Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the All-Time Greatest Rock Albums, April 30, 1999
Cream's last really deliberate effort in the studio, Wheels of Fire stands out as one of the all-time greatest rock albums, and one of the top ten albums of the sixties. Driven by the singles, "White Room" and "Crossroads," this was Cream's first and only number one album and the first album to be certified platinum, ever. Somewhat less coherent than Disraeli Gears, due to the increasing division between the band members, Wheels of Fire could be called Cream's White Album, showing the band moving off into separate directions with their respective writing partners and turning up with some surprisingly different, innovative and original songs. More melancholy and introspective than Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire jams less and grooves more, particularly on the ever topical "Politician" and the super precise "Sitting On Top of the World." Other songs seem like more of a throwback to Fresh Cream, the dreamy "As You Said" and "Those Were the Days" in particular. The cello-accented ballad, "Deserted Cities of the Heart," is one of Bruce and Brown's best, and there's more than a touch of strangeness in Baker's amusing and quaint recital of "Pressed Rat and Warthog." Eric, sitting out on the song-writing for a while, makes sure that no one completely forgets the blues, contributing arrangements of "Born Under A Bad Sign" and "Crossroads." On the second disc, the live material, as usual, is where Cream really shines. It seems as if they picked one song to showcase each band member, then chose the classic "Spoonful" to highlight them all. The instrumentation is even more magnificent than ever, showing incredible precision from all the members, especially Baker, whose drum solo on the live version of "Toad" is the only drum solo I've been able to tolerate, let only enjoy. "Crossroads" shows Clapton's soloing at its best, and "Traintime" features Bruce nearly passing out during a seven minute blues harp marathon. Listening to him gasp for breath near the end, yet keep on singing and playing, is to witness an inspiring sacrifice from an artist truly willing to suffer for his art. Cream's best album really could be considered a toss up between this one and Disraeli Gears, but I favor this one marginally because there's not a single slipup included.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good transfer from vinyl to CD, December 10, 2006
I was amazed at the transfer quality as earlier works sound tinny. I forgot how divers Cream is. It is as if they were experimenting with different types of songs. This is better than having variations of the same thing across the whole CD. It did not take me long to fall in love with the individual songs again. Everyone is familiar with "White Room" which is what made me think of this first but few remember "Pressed Rat and Warthog" or "Those Were the Days".
Bottom line the album is worth discovering or rediscovering.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seminal, March 17, 2000
This album, more than any other 60s work, sent more boys out to buy electric guitars with the hopes of becoming rock stars than anything before or since. And for good reason. The live recordings on this album gave us a mountainslide of brilliant no-holds-barred improv and a fiery dynamism that was the trademark of few bands of the time. It might not have been Clapton's best work -- for me that was the Bluesbreakers album with Mayall -- but it was near-genius nonetheless. Much has been said about this version of Crossroads and you'd better believe it all. Clapton's two solos on that son, one more incendiary than the other, rate as some of the most memorable guitar-playing of any rock era. The studio stuff is an added joy and even Baker's Pressed Rat isn't without its self-deprecating humor. Felix Pappalardi earns extra kudos for outstanding studio accompaniment and production. The original cover, black on silver ink, was a landmark of 60s album design. Listen to the audience on the live tracks. Clearly these people were there to soak in the brilliance of the music they were experiencing. You can too.
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