Search - Eric Clapton :: Crossroads

Poor Sound Quality

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 03/10/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"TYPICAL 1980'S CD BOXSET.



This was your typical 1980's boxset, when CD technology was first emerging. It contains about 60% previously released material, and 40% unreleased material (many of which should have never been released). Personally, I was not a fan of these releases, but I bought them anyway because the CD selections at the time were very limited.



Since this is an 1980's boxset, the sound quality is poor. Well, it isn't horrible, but it isn't very good. The sound is a little flat and muffled. It certainly, is not very good by today's CD standards.



The sound quality on most CD's 1980's CD's was not very good. Sure they sounded better than cassette tapes (which were the most popular media of the time), but they did not come close to the sound of a good quality LP. It is why there were so many vinyl snobs at the time. But then, the CD's didn't have the pops and noise that even brand new LP's could have.



It should be noted that many of the CD's from the 1980's, into the early 1990's are now being remastered for better sound. This boxset could really use it, but I doubt it will happen. Again, the sound quality is not horrible. If you were going to just load this into iTunes and play it on your iPod, it is probably acceptable. However, it you want a true retrospect of an artist's career, it deserves better sound quality.



Since this CD was released in the 1980's the time of each disc is close to 74 minutes, without going over 74 minutes. (At this time, the maximum length of a CD was 74 minutes...I'll explain below).



As you can see from reading the song titles, this set contains a sampling of Claptons work from the 1960's to the mid 1980's when the boxset was released. Most things are covered here, except Clapton's adventures as a guest musician on many other people's albums.



Of note is about 3/4 of an album that would have been the second Derek and the Dominoes studio album. And that probably almost makes buying this boxset worthwhile.



In the 1980's this boxset was an interesting buy. But, now, you can get the whole Clapton catalog on remastered CD's with much better sound. You can buy the things you like and forgo the other stuff. If you want a Clapton boxset, I would suggest getting Crossroads 2 instead.



Why were CD's only 74 minutes and they are now 80 minutes long? The real time of a CD is 74 minutes. But, there is a manufacturing tolerance to the bit size and sampling speed. So, to get 80 minutes out of a CD, manufacturers just use the upper end of the spec limit."

As close to Sgt. Pepper as Clapton gets, Patty Boyd excepted

Patrick W. Crabtree | Lucasville, OH USA | 01/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's a sad actuality that neither Eric Clapton, nor one of the many bands he was in, ever generated a "Sgt. Pepper" album. Why is this? Probably due to the fact that Clapton moved from one band, on to the next, and on to the next, etc. I think his best shot for a big album would have been with CREAM but, egos being what they were, this super-band unfortunately didn't last all that long.



So here's what we're left with, "Crossroads" is a superb Eric Clapton compendium album, a body of work completed in this great guitarist's lifetime... with a little help from his friends. This album is the one you want if you plan to own only a single Clapton CD -- it pretty much contains every ACTUAL hit he ever had. Yes, some will say that this one or that one was a big hit (mostly guitarists will say this), but I'm talking about what was popular and played a lot on the radio during The Great Days, and some since that time.



Here's MY list, all of which are on this CD set: For Your Love, (Yardbirds); I Feel Free, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room, (Cream); Layla (Derek and the Dominoes); After Midnight, Let it Rain, I Shot the Sheriff, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Lay Down Sally, Wonderful Tonight, Cocaine (Eric Clapton). These were SUPER-hits. Yes, I'm aware that the very name of this album is "Crossroads" -- but that song simply never caught on. When it came out, it fell into quick obscurity with the D.J.s across the country.



Sadly, Blind Faith held incredible potential but pretty much only produced really impressive studio jams -- they were a bit aimless. And Clapton's period with John Mayall produced nothing notable. There were some other brief bands but I've covered the important ones.



As far as I can tell, the NEW "Complete Clapton" CD release (being heavily marketed now) apparently bypasses Clapton's time with The Yardbirds -- if that's the case, they should have called it "INcomplete Clapton" because if it's missing "For Your Love," then it's a beautifully packaged ripoff!!!



Complete Clapton



So, what I'm telling you is that there are a ZILLION Eric Clapton compendium CDs on the market, under his name and sometimes under various band names. For some reason (probably copyright limitations), most of these omnibus albums each contain a few hits and are otherwise glutted with Clapton boogie-jam leftovers. These (often bootlegged CDs) typically proclaim 'The Best of Clapton'... not so. Honestly, they could have scaled the "Crossroads" CD down to the Big 12 and it would have been fine with me.



I've given you the BIG hits and they're all on this CD. I've been a guitar player since Clapton first got rolling so I've been heavily influenced by his brilliant artistry -- I'm just a little sad that The Big One never happened for him, given the large number of hits he's generated, with one band or another."