[Slowhand] One man's humble review of "Clapton"

[Apurva Parikh]

Been in lurk mode for WAY too long, on the SD. But a new Eric Clapton album
brings more discussion/conversation hopefully.

First off i'm surprised the critical reviews the new album is getting, 4
stars from RS, wow. But we as die hard fans have different expectations and
for once, in a post FTC solo album from Eric, at least my expectations have
been met if not exceeded in some areas.

Clear disclosure - i purchased the iTunes version of the long player, so i
got the "I Was Fooled". and I was also suckered into purchasing the Amazon
bonus track "Midnight Hour Blues".

Been listening to the album on/off past day and a half. I love Doyle's
production, everything sounds great. Eric's voice has gotten better and
better, who would have thought that his singing would be one of the biggest
highlights - i challenge anyone to find a contemporary of Eric who can sing
with the range he can.

I enjoyed the non blues tracks more than i thought, especially, "..Milkman",
"Somebody thinks you're wonderful" are really great. "Autumn Leaves",
"Diamonds..", "Rockin Chair" are other standouts.

The JJ Cale tunes are splendid in typical JJ Cale vein, the other covers
kinda blend into 1 for me, with Eric taking a minimalist approach on his own
guitar playing. However, there is graceful, biting and jazzy playing by Eric
throughout. Of course the die hard guitar geek in us, wouldn't mind more
soloing but i've come to accept the fact that EC saves that for his live
playing, not studio albums.

The Jazz players, horns, etc are wonderful - this is really a labor of love
and you can tell by the warmth, generosity and collaborative effort in the
album - a lot of that comes through due to the nature of the production.

Overall, this is going to last as a great one in my book, glad this was done
as a single cd as opposed to a 2 cd with filler. If this is the last real
solo album we get from EC in a while, it's a great one. Solid A-, B+ for me.

Apurva