Wheels of Fire

Cream

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1977
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000001FGG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #46,338 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. White Room

2. Sitting on Top of the World

3. Passing the Time

4. As You Said

5. Pressed Rat and Warthog

6. Politician

7. Those Were the Days

8. Born Under a Bad Sign

9. Deserted Cities of the Heart

Disc: 2

1. Crossroads [Live]

2. Spoonful [Live]

3. Train Time [Live]

4. Toad [Live]

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Limited 180gm double vinyl LP pressing of this classic album, released to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the long-playing record. This is an exact replica of the original packaging and contains a voucher enabling the purchaser to download MP3 versions of the songs within. Happy Birthday, my dear vinyl LP! Universal. 2009. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic album! GOLD CD worth the price., October 19, 2000

By	Matthew G. Belge (Lincoln, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Wheels of Fire (Audio CD)

If you aren't familiar with Cream, this is where I would start. Its a truly superb album, marred by a few sub-par songs, but on the whole this record can go toe to toe with just about any rock 'n roll record ever made. Its that good! The album is a fabulous blend of blues and psychedelia, and if you don't know what that means buy this album and give yourself a treat. The only other record ever made that excedes Wheels of Fire in those categories is Jimi Hendrix's "Electric LadyLand" (but that album is one of the five best rock records ever made.)

Some of the outstanding songs include "White Room" a blistering, psychedlic blues that was the albums greatest hit. It combines Eric Clapton delicious whah-whah guitars with Ginger Baker thundering, polyrythmic drums, and Jack Bruce's great vocals. A masterpiece all by itself. But the album doesn't stop there. "Born Under a Bad Sign", an old blues number, is taken to the roof tops with Clapton's swirling, screaming, crying guitars. Then there's "Deserted Cities of the Heart" - a very fast number who's energy is only topped by its sense of desperation.

But the real killer songs on this album are the live recordings - Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", and another old blues number "Spoonful". "Crossroads" shows Cream at its manic best - they set out on a blistering pace and don't look back. The two guitar solos on this cut alone are worth buying the album - just a full scale rail against the heavens! Just when you think it can't get any better than that, along comes "Spoonful", a slow, blistering blues with gut wrenching singing and guitar playing. Both are just stunning!!

If you're a Cream fan, all you need to know is whether or not the GOLD CD is worth it. There are two versions of this CD available - the "remastered" version and the "Gold CD." I have both, plus several copies of the original vinyl.

The Gold version costs twice as much as the "re-mastered" version, but its worth it if you care about sound quality. The sound balance on the Gold version is both warmer and clearer. There's a little bit of a raspy edge to the "re-mastered" version that is absent from the Gold CD.

In addition, the GolD CD brings out lots of nice details, and a greatly improved stereo image. You'll hear Jack Bruce's bass more clearly. There are lots of little sonic treats that jump out - the glockenspiel sparkles on "Pressed Rat and Wharhog", the double bass drums that Ginger Baker was famous for really jump out on "White Room", and Clapton's guitars just sound so warm and clear throughout the whole album. If you're listening on an inexpensive hi-fi, Walkman, or something like that, its probably not worth buying the Gold CD. You won't be able to hear the difference. But on a good setup, this Gold CD really pays off - its a "show off" type of recording.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Atonal Apples...Amplified Heat, July 7, 2004

By A Customer

It's been said elsewhere...and it is worth repeating...This is an epitome of improvisational music from a group that was only in existence for a relatively short time. Although their musical differences and divergent directions that each took have been fairly well-documented, perhaps it was that same divergence that lent itself to their ability to stand on a stage and create at that given moment some pretty incredible music. Another one of those defining moment works...

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Icon of Improvisational Rock and Roll, March 16, 2004

By	K. Oda "tkoart" (Silver Spring, MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you play, or have ever wanted to play, improvisational rock and roll, you must have this album. From a musical standpoint, this ranks as among the handful of most influential rock records ever made. Even now, more than 35 years after its making, it is a breathtaking tour de force of musical power and creativity.

I can't think of any live rock recording that comes close to matching the quality of simultaneous improvisation captured on disc 2 of Wheels of Fire. Many people think of Cream as Eric Clapton's band, but disc 2 proves it was a trio of three equally superb musicians. The 16-minute long "Spoonful" jam features a brilliant interplay of guitar (Clapton), drums (Ginger Baker), and bass (Jack Bruce) that builds to climax after climax.

It's hard to communicate now how revolutionary Eric Clapton's guitar work was in the late 1960s. All I can say is, his live solos on "Spoonful" and "Crossroads" inspired and challenged a generation of rock guitarists. Other guitarists may be faster than Clapton, but no one could match his ability to build melodic climaxes one after another.

Disc 1 consists of nine studio recordings that don't measure up to the intensity of the live performances on disc 2, but there are several excellent cuts. "White Room" is probably the most popular cut, but there are several good blues rock numbers--my favorite is "Politician"--featuring strong vocals by Jack Bruce as well as piercing guitar work by Clapton. Overall, if you are a fan of Cream or of blues rock in general, this is an essential CD of historical as well as musical significance.