Cream - Wheels of Fire
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Free Music Notes for Wheels of Fire
Free Music Review: A Must Have
Hit: 5 Stars
a must have for the Clapton collector.. this is Cream's best, hard core 60-70s rock..Free Music Review: Hits and Misses
Hit: 4 Stars
Looking at disc one ("In the Studio"), you'll see that the most successful songs are by the team of Jack Bruce and Pete Brown. Bruce was conservatory trained and played the cello as well as bass; Pete Brown was a London-based poet whose lyrics made "White Room," for example, such a great song, set to the classical and rock music of Bruce. Then, we have Eric Clapton's excellent electric versions of two blues classics, placed second and next-to-last in sequence. The three weakest songs, those by Ginger Baker and Mike Taylor, are placed third, fifth, and seventh, in the middle of the album. So, two strong Jack Bruce/Pete Brown songs frame the disc, with Eric Clampton's two (traditional) contributions just within those frames, and Ginger Baker's songs (the weakest material) are in the middle, more or less, which shows that the group was going in three different directions in their last and perhaps greatest album, and that prevents the studio disc from being a totally convincing unit, mirroring the band itself at that time. If we didn't have the magnificient, driving vocals of Jack Bruce, such minor songs as "Those Were the Days" (Ginger Baker/Mike Taylor) would have fallen flat. In fact, Bruce was really the voice of Cream, since neither Eric Clapton nor Ginger Baker were stong vocally. Their contributions are mainly instrumental (but what fabulous musicians they are!!!). As much as one would like to believe otherwise, disc one is somewhat of a miscellany.
On the live disc two, in contrast, both Clapton, in his blazing electric blues take on Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" and his astonishing cover of Willie Dixon's "Spoonful," along with Ginger Baker's still amazing 15 minute solo on "Toad" make up for the weaknesses of disc one. Jack Bruce's athletic performance of his "Traintime" comes in a very close second. Overall, the greatest numbers in the entire album are the rock classic "White Room" on disc one, and Eric Clapton's simply astonding performance of "Spoonful," on disc two, with his take on "Crossroads" and "Sitting on Top of the World" coming in a close second. Jack Bruce's "Deserted Cities of the Heart" is also notable. So, it's uneven but it's great and essential. These two discs are "Wheels of Fire," indeed.
PS. Credit should go to producer Felix Pappalardi for doing what he could with disc one and for the link between "Traintime" and "Toad," even though they were recorded on different dates.
Free Music Review: Cream's best-by a hair
Hit: 4 Stars
Cream consisted of three of the most talented musicians in the world in the late 60's. Clapton, Bruce and Baker all came from jazz/blues backgrounds and they added a rock twist on their tunes that made their music shimmer. This is best portrayed on Wheels of Fire. The album opens with the hit White Room. While similar to Tales of Brave Ulysses, Clapton fires the song into sonic brilliance with the final one minute solo. Bruce's vocals and Baker's steady beat are also wonderful.Sitting on Top of the World is a great slow, Howlin Wolf blues song. The trio cover it quite capably. And here is where the album loses a star: Passing the Time and As you Said are the biggest duds on the album. Thrown together haphazardly, they don't sound like Cream at all. Pressed Rat and Warthog, while revealing Cream's witty side, is ok, but it isn't what you buy the album for. Those Were the Days is mediocre and sounds like a leftover from Disraeli Gears. Mixed in is Politician which is Cream's own blues song and it comes off quite well, led by Bruce's vocals. Born Under a Bad Sign is a classic cover of the blues. Just listen to Clapton and you'll understand why. The studio album ends with Deserted Cities of the Heart. While not a hit, I think it is the most underrated song on the album. Clapton's fuzzy solo and Bruce's terrific delivery carry the song. The live side burns. Each member has their own little piece of art: Clapton has his magnum opus Crossroads, Bruce the frenzied harmonica on Traintime, and Baker on the thumping Toad. While all of these tracks are terrific, the band reaches god-like status with the epic Spoonful. This is Cream at it's creative best, and while most see this as self-indulgent and showing off, it ain't showing off if you can do it. Right????? Overall, the album is terrific, despite the rocks in the middle of the studio album. This is Cream at it's creative peake and I recommend it highly.
Free Music Review: Brilliant playing, not-so-great songwriting
Hit: 4 Stars
With Cream's third album, the band presents its further evolution in the studio on one disc and a taste of its live prowess on the other. Unfortunately, the album is uneven throughout, which is why it can't be afforded truly "classic" status; astonishing moments sit side-by-side with some mediocre ones.On "In the Studio" you get nine tracks that show Cream trying out new instrumentation and studio tricks. Unfortunately, this doesn't hide the fact that the material they have to work with doesn't have a whole lot to offer. If you strip away the impeccable playing, you aren't really left with much in the way of SONGS. Except for the blues numbers, the lyrics are pretty dated and meaningless (check out "Passing the Time" and "Pressed Rat and Warthog"). The production sounds hollow and sterile, taking away from the impact of the music (compare the production to that of the Jimi Hendrix Experience). Above all this, though, you get the remarkable "White Room" along with the solid "Politician."
"Live at the Fillmore" captures Cream in their element: Clapton, Bruce, and Baker onstage displaying their virtuosity on guitar, bass, and drums on blues numbers stretched to the limit. Simply put, "Crossroads" features some of the greatest guitar soloing caught on record with amazing interplay from Bruce and Baker topped off with exuberant vocals from Clapton. "Spoonful" is their magnum opus: nearly 17 fearsome minutes of dense, turbulent jamming. Although "Toad" proves why Ginger Baker makes the short list for greatest drummers, both "Toad" and "Traintime" (featuring Baker and Bruce, respectively) are ultimately dispensable.
Despite the fact that the album lacks cohesiveness, it's still an excellent one to get.
Free Music Review: My Second Favorite Cream Album Next To "Disreali Gears"!!
Hit: 4 Stars
Having heard "Disreali Gears" with full adult understanding
and musical appreciation at the age of 17 in 1981, I set about
exploring the rest of the albums which made this "super-group"
so great to my father's generation. As a kid I had always heard
certain songs by them, but as a kid you never fully "get it"
the way you do when you're older and have experienced life.
This one, 1968's "Wheels Of Fire" ranks in as my second favorite
album by CREAM. Songs like "White Room", their blazing psychedelic
reading of the Robert Johnson blues classic "Crossroads", "Toad",
Wille Dixon's "Spoonful", "Passing The Time" and "Born Under A Bad Sign"
are the ones that drew me into this one first.
I just love the rawness, experimentation, and the trio's
fearlessness to embrace all the funk and the griminess of
bluesy psychedelic rock in a way that few of the european
persuasion had ever dared to! They were a group who was very much
in the van garde of their times, yet they were very true to the past
and unpolished soul of the blues which fueled their flights of
psychedelic rock fancy! (-:
In other words, these guys understood and had a healthy
respect for the artists who had pioneered blues music,
so they could walk sure footed into what it was they were
trying to communicate.
THAT IS what I think gave CREAM their edge over most
of their competition in their time.
Anywayz, having said that, this is a pretty solid follow up to
"Disreali Gears". There are few tracks on here I could do
without today because they're dated, but overall, I still give it 4 stars.