[Slowhand] Clapton, Beck and Santana in 2010

[Fabio Dwyer]

Well folks from Slowhand Digest,

we had the recent release of 3 albums from these 3 guitar heroes that we love so much. I'd like to give my insights on "Clapton" based in a comparison of these 3 cd's. First of all, I'd like to point to all of you that I'm a big fan of all of them.

I will give my personal grades to the recordings as a reviewer would do - coincidently, maybe for the first time in my life, my opinios are VERY close to the most critics I've been reading about these albums.

Jeff Beck - "Emmotion & Commotion" - 5 (out of 10)
Carlos Santana - "Guitar Heaven"       - 3
Eric Clapton - "Clapton"                     - 9

Why that? Let's see:

Jeff Beck CD: If you really needs an alternative medicine for imnsonia, try this one! Nessum Dorma on the guitar sounded great! But not a whole cd of that!!! Some reviewer from a brazilian guitar magazine said: "Jeff, don't let Susan Boyle choose your repertoire again!" Of course there are some very good guitar playing in this cd, as in the other two, I don't have anything against the use of orchestra backing rock guitar, but Jeff, listen to Eric! Go for The Electric Guitar Concertos and Edge of Darkness to see how to do that! You don't have to put your guitar BEHIND the orchestra! Joss Stone was a great addition thou, way better than the Enya-new-age-style female singers Jeff has been working with; but there're problems in her 2 tracks - 'I put a spell on you' - the guitar sounds like crap, I believe Beck is using some Zoom-guitar rack digital processor here, sounds like my newbies guitar students!!! And in the other track, the only 'heavy' song in this cd, it sounds forced, too heavy for Joss voice. The rest is just good material to knock you down on your pillow...

Santana CD: Just one word: RIDICULOUS! Who the hell thought that Carlos fans would like to listen him playing COVERS of Smoke on The Water (!!!), Red Hot Chilli Pepper (when Under the Bridge was promoted to a 'guitar classic?) and some B-side Van Halen song (without Eddie it cannot work...)??? Sunshine of Your Love with the guy from Macthbox 20? No, thanks! AC-DC's Back in Black with a rapper singing? Come on, are you kidding me??? WTF? Jonny Lang is just too winning in Ain't Superstitious. Joe Cocker and Santana playing Little Wing together could be a wonderful thing, if it weren't for that Pilgrim-style drum-machine loop behind... But things get really ugly in While My Guitar Gently Weeps. How can you destroy some classic? Here's the answer. Invite Jeff Beck's new orchestra and new-age singer, put some Gypsy King style fake-spanish acoustic guitar and that's it! Santana, we want to listen to YOUR new classics, not a handful of well worn-out covers that any high-school band can play. The cd is very well produced, or over-produced for many, and the guitar playing it's just amazing, probably ranking among the top-3 Santana guitar performances ever, he's playing VERY well indeed. The problem is that he's just jamming along over a backing track. There's no involvement from Carlos at all. It looks like the producer chose the songs, the guests, and just called Carlos to the studio in the day of the recording and turned on the red lights. It looks as if Carlos had not even learned the chords of the songs, just the main riff and improvising the rest of the time. There's no ARTISTIC effort here. I believe that's EXACTLY what many Clapton fans want him to do: "Just shut up and play your guitar, Eric. It doesn't matter the songs you want to play, pick up some famous classics, so you/we don't have to think... the more distorted your guitar, the better it gets. Follow Carlos way!" Not for me.

Clapton CD: What a unimaginative title! What horrible cover photograph, Eric, you're looking EXACTLY like my aunt Gertrudes! That's my only two complaints. The rest is GREAT. Of course if you never gave a damn for jazz and new orleans style, if you hate laid-back country or the only kind of blues you dig is some red-hot british blues, something between Hendrix and Gary Moore way of playing, probably that's not for you. Don't bother listen, specially if you only want to hear Eric playing and replaying what he already did when whe was 23 years old. But if you want to listen to a mature artist playing what HE wants to play, without record labels dictating the directions, if you are open to listen to a relaxed (in a good sense) performance and very well crafted music, give a try on 'Clapton'. The production is great, way BETTER that all his albums since From the Cradle. Actually there're some blues cuts like Can't Hold Out Much Longer and Judgement day that sound like coming off of FTC. Others like There's No Way to Get Along and River Runs Deep could fit very well in Road to Escondido. The jazzier tracks like Rockin' Chair and My Very Good Friend could become Unplugged Part 2! And Everything Will Be Alright and Diamonds Made From Rain are basically the kind of soul stuff that Clapton seemed to be trying since Change the World, Pilgrim, some of Reptile and Back Home, but Babyface and Simon Climie had been destroying with their heavy-pro-tools hands. Imagine songs like Second Nature and One Day with this organic approach? It could sound better. I could get home happier with more guitar solos on 'Clapton', but I understand EC wants to explore other talents of his musicality like singing and even as a mandolin player. That's why it didn't get a 10 grade. In the future it will probably recognized as one of Clapton's best solo records. For those who thought it is sleepy, go back and check out Backless, No Reason to Cry, Every Crowd, maybe you'll change your mind... Even Escondido is calmer.

Someone mention that the production of 'Clapton' sucked, that it sounded like an unfinished product; other digesteer said that he couldn't realize the difference of a pro-tools produced recording from a regular traditional approach to recording. To both, I'd like to say something: I'm a pro-musician who has produced my 2 own solo cd's and had co-produced a lot of other recordings. I never worked with pro-tools, but I can easily tell the difference from an over-compressed cd, like Back Home, Reptile, Pilgrim, Escondido and Me and Mr. Johnson and a cd like From The Cradle, Clapton or 461, or anything released before 1983 form Clapton. It sounds like they take all the life of the recording away; in the traditional way of mastering, you feel *inside* the recording; imagine the band is playing live and you're sitting in a chair right in the middle of the stage. That's how it's supposed to sound. On the other hand, when I listen to Pilgrim or Back Home (which I believe have some great compositions, but with bad arrangements and mastering) it's just like someone threw a brick against your ears. It's hollow, lacking real low and high bottom-ends. That's a non-technical way to describe that. Of course anyone have all the right in the world to NOT LIKE 'Clapton', but call it an unfinished-product it's not right in a sense (the technical one). It has actually a very warm sound and great mixing/mastering.

Even beign disapointed with Beck release, I respect him for always trying something new; and to Santana, I'd like to say: when I want to hear some real amazing guitar soloing, I pick yours over the other 2 cd's, but when I want to listen to real artistry, I'd go for 'Clapton'.

That's my 2 cents.

Cheers,
Fabio