Goodbye – CREAM***

I’m So Glad/Politician/Sitting On Top Of The World/Badge/Doing That Scrapyard Thing/What A Bringdown

Goodbye, the final album from rock giants Cream is a mixed bag. Three brilliant studio songs are combined with yet more self indulgent live tracks. Includes the UK No. 18 hit single Badge which really should have peaked a lot higher. (US:2 UK:1)

"The three studio tracks show the continuing growth of the band. This is not the sound of the famed power trio, but a creative studio collaborative. Each member contributes a gem: Clapton's Badge is one of his greatest achievements. Bruce plays piano on his delightfully whimsical Doing That Scrapyard Thing, Ginger Baker's track, the typically mordant, surreal What A Bringdown is terrific, driving and jazzy."

"I'm a little hesitant to call it an 'album', though. It's more of an EP, as it's just barely over half an hour long, more like a mini Wheels Of Fire: The studio material features a song from each band member."

"The studio half is much more satisfying, beginning with one of the best songs they ever put their name to - the mysterious, slightly psychedelic Badge. This song was famously co-written by George Harrison. Jack Bruce continues the Beatle theme with the quirky, plodding pop of Doing That Scrapyard Thing, while Ginger Baker wraps up proceedings with his climactic composition What A Bringdown, which features several jazzy time signature changes and some great chord twists and turns."

"Short, pretty lousy final album from what had been a short-lived but excellent band. Three fairly average live tracks and three studio tracks which are brilliant. The running time of these is ten minutes so Goodbye would have made a fine EP. This album remains extremely disappointing."

"The live stuff is the usual excess, especially their destroying of I'm So Glad. What saves it and gets the three stars are Badge and Doing That Scrapyard Thing, the latter a vastly underrated song, but I've always been a Jack Bruce fan."

"A relatively nice goodbye from Cream. Badge and Doing That Scrapyard Thing are very good songs, What A Bringdown isn't much worse. The live tracks are mostly a waste of time."