Live Cream - CREAM***

NSU/Sleepy Time Time/Lawdy Mama/Sweet Wine/Rollin' & Tumblin'

The first live only album from the blues-progressive group Cream, released a year after they disbanded. With one exception the extended tracks are from their debut album. (US:15 UK:4)

"The first Cream album after Goodbye. Thousands of still broken hearted fans grabbed it and held it to their chests for comfort - and not completely beyond reason. There is some great playing and jamming here, as well as one of rock history's first bonus tracks, Lawdy Mama, essentially an embryonic version of Strange Brew with different words."

"Some bands do their best work in the studio, using the equipment available there as an instrument in its own right. Others thrive on stage, each performer playing off of his or her band mates, creating a whole greater than the sum of the parts. Cream were one of the latter groups, and this album is an excellent example of what can be achieved by talented musicians simply allowed to jam."

"You can jam, but you're still not getting anywhere. And Clapton deserves a big spanking for all his sneers about Cream's aimlessness when this album serves as aural proof that he was the worst offender."

"When listening to these recordings, one can see the high energy and explosive inventiveness in Clapton's playing that has not been heard in any of his other groups. Bruce and Baker push him to experiment with tone, phrasing and volume. His solo on Sleepy Time Time is especially juicy and Sweet Wine is a nearly seventeen minute journey into the then uncharted territory of jazz-rock."

"Superb live recordings of Cream. Jack Bruce's bass is powerful as always. Clapton dishes out the guitar licks and Baker keep the rhythm going strong. The whole band is in top form. The opening track of N.S.U is fiery and powerful leading up to a great jam. For awhile I thought I was sitting back and listening to Strange Brew when I realized it wasn't this at all, but instead a lesser song, Lawdy Mama, with the exact same melody but different lyrics."

"Since Fresh Cream was primarily a blues-rock album, Live Cream exudes the same feel. On most of the numbers, however, such as the opener, N.S.U. and Sweet Wine, the blues are fairly rapidly clicked up a notch as the band jams in rock mode."