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Cream|Wheels Of Fire

Wheels Of Fire

Cream

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Language available : english

If Disraeli Gears was the album where Cream came into their own, its successor, Wheels of Fire, finds the trio in full fight, capturing every side of their multi-faceted personality, even hinting at the internal pressures that soon would tear the band asunder. A dense, unwieldy double album split into an LP of new studio material and an LP of live material, it's sprawling and scattered, at once awesome in its achievement and maddening in how it falls just short of greatness. It misses its goal not because one LP works and the other doesn't, but because both the live and studio sets suffer from strikingly similar flaws, deriving from the constant power struggle between the trio. Of the three, Ginger Baker comes up short, contributing the passable "Passing the Time" and "Those Were the Days," which are overshadowed by how he extends his solo drum showcase "Toad" to a numbing quarter of an hour and trips upon the Wind & the Willows whimsy of "Pressed Rat and Warthog," whose studied eccentricity pales next to Eric Clapton's nimble, eerily cheerful "Anyone for Tennis." In almost every regard, Wheels of Fire is a terrific showcase for Clapton as a guitarist, especially on the first side of the live album with "Crossroads," a mighty encapsulation of all of his strengths. Some of that is studio trickery, as producer Felix Pappalardi cut together the best bits of a winding improvisation to a tight four minutes, giving this track a relentless momentum that's exceptionally exciting, but there's no denying that Clapton is at a peak here, whether he's tearing off solos on a 17-minute "Spoonful" or goosing "White Room" toward the heights of madness. But it's the architect of "White Room," bassist Jack Bruce, who, along with his collaborator Peter Brown, reaches a peak as a songwriter. Aside from the monumental "White Room," he has the lovely, wistful "As You Said," the cinematic "Deserted Cities of the Heart," and the slow, cynical blues "Politician," all among Cream's very best work. And in many ways Wheels of Fire is indeed filled with Cream's very best work, since it also captures the fury and invention (and indulgence) of the band at its peak on the stage and in the studio, but as it tries to find a delicate balance between these three titanic egos, it doesn't quite add up to something greater than the sum of its parts. But taken alone, those individual parts are often quite tremendous.

© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

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Wheels Of Fire

Cream

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1
White Room
00:05:03

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - TOM DOWD, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jack Bruce, ComposerLyricist - Adrian Barber, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Cream, MainArtist - Peter Ronald Brown, ComposerLyricist

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

2
Sitting On Top Of The World
00:05:01

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - Walter Vinson, ComposerLyricist - CHESTER BURNETT, Arranger, Work Arranger - Cream, MainArtist - Lonnie Chatmon, ComposerLyricist

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

3
Passing The Time
00:04:37

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - Mike Taylor, ComposerLyricist - Cream, MainArtist - Peter Edward Baker, ComposerLyricist

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

4
As You Said
00:04:22

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - Pete Brown, ComposerLyricist - Jack Bruce, ComposerLyricist - Cream, MainArtist

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

5
Pressed Rat And Warthog
00:03:18

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - Mike Taylor, ComposerLyricist - Cream, MainArtist - Ginger Baker, ComposerLyricist

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

6
Politician
00:04:16

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - TOM DOWD, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jack Bruce, ComposerLyricist - Adrian Barber, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Cream, MainArtist - Peter Ronald Brown, ComposerLyricist

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

7
Those Were The Days
00:02:57

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - Mike Taylor, ComposerLyricist - Cream, MainArtist - Ginger Baker, ComposerLyricist

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

8
Born Under A Bad Sign
00:03:13

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - Booker T. Jones, ComposerLyricist - William Bell, ComposerLyricist - Cream, MainArtist

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

9
Deserted Cities Of The Heart
00:03:38

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - Jack Bruce, ComposerLyricist - Cream, MainArtist - Peter Ronald Brown, ComposerLyricist

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

DISC 2

1
Crossroads (Live At Winterland, San Francisco / 1968)
00:04:18

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - TOM DOWD, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Robert Johnson, ComposerLyricist - Adrian Barber, Remix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Cream, MainArtist - BILL HALVERSON, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Joseph. M Palmaccio, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

2
Spoonful (Live At Winterland, San Francisco / 1968)
00:16:46

Eric Clapton, Guitar, Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Felix Pappalardi, Producer - TOM DOWD, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - WILLIE DIXON, ComposerLyricist - Jack Bruce, Bass Guitar, Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Adrian Barber, Remix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Cream, MainArtist - Ginger Baker, Drums, Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Robert Stigwood, Producer - BILL HALVERSON, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

3
Traintime (Live At Winterland, San Francisco / 1968)
00:07:01

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - TOM DOWD, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jack Bruce, ComposerLyricist - Adrian Barber, Remix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Cream, MainArtist - BILL HALVERSON, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

4
Toad (Live At Fillmore West, San Francisco / 1968)
00:16:15

Felix Pappalardi, Producer - GENE PAUL, Remix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - TOM DOWD, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Cream, MainArtist - Ginger Baker, ComposerLyricist - BILL HALVERSON, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Kevin Brady, Remix Engineer, StudioPersonnel

℗ 1968 Universal International Music B.V.

Albumbeschreibung

If Disraeli Gears was the album where Cream came into their own, its successor, Wheels of Fire, finds the trio in full fight, capturing every side of their multi-faceted personality, even hinting at the internal pressures that soon would tear the band asunder. A dense, unwieldy double album split into an LP of new studio material and an LP of live material, it's sprawling and scattered, at once awesome in its achievement and maddening in how it falls just short of greatness. It misses its goal not because one LP works and the other doesn't, but because both the live and studio sets suffer from strikingly similar flaws, deriving from the constant power struggle between the trio. Of the three, Ginger Baker comes up short, contributing the passable "Passing the Time" and "Those Were the Days," which are overshadowed by how he extends his solo drum showcase "Toad" to a numbing quarter of an hour and trips upon the Wind & the Willows whimsy of "Pressed Rat and Warthog," whose studied eccentricity pales next to Eric Clapton's nimble, eerily cheerful "Anyone for Tennis." In almost every regard, Wheels of Fire is a terrific showcase for Clapton as a guitarist, especially on the first side of the live album with "Crossroads," a mighty encapsulation of all of his strengths. Some of that is studio trickery, as producer Felix Pappalardi cut together the best bits of a winding improvisation to a tight four minutes, giving this track a relentless momentum that's exceptionally exciting, but there's no denying that Clapton is at a peak here, whether he's tearing off solos on a 17-minute "Spoonful" or goosing "White Room" toward the heights of madness. But it's the architect of "White Room," bassist Jack Bruce, who, along with his collaborator Peter Brown, reaches a peak as a songwriter. Aside from the monumental "White Room," he has the lovely, wistful "As You Said," the cinematic "Deserted Cities of the Heart," and the slow, cynical blues "Politician," all among Cream's very best work. And in many ways Wheels of Fire is indeed filled with Cream's very best work, since it also captures the fury and invention (and indulgence) of the band at its peak on the stage and in the studio, but as it tries to find a delicate balance between these three titanic egos, it doesn't quite add up to something greater than the sum of its parts. But taken alone, those individual parts are often quite tremendous.

© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

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