranks along with "461 Ocean Boulevard" as Eric Clapton's two finest solo albums. Clapton scored one of his biggest hits with the ace cover of J.J. Cale's "Cocaine." He also came up with several of his best ever original songs in the ballad "Wonderful Tonight," and the bluesy "Lay Down Sally." Other classic cuts include the long jam "The Core," and the jealous lover's stern warning "Next Time You See Her." Clapton's guitar has never sounded sweeter and his backing band is first rate. This album is a must have for Clapton fans as well as fans of 70s rock.

Although everyone is entitled to their opinions, for me Clapton just doesn't get any better that with what you hear on this album. It is as heart felt as they come. Many Fine ballads such as "Wonderful Tonight" & We're All The Way" & some GREAT rockers like "The Core" & "Cocaine".
When I was a teenager and this came out, I intitally bought all the single's from the record, then finally saved up for the album and I wore that sucker out!
Aside from Clapton's well known hit's that most people are familar with, if you truly want to dive into EC, you simply can't find a better record to do it with than Slow Hand. (...) Without question 5 STARS!!

This is, in my personal opinion, by far the best Eric clapton album. We all have our own choice of music & albums of favourite Rock stars are no different.

The album starts with Cocaine. I never get tired of listening to cocaine -the best song on this album - great tunes, amazing vocals. wonderful tonight is my next favourite - the classic Hit that you will occasionally hear in soap operas. If you are on the romantically inclined side, you will love this love song. "Lay down sally" is another big hit song and I dont have to say more. "Next time you see her" is one of those repetitive catch-line songs that you cannot get enough out of and you find yourself singing the line over and over again when you are at work.

You have to have an acquired taste to enjoy "We're all the way". "The core" - Eric comes out with his strong guitar skills on this one. Its simply awesome. It also has very nice vocals of Marcy Levy. "May you never" and "Mean old frisco" are good songs if you are in the right mood - listening to good songs mood! "Peaches and diesel" is a Rich guitar/ drums instumental piece which at first sounds like "wonderful tonight" but its really not and it just sounds wonderful.

I have been listening to the vinyl format of this album but I recently switched to CD. I do have to confess that I like listening to vinyl because I think certain albums sound much better on vinyl but thats just me. vinyl or CD, there is a reason why Eric clapton is nicknamed "slowhand". Dont take my word for it. listen to the album and you will find out that I was right afterall!

Slowhand is not only Clapton's best, it is possibly the greatest album of all time. This is a classic album. It contains some of Clapton's best songs such as Cocaine, Wonderful Tonight, Lay Down Sally and The Core. This is the Clapton album to get.

Slowhand is one of the milestones of Clapton's career. On this album you have some of the best songs he has ever recorded.
Cocaine leads off and has been a signature song since this album was released, and remains one of his concert staples to this day.
Next is Wonderful Tonight which is one of the finest songs of his career and remains a concert staple to this day as well.
Lay Down Sally is next and spent some time on the charts in the 70's when this first came out.
Clapton at this time was going through a country phase in his life and its shows.
Next Time You See Her and We're All The Way are country songs.
The Core is another of my personal favorites and is a solid performance.
Mean Old Frisco is slide guitar at its very best. And finally the CD concludes with Peaches and Diesel.
No Eric Clapton collection is complete without this CD.

"Slowhand" is one of Eric Clapton's finest albums to be released during the late '70s and rightfully so!!!
Clapton's stellar musical chops combined with a solid backup band makes for what is undoubtedley a signature album.
The opening trio of "Cocaine", "Wonderful Tonight" and "Lay Down Sally" have gone on to become Clapton standards with the latter two tracks being amongst his best original compositions.
Elsewhere on "Slowhand" are standout tracks such as "Next Time You See Her", the blues-driven "Mean Old Frisco", the flowing instrumental of "Peaches and Diesel" and the extended funk-rock jams of "The Core" which, in addition to Clapton's solid guitar work, features a superb vocal performance from singer Marcy Levy and a great sax lead from sessionman Mel Collins (who is actually a former member of the prog-rock giants King Crimson).
Since its release in 1977, "Slowhand" has stood the test of time as a staple of classic rock. The album still has a fresh vibrant sound that doesn't sound a bit outdated or disappointing. With Clapton's powerful guitar and vocal work, great musicianship from his band and Glyn Johns' solid production, there is little wonder why the title of this album has become a nickname for Clapton himself. One listen to "Slowhand" proves that Eric Clapton has earned the title rightly.

Clapton dabbles again with everything on this one and really makes an absolute classic. His cover of JJ Cale's "Cocaine" is killer, along with his originals throughout the album. "The Core" is reason enough to buy this, it's perhaps one of his best songs he has ever written. His work with Marcy Levy, along with George Terry's playing make this an absolute classic. Outside of Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos, this is Clapton's epic solo record. If you dig Clapton just a little, this will make you a fan...what a masterpiece....

This album is an example of one of the reasons Eric Clapton is still popular after all these years. He knows how to please the majority with his consistently pleasant, middle of the road music. Recommended for casual, curious, or hard core Clapton fans (who probably already have a copy). His strong cover of J.J. Cale's 'Cocaine', and his two self-penned songs, the beautiful and earnest 'Wonderful Tonight' and the toe tappin', knee slappin' 'Lay Down Sally' (co-written with bandmates, Marcy Levy and George Terry) are reason enough to purchase the album.