// BEGIN editorial data var i = 0; var DiscDebate_EricClapton = new Array(); DiscDebate_EricClapton.ID = "DiscDebate_EricClapton"; DiscDebate_EricClapton.ID_WB = 8798496; DiscDebate_EricClapton.sPubDate = "8/2/2005 9:28:05 PM GMT"; DiscDebate_EricClapton.navsectionID = "3032427" DiscDebate_EricClapton.appFmt = 2; DiscDebate_EricClapton.itemsPerPage = 7; DiscDebate_EricClapton.nTeaseW = 423; DiscDebate_EricClapton.nTeaseH = 273; DiscDebate_EricClapton.appWidth = 624; DiscDebate_EricClapton.sTitle = "Disc Debate: Pick the best albums"; DiscDebate_EricClapton.appNavStyle = 3; DiscDebate_EricClapton.bPrintable = 0; DiscDebate_EricClapton.appLayout = 1; DiscDebate_EricClapton.copyMargin = 9; DiscDebate_EricClapton.copyBorder = 0; DiscDebate_EricClapton.headlineStyle = "font-size:14;color:cc0000;"; DiscDebate_EricClapton.sBodyFont = "font-size:12;"; DiscDebate_EricClapton[i++] = new Array("","1. \"Layla\" (Derek & the Dominos, 1970)","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050802/disc_layla.standard.jpg","","", "", "Video", "14684b2e-2cb6-4edc-8210-ccf1eb7beda5|", "", "right", "", "Polydor", "198", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); DiscDebate_EricClapton[i-1].body = "This ensemble, which included Duane Allman - who was a huge fan of Clapton - on slide guitar, plus Jim Gordon, Bobby Whitlock and Carl Radle, was short-lived and this 1970 double-album is best known as a lovesick Clapton's therapeutic way of dealing with a fling with George Harrison's wife, Pattie (whom he eventually married and divorced). Naturally, the dominant theme is the blues. Now classic cuts like \"Have You Ever Loved A Woman,\" \"Bell Bottom Blues,\" a fervent version of Jimi Hendrix's \"Little Wing\" and, of course, the title track have lifted this collection to an exalted place in rock's pantheon. And even though Clapton was doing large quantities of drugs during these sessions, his guitar work is flawless. The song \"Layla\" was inspired by a book by the Persian poet Nizami called \"Layla and Majnun,\" about a man driven insane by love. Drugs and dissension in the ranks prevented this group from recording a second album. Too bad."; DiscDebate_EricClapton[i++] = new Array("","2. \"Wheels of Fire\" (Cream, 1968)","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050802/disc_wheelsoffire.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "Polygram Records", "198", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", ""); DiscDebate_EricClapton[i-1].body = "When this came out in 1968, Clapton's reputation was already firmly established in the world of rock and blues guitar, as evidenced by graffiti all over England proclaiming, \"Clapton is God.\" \"Wheels\" just cemented that belief and won over even more converts. Any classic rock aficionado who can't play air guitar to \"White Room,\"
\"Born Under A Bad Sign\" and \"Spoonful\" is subject to immediate arrest. But the cherry on this sundae is a live version of \"Crossroads,\" performed at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. The song is a combination of two songs written by blues legend Robert Johnson and it tells about how he sold his soul to the devil to make himself a better guitar player. Clapton has said he isn't particularly impressed with his scorching guitar solo on it, but everyone else in the hearing public certainly is. An added treat: Jack Bruce on bass and Ginger Baker on drums, while often overlooked, are almost as good as Clapton."; DiscDebate_EricClapton[i++] = new Array("","3. \"461 Ocean Boulevard\" (1974)","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050802/disc_oceanblvd.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Polydor", "198", "198", "", "", "", "", ""); DiscDebate_EricClapton[i-1].body = "For years, Clapton had been fighting drug addition and depression. This 1974 release was considered his comeback album. It was also his first solo effort that took hold with the public. Most people will recognize his popular cover of the Bob Marley standard, \"I Shot The Sheriff\" - Clapton's first and only No. 1 hit — but he also sings and plays magnificently on \"Let It Grow,\" \"Motherless Children\" and the best cut on the album, \"Mainline Florida.\" Yvonne Elliman, now best known for her hit, \"If I Can't Have You\" from \"Saturday Night Fever,\" adds soulful elegance with her background vocals. This is not Clapton at his unrestrained, wicked, bluesy best, but rather a man at a real crossroads, segueing from a raw musician and a pedestrian vocalist to a more well-rounded performer whose varied talents are coming into full fruition."; DiscDebate_EricClapton[i++] = new Array("","4. \"From the Cradle\" (1994)","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050802/disc_fromcradle.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "Warner Bros.", "198", "198", "", "", "", "", ""); DiscDebate_EricClapton[i-1].body = "Wherever he has gone musically, Clapton never strays too far from his blues roots. But this 1994 release was a complete return home from beginning to end, his first real true blues album, which brought him a Grammy. He pays homage to some of his favorite blues artists, from Muddy Waters to Willie Dixon to Eddie Boyd, although mimicking their voices is done to mixed results. \"Five Long Years\" features some of his finest picking and fingering since his \"Crossroads\" solo. But he also wails on \"Reconsider Baby,\" \"I'm Tore Down\" and \"Goin' Away Baby,\" among others. Clapton considered this a watershed in his own life, because he sought purity in his music without the negative influences of fame, drugs, wealth and expectations that had bedeviled him for years."; DiscDebate_EricClapton[i++] = new Array("","5. \"Disraeli Gears\" (Cream, 1967)","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050802/disc_disraeligears.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "7e3389f1-1761-4309-91ca-0679c9fde820|", "", "right", "", "Polydor", "198", "198", "", "", "", "", ""); DiscDebate_EricClapton[i-1].body = "The second release by the threesome was actually the first genuine studio album, because their initial effort, \"Fresh Cream,\" was done on the cheap and turned out ragged. Felix Pappalardi, who would later perform in Mountain, produced it in 1967 and it is one of the first bona fide entries in heavy metal history. The signature track is \"Sunshine Of Your Love,\" which was the group's first to do better on the U.S. charts (it rose to No. 5) than it did in the U.K. (No. 25). But it also contains such indelible Cream creations as \"Strange Brew\" and \"Tales of Brave Ulysses,\" upon which Clapton's guitar playing is especially psychedelic. Clapton had already established himself as an icon by playing in clubs around England and in his participation with The Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. This placed him on an even higher pedestal."; DiscDebate_EricClapton[i++] = new Array("","THE DUD: \"August\" (1986)","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050802/disc_august.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "Warner Bros.", "198", "198", "", "", "", "", ""); DiscDebate_EricClapton[i-1].body = "Eric Clapton hasn't really made a bad album, so this comes under the heading of most disappointing. It came out in 1986, when he was torn between courting commercial success and experimenting, and when his hard rock and blues spirits went into hiding. \"August\" is memorable – or forgettable, depending on how you look at it – for its slick, overproduced sound that included synthesizers. Phil Collins took much of the flak from critics, because he co-produced and wielded a formidable influence. Clapton had released an album right before this with similar elements called \"Behind The Sun,\" but at least that contained a couple of heartfelt hits in \"Forever Man\" and \"She's Waiting.\" This is too tepid to warrant inclusion in any Slowhand devotee's collection."; // END editorial data