Cream Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005
February 2006 Reviewed by: Joseph Taylor Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Left to his own devices, Eric Clapton often lets himself coast. Fans who have followed him since his days with the Yardbirds, John Mayall, and Cream puzzle over the frequently bland recordings he’s made in the last 30 years, beginning with 461 Ocean Blvd (1974). His solo records have usually featured bands that were solid but uninspired, and Clapton has always played his best when other musicians held him to a high standard. Then news came that he would be reuniting with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce for a series of concerts as Cream in May 2005. It was reason to anticipate he would once again play with the kind of passion and intensity he can summon when he wants to.

Clapton has dashed our hopes so many times that I approached Cream: Royal Albert Hall -- London May 2-3-5-6 2005 hoping for the best but expecting I might be disappointed. I needn’t have worried. The guitarist shows more fire and grit here than he has in ages. He occasionally falls back on a familiar riff, but more often he pushes himself into new territory. On the blues tunes ("Outside Woman Blues," "Stormy Monday") he demonstrates his familiar mastery of that form. But it is on Cream’s psychedelic masterpieces, such as "Sweet Wine" and "NSU," that he plays with a renewed energy, surprising himself and us by refusing to take the easy route. Even on the blues selections, he plays with a level of abandon that he hasn’t allowed himself recently.

While Eric Clapton has been busy selling a lot of records, Baker and Bruce have been experimenting widely in music, broadening their already impressive skills. Despite a recent bout with bad health, Bruce’s voice is as powerful as ever, and he plays with the rhythmic drive and melodic inventiveness that have always distinguished his bass work. Baker has made some well-regarded jazz recordings in the last ten years, and his playing has, if anything, become even more varied and subtle than it was with Cream. All three musicians push each other, at the same time responding to each other’s ideas and cues. One of the most enjoyable aspects of Cream: Royal Albert Hall is the opportunity it gives us to see three musicians relying solely on their own abilities and each other to create great music.

Director Martyn Atkins captures the excitement that filled the venerable Albert Hall, a wonderfully atmospheric setting for this event (and the location of the original band’s final concert in 1968). I would have preferred fewer shots of celebrities in the crowd, although the camera does catch Queen’s Brian May looking at the stage in awe and pure enjoyment. The two-channel sound is rich and spacious (surround sound requires a DTS decoder), capturing nicely the ambience of the hall, but Jack Bruce’s bass should have been mixed a bit higher. Extras include revealing alternate takes of three songs and interviews with Clapton, Bruce, and Baker. Nicely packaged and designed, this DVD set is an elegant commemoration of a very enjoyable series of shows.

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