Wednesday, 16 January 2019

Eric Clapton - Transmission Impossible


Rating: 4/5

Review:
Mixed but well worthwhile

This 3-CD set is of mixed quality, but well worth having for Clapton fans (like me). It’s worth saying at the start that the sound quality is pretty good, which isn’t the case with some releases of “lost” live recordings.

Disc 1 is Cream recorded live in October 1968. It’s good; the band is on fine form and the material is what you’d expect from this time. To be honest, I don’t think it adds much to what we’ve had for decades on Wheels Of Fire and Goodbye Cream, but it’s always good to hear them playing and it ends with a fine, epic, 17-minute Spoonful. (Although as someone who played Sides 1-3 of Wheels Of Fire a lot and Side 4 almost never, I’m unlikely to listen to another version of Toad more than once.)

Disc 2 is, frankly, weak. It’s from late 1978, a time when Eric wasn’t in good shape, and it shows. Some of the material isn’t his best and he just seems to be going through the motions. For example, the live version of Can’t Find My Way Home on E.C Was Here is among my favourite Clapton tracks; here it’s a tedious dirge which should have been put out of its misery long before the final chord. It’s a sad reminder of a sad period, really.

Disc 3, from September 1998 is far better. The material (a lot of it from Pilgrim) is much stronger and more importantly, the Eric we know and love is back. He sings like he really means it and his guitar work has all the old soul and wonderful touch. He’s quite brilliant in places and on tracks like River Of Tears his guitar is utterly beautiful.

So...not consistently great by any means, but a worthwhile addition to the Clapton discography and worth getting for Disc 3 certainly and probably Disc 1 as well, so recommended.

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