Eric Clapton – "Complete Clapton" | Teen Ink

Eric Clapton – "Complete Clapton" MAG

By Anonymous

Eric Clapton is one the most influential artists of all time, and this album was intended to sum up his career. However, the 2007 best-of ­album “Complete Clapton” leaves you feeling empty and wanting more.

The album can be broken ­into three sections: the golden years, pop, and back to the blues. The golden years are the main and supreme part of the album. “Complete Clapton” features five popular songs by Cream (Clapton’s first band), including “White Room,” “Crossroads,” and “Badge,” but only three tracks from later groups Blind Faith and Derek & the Dominos. It also features several tracks from early in Clapton’s solo career. Then the album starts down a slippery slope ­toward Eric’s pop era.

The beginning of the pop sec­tion isn’t too gruesome. Songs like “Forever Man” and “Pretending” somewhat resemble rock songs. The remainder of this section can be sum­med up with an exasperated “Ugh!” Several singles like “Bad Love” and “Running on Faith (Unplugged)” make the listener want to break the second disc in half. Then “Complete Clapton” pulls you out of this depression by going back to the blues.

Clapton’s return to the blues is represented with four tracks, which is not nearly enough. This part features two songs Clapton recorded with other artists: “Riding With the King” with B.B. King, and “Ride the River” featuring J.J. Cale. In short, this brief blues bit is much too small to fill the ­appetite of an avid listener.

All said and done, two discs are far too few to cover Eric Clapton’s career, and “Complete Clapton” gave a decent try but was doomed from the start. Cream’s three-album lifetime can’t possibly be summed up in five tracks. The producers should have just cut out all the pop, but then it wouldn’t be a history of Clapton. And that’s what a best-of album is: a story, a recollection of the artist and his musi


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This article has 5 comments.


I.R.B BRONZE said...
on Sep. 25 2012 at 11:25 pm
I.R.B BRONZE, Mendocino, California
1 article 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;When you see beyond yourself, then you may find peace of mind is waiting there.&quot;<br /> (The song, Within You Without You, by The Beatles)

Complete Clapton was the first Clapton I owned. I fell head over heals in love with the music, and now know most of his songs by heart. I even know his guitar style, and can tell when he is playing. Bell Bottom Blues is one of my favorite songs! And that is saying something, I listen to quite a bit of music. 

L.B.C.. BRONZE said...
on Jul. 28 2011 at 1:04 pm
L.B.C.. BRONZE, Muskegon, Michigan
4 articles 0 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Only you can be the change you want to see in the world.&quot; - Ghandi

Alright! Nice to see some classic rock fans!

on Jan. 31 2010 at 10:21 am
yaychloeyay SILVER, Farmington, Washington
5 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
My favorite quote changes often, but today is : &quot;Fashions fade, but style is eternal.&quot; by Yves Saint Laurent. I can go completely ga-ga over the designs of YSL...

I absolutely LOVE Clapton! He really was one of the main reasons I ever picked up a guitar. :) And I'm sooo glad I did!

His autobiography, Clapton, is really great too. He really gives you a look into his life that is remarkable...and memorable. I'll always love that book...

BETYYBOOP said...
on Dec. 15 2008 at 2:58 pm
HEY I GUESS WHOS MUSIC I LIKE THAT CHRIS BROWN AND BOWWOW LOLO

NekoJ said...
on Nov. 22 2008 at 2:50 pm
This review is decently written. It is ironic, nevertheless, that the review is guilty of its primary criticism of the Clapton compilation album: sparseness. The review feels terribly incomplete, offering harsh criticism of the album's individual songs without any mention of these songs' shortcomings. The striking imagery of the author wishing to "break the second disc in half" is substantiated merely by the author's labeling of the songs as "pop." What defines a song as being pop? What about belonging to this genre makes these songs inferior? These are questions the reader may wish to have answered. Also, the review misuses the colon and contains glaringly incorrect information; a small amount of research would have revealed that Cream was not Eric Clapton's first band. Clapton had already built a substantial following with his guitar work as a member of The Yardbirds.