[Slowhand] Cream - Classic Artists

[John Mills]

Cream - Classic Artists

Cat. #: DVDCAST001 PAL

This is a 2-disk set, One double-layer DVD, (9GByte) and a CD-Audio

Cost: 20UKP

DVD

Duration: Film 113mins; Extras 87mins

The Film, "Cream - The Story"
Very enjoyable, well put together and there is no point in spoiling it for
you.

Live Performances
Revolution Club
Nothing new here if you have the laser-disk rip of "Fresh Live Cream", but
nice to have them as a contiguous film.
I haven't compared the quality, but the video from the 16mm film source has
been cropped to fit a wide-screen display.
I never fail to be amazed as to how the cameraman could steadfastly avoid
lingering on Clapton.

The other video material, "NSU" from the Onkel Thores Stuga SVT, Swedish TV
and "I Feel Free" & "Strange Brew", The Beat Club, Bremen, Germany, appears
to be mimed, but if that's all that exists....

Extended Interviews
Considerable emphasis on the Baker-Bruce debacle, including outspoken
updates on the events at last year's MSG concerts.

The interview with Donal Gallagher, Rory's brother, had me in stitches.
There was someone almost asleep, to the right of the stereo image; heavy
breathing and snuffling. I kept waiting for the camera to pan round to show
the guy; it never did. This however, was extremely distracting and I had to
replay it to listen to the interview. This perhaps underlines the amateurish
production, because the distraction could have been minimised with a little
careful editing.

There were some noticeable intermittant A/V synch problems, which are
avoidable and therefore was a disappointment. Yet again poor production. But
these were the "extras".

CD-Audio

Duration: 25mins

This is the 7th. March 1967, Konserthusert Stockholm, Swedish Radio
broadcast in superlative quality.
The release of these five numbers in this quality is worth the price alone.
You've all heard the concert, this time it's got full clear bass and
pristine top-hats. Nice man.

Packaging
An awkward and insubstantial cardboard affair with an outer case. The two
disks are also fiddly to remove, since they sit overlapping, in a figure of
eight configuration. I'll never know why we had to have a different
packaging format for DVDs, from that of the CDs. The informational booklet
has the usual regurgitation, this time by Chris Welch. Interestingly, there
is a video-clip of him back in the day.

The Bottom Line
I spent a very enjoyable evening with both the DVD and Audio components;
recommmended.


John