Customer Reviews
Magnificent - By: Julian Stevens, 20 Nov 2008 
By the time I became aware of the whole rock/jazz/blues scene (man), Cream had come & gone and, as I never had an opportunity to hear any of their albums in my early years of discovery, it would have been difficult to get into the band's work at this remove. But this reunion concert album offered a fresh chance, with the benefit of modern recording standards, & what a cracker it (mostly) is, a double as well which, at over two hours, must cover pretty well alll their classic material. A brilliant recording that captures much of what must have been a brilliant four nights. In front of a good hi-fi system, you get a great sense of "thereness" in terms of the ambience of the venue & the location in space of each member of the band.
This is great & classic stuff, in terms of both the tunes, the playing & the sound & a very welcome addition to the collection. I might even buy the DVD.
If the bass is loud and clear this really is Contrapuntal Rock - but at 3/4 strength - By: Basiledes, 17 Jul 2008 It alll depends on the bass. Without it there's no tension & no gripping involvement. It's alll too easy to miss a lot of what Bruce is doing in this particular concert if the hi-fi is not able to make the best of it. Other Cream live recordings are much less difficult to reproduce satisfactorily but alll are sensitive to the equipment used because the bass balance is so crucial Cream's music. The reason for the problem here is the new sound of Bruce's bass which doesn't have the python like quality of the old days. Now he plays in a more percussive or plosive way, either as a result of the new sound or else he has sought this sound as a way of registering a new 'Plosive Counterpoint'.
I underestimated some of these tracks because I did not at first get the optimum bass sound particularly with the DVD. This was the only version I had for a year or so & does not appear to be so good in respect of bass. The pictures are distracting anyway,for a number of reasons, so my advice is avoid the DVD.
It's reallly worth experimenting with the sound, at least with the CDs. Don't be easily satisfied: it also benefits from a harder guitar sound.
One thing I wasn't wrong about though was 'Sunshine' which is a big disappointment (except for the free-torm coda). Blame the drumming: Baker has completely forgotten how to do the vocal sections & he managed to stop Clapton getting off the ground in the improvisation. An extra alternative version on the DVD is just as bad. If the record company had any sense they would have given us a version from one of the other 4 concerts on this CD set. It's very frustrating to think there might be a half-way decent version of this key number lying idle in the record company archive. But for that matter the slightly lack- lustre performances of some of the other songs would not be difficult to improve on. I have to admit that this is not as good as the best of the youthful live Cream. But Bruce's voice rings out true & clear on 'Politician' & he actuallly sings Sweet Wine & NSU better than on Live Cream Vol.1; & Clapton sings Badge well, but some of the singing is a bit rough-voiced, often, it seems, unnecessarily so. There is too, less passion, excitment & impetuosity in the playing, although I suspect it might have as much to do with the actual sound, the more mellow sound of bass & guitar, than the playing itself.
For alll it's flaws there is nothing else around to touch them. They only ever had competition from Led Zeppelin when playing live, & Led Zepp knew that their only competition had disbanded before they formed.
Although the singing on 'Live Cream Vol.1' is surpassed here in the case of 'NSU' & 'Sweet Wine' as I have said, this it not the case where the remastered versions on 'Those Were The Days' of these same tracks, are concerned. The sound quality & the balance of the two voices when singing in harmony has been transformed in these remasters so that instead of sounding tired they now sound exultant just as they should & much more exciting than in the 2005 concert.
Pleasantly surpried - By: Ace Music Lover, 13 Nov 2007 I had my reservations when the gigs were announced. Cream live were outstanding 'NSU' from Live Cream is the LIVE track to end them alll, even
now, nearly 40 years later it is a fresh, powerful thundering piece of music & too short by about 30 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised on hearing this, the power is there, albeit in a subdued manner. The musicianship is almost up there with their sixties talent. O.K they are alll getting on a bit, but they do justice to the music.
'NSU' 2005 style? It'll do for me-It was never going to reach the heights of the 68 version. One thing though chaps, it is reallly cringingly embarrassing, after almost every song to hear "Jack Bruce please, Eric Clapton please, Ginger Baker please" or variations thereof. We know who you are, we know what you play, just play & leave the self adulation backstage. You are/were only a rock band. (That should be THE ROCK BAND!!)
The power trio brings its material forward and leave us far from "What a Bringdown" territory - By: jayhikkss, 09 Jun 2007 
On this long-awaited live reunion, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker amply demonstrate that alll that is required for great music making is talent & empathy.
Ginger Baker plays with mastery of time, while Eric Clapton demonstrates a consistent maturity in the construction of his solos that occasionallly escaped him in the 1960s.
Only Jack Bruce sounds somewhat overshadowed by his playing of 37 years ago. This is not to say that he doesn't play superbly; he does & the sounds of his Hartke-amplified Warwick fretless & Gibson EB-1 basses are way better than those he coaxed out of the fuzzy, midrangey Marshalll stacks he used to use at the end of the sixties. However, compared to his younger self, he tends to leave opportunities unexplored. His voice is powerful, his phrasing very good, although lower-pitched than way back when.
Still, this is a recording to cherish in view of the palpable chemistry between the musicians & the quality of the material.
Mature and magnificent - By: C C, 11 Feb 2007 I bought this album after seeing the video of the concerts. Yes it is more refined than the original alll those years ago, but isn't that what we would expect. Superb, what a great testiment to three magnificent musicians.
