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Eric Clapton - Back Home Audio CD

A fair review of the Eric Clapton "Back Home" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Eric Clapton reviews here, or go back to the Eric Clapton tabs.

Band: Eric Clapton
Title: Back Home
Rating:

Release Date: 2005-08-30
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: So Tired 2: Say What You Will 3: I�m Going Left 4: Love Don�t Love Nobody 5: Revolution 6: Love Comes To Everyone 7: Lost And Found 8: Piece Of My Heart 9: One Day 10: One Track Mind 11: Run Home To Me 12: Back Home

Enjoyable Sentimental Listen

Eric Clapton's singing will surprise those who carefully listen to this very personal CD. This is not a rockin Eric Clapton CD but it is an excellently sung listening CD. It is Eric Clapton's vocals that highlight this work. Eric Clapton lists his influences in the CD booklet and states that these artists have taught him to listen. From the results in this CD we hear that Eric Clapton is an excellent listener.

Eric Clapton's guitar work is exeptional as always but does not stand out like his vocals. Mr. Clapton's playing is very good as always.

Eric Clapton Evolves
The continuing attraction for me is that Eric's music (albeit rooted in Blues) is ever-changing. I've been a Blues guitarist and huge fan of Eric Clapton ever since the "Bluesbreakers" days. The current release "Back Home" illustrates Eric's great ability to draw from his past successes and produce exciting new, yet familiar sounds. This CD showcases his incredible ability to blend the great talents of other artists with his own. Just listen to tracks 7, 8 and 9. . . He's still got it folks and his guitar playing sounds better than ever to my ears. Yes, this album is different and that is what makes it great for me. This is Eric Clapton still growing and evolving, a man who has conquered his demons and is now a proud father and husband. Listen to the humility in track #1 "So Tired". . . All of us who are parents can relate to this song! Folks, this is one unselfish entertainer that uses his talents and resources genuinely to help others, namely the Crossroads Centre at Antigua! I'm proud to be a fan just for that reason alone. If you are a life-long fan of Eric Clapton and grew up with his music, you need to add this one to your collection. The more you play it, the more you will enjoy it!.

Clapton is good, and the extras are worth it for a true fan!
If you are trying to decide on which version to buy as a gift, get the more expensive dual-disc version. It is a must have. Your fan gift recipient will thank you! Any Clapton fan will tell you that he sounds different on various albums and with different groups, so yeah he sounds different on this album. He is evolving like all great music legends do through their career. My husband is a huge fan and loves to collect Clapton music and videos. He had the original version, but then saw the dual-disc version and immediately wanted it. The collectible guitar picks are a nifty touch for fans and the DVD is an excellent quality production that fans will appreciate, both for the interview and for the performances. If you like these types of extras you will be very happy with the DVD. As for the music, many people have said it is not his best and not typical Clapton. I don't agree. With a repertoire like Clapton's it would be impossible to pick a "Best" anyway. I admit the change in style from one song to the next is unusual at first, but the songs grow on you. I look at it like this. If you like Eric's music as a whole, then you will like this CD. I know fans who were not really turned on when he ventured into different styles like doing the "Me and Mr. Johnson" album. Then again, true fans would know that some of the stuff that is considered to be among the best of Clapton - like the Cream music - is not necessarily the music that Clapton himself preferred. So, while that music may be the "best" for a fan, it is not the "best" fit for Clapton - and that is according to Clapton himself. Cream broke up because Clapton wanted to do music that fit his style better. He has enough clout to be able to do that in more recent years, and he is following his own path. Fans who truly appreciate his musical interests and influences as well as his music will appreciate these albums more. I think any fan who truly enjoys Clapton's music collection as a whole will appreciate the diversity of this album's mix and the fact that this is music that Clapton is really interested in personally. This is a glimpse into the true artist through various windows. .

Buyer Beware
Clapton sublime and in the pocket with "Unplugged," "Me and Mr. If, like me, you found Mr. Johnson," and "Riding With The King" (his duet with BB), be careful before you purchase this album.

This is an imitative pastiche of recently fashionable pop cliches - 20 years ago for some, and 10 years ago for others. Aside from a couple of nifty flourishes, nothing distinguishes this album. It sounds like Clapton doing Kareoke. He even cops a Lionel Ritchie/Soul Chick groove on one song; it's horrible, even though his pipes are up to the required high notes. So, you might want to sit this one out. He'll be back.

More Journeyman work from a real live musician
" More and more I have a problem with all of the "best" talk about art: Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" and Salvador Dali's "Last Supper" cover the same subject matter, but are extremely different. I don't know if this is or isn't EC's "best. Is one of them better than the other? I'm not sure that's an meaningful question--they are each their respective painter's artistic expression. They're unique.
This album contains a stylistically eclectic mix of covers and originals that represent aspects of an artist who has continued to evolve for over 40 years. It's probably not meaningful to try to compare this work with his other work to determine what's "best. " This is a very good album in terms of musical content (and a FLAWLESS one technically, IMHO). Like another reviewer, I was cool to these songs on first hearing, but have warmed up to them with repeated listening-- (except for "Revolution," which I just don't care for--at least not yet).
EC reveals in the interview on the DVD side that this album was recorded pretty much simultaneously with the Robert Johnson cover album. He said that, during the two years they were making "Back Home," if he and his musical cohorts got "stuck" while working on a particular song, they would do a Robert Johnson song. I have to wonder if that switch wasn't helpful for more reasons than the stylistic change it represented. "Back Home" appears to be a real studio album--recorded piecemeal, with each participant laying down tracks, mostly in isolation. It is well known that this is not EC's preferred method of production, favoring as he does the practice of recording as if he were doing a live performance---everybody together in one studio, playing the song all the way through, repeating until the best take emerges--in other words, the way the Robert Johnson album apparently was recorded (see the "Sessions for Robert J" DVD). Maybe the switch from "studio" mode to "live" mode was what blew out the cobwebs and allowed them to go back to work on "Back Home. " Probably it was both the circumstances and the content (the Robert J. stuff sounds like it nearly played itself).
However it was "birthed," this is a very workmanlike CD--the work of a journeyman professional. Time will tell if any of the new songs join "Layla," "Sunshine. . . ," "Tears in Heaven," etc. in the pantheon of EC greats. Whether they do or not, this CD is worth buying and playing, and I recommend the dual CD/DVD version for the content and the enhanced reproduction quality the DVD side makes possible (you can still play the CD side in the car). The guitar picks that come with the limited edition are. . . cool---I'm just trying to keep them away from my 18 year old (also an EC fan).
I gave this one four stars, but seldom give five to anything, unless on first hearing it's a full-blown theophany. Yeah, yeah, I know, "Clapton is God. . . . " but you know what I mean.
My one (minor) complaint is that, while the guest artists are identified on the album cover, the songs they play on are not. You can assume (and hear) that Vince Gill is on the song he co-wrote, and you can hear John Mayer elsewhere, but it would have been nice to credit these folks better.
Anyway, buy it. It's good.

You can see a complete list of all Eric Clapton discography, or go back to the Eric Clapton tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.