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	Complete Clapton Eric Clapton Reprise / Wea, 2007 average customer review:based on 74 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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More from Eric Clapton
Clapton: The Autobiography
The Road to Escondido
Unplugged
Clapton Chronicles - The Best of Eric Clapton
The Cream of Clapton
461 Ocean Boulevard

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COMPLETE CLAPTON ISN'T GOD, BUT IT AIN'T BAD ! (Slowhand's life in music has been quite a journey)

Eric Clapton is well known as one of the greatest guitarists in the history of rock music, and I won't argue with that. His career as a blues-rock guitarist has been both innovative and astonishing ("Clapton is God" graffitti was a popular underground tribute to the guitarist in London in the mid-1960s). He's also an excellant singer and songwriter, and has played a major role in some of rock music's greatest songs. The man is a legend, and I've been somewhat more than a casual fan over the years and consider his Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs to be one of my all-time favorite albums.

Complete Clapton (2007) is a 2-disc greatest hits collection that was released as a companion to Clapton: The Autobiography (with the same black and red cover). Other than his early days with The Yardbirds and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Complete Clapton spans Eric's entire career, beginning with five songs from Cream and ending with Ride The River from 2006's The Road To Escondido with J.J. Cale.

I don't have any problem at all with the song selection here. Sure, I could find something to complain about if I really wanted to, but what's the point? It is what it is, and I think it covers the highlights of Clapton's career as well as it needs to. And what a career it has been! Sunshine Of Your Love, White Room, Crossroads, After Midnight, Layla, I Shot The Sheriff, Cocaine, Wonderful Tonight, Forever Man, Pretending, Bad Love, Tears In Heaven, Layla (unplugged), and much more!

Some reviewers are noting that that this collection duplicates The Cream Of Clapton and Clapton Chronicles: The Best Of Eric Clapton, but with this you get a few songs that both of those put together don't offer, including Lay Down Sally, Sweet Home Chicago, If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day, Motherless Child, and Riding With The King (w/B.B. King). And Complete Clapton is packaged in a slim swing-gate jewel case, making it more compact than two separate CDs.

The liner notes are really great, too, with information on each song, including a list of the musicians and what instruments they played, an interesting essay on Eric Clapton, and some great photos. If you're a casual fan, or a true Eric Clapton fan who just wants to fill in some of the gaps in your your EC collection, Complete Clapton will work just fine. It's an enjoyable way to go back in time and follow the journey of a true guitar legend. And maybe your own journey as well...

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Perfect 2 CD Compilation

I don't own any Clapton except "Derek and the Dominoes" and the "Best of Cream" so songs 1-5 and 9-10 on CD1 duplicate what I have, but this 2 CD set is perfect for me who doesn't like Slowhand enough to invest in his solo CDs. CD1 is 79:49! and CD2 is 76:16. All the great stuff is here including the original "Layla" from 1970 and the unplugged version from 1992. The other ballads "Bell Bottom Blues", "Wonderful Tonight" and "Tears In Heaven" (studio version) are here as are the sweeping epics such as "Presence of the Lord," "Let It Rain" and "Let It Grow." The Clapton I don't like because they bore me such as "Lay Down Sally," "Cocaine," "I Shot the Sheriff," and "Promises" are also here, but how can these not be included? This to me was his worst period and yet these songs are probably what he is best known for. CD1 closes strong with "I Can't Stand It" and CD2 has some great stuff, especially "Forever Man" and the very catchy cover of "Motherless Child." And I love "Riding With the King" with B.B. King and the great covers of Robert Johnson blues tunes "Sweet Home Chicago" and "If I Had Possession..." These 2 songs just kick! And by the way, the 5 Cream songs on CD1 are the best 5 they did. The bass and piano on "Badge" are superb and the all-too-brief guitar solo on this song rings out with beautiful clarity.

For those who complain about re-issues and duplication, you have to ask yourself this: Given the limitation of a 2 CD package, what would you put on to represent the career of a musical icon like Clapton? This CD fulfills that and surpasses, especially with the remastering and length of each CD, any other previous collection of similar or smaller size. It's pointless to compare this to a larger boxed set. So, if you only need 2 CDs of Clapton, then get this. I would have called it "Clapton Collection" because only 2 CD's for this guy could never be "complete" but who cares about the title? Plus, they didn't muck it up by including a lot of live or demo versions. You get the real studio stuff at full lengths, plus 2 live classics from the unplugged album.

This is THE perfect 2 CD compilation.

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Great Compilation

I bought this for my dad for his 54th birthday. It has all of Clapton's great classic and current hits. We listened to it the day he opened it. The compilation so good I uploaded it to my MP3 player.


Not for the completist, but not bad for the car

Eric Clapton has produced so much great music over the years, and so much of it is missing from this mostly hits compilation, that one spends more time lamenting the omissions than enjoying the thoroughly familar. One wonders if it's his selection - the liner notes read like corporate piffle with no insights or useful information except for those who know nothing of his work. For them, it's an adequate introduction to Clapton the commercial success. For those interested in Clapton the musician, neither his recent book - which is mostly psychobabble about his addictions and other sins - or this CD will shed any light.

The best advice - if you think this is good - learn some more. There's more - and often much better - where this came from. Don't miss the work with John Mayall if you love the blues. Its omission here borders on the criminal. Some of his solos on that album stop time.

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Epic Eric

The music was divine such a wonderful story teller, however, the last 3 tracks skipped so I couldn't listen to them.


reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10



Tracks
I Feel Free: Cream | Sunshine of Your Love: Cream | White Room: Cream | Crossroads: Cream | Badge: Cream | Presence of the Lord: Blind Faith | After Midnight | Let It Rain | Bell Bottom Blues | Layla | Let It Grow | I Shot the Sheriff | Knockin' on Heaven's Door | Hello Old Friend | Cocaine | Lay Down Sally | Wonderful Tonight | Promises | I Can't Stand It | I've Got a Rock 'n' Roll Heart | She's Waiting | Forever Man | It's in the Way That You Use It | Miss You | Pretending | Bad Love | Tears in Heaven | Layla Unplugged | Running on Faith (Unplugged) | Motherless Child | Change the World | My Father's Eyes | Riding With the King | Sweet Home Chicago | If I Had Possession Over Judgment | Ride the River

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