Review of Cream : Fresh Cream [Japan]
Japanese remastered reissue of 1966 album, packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve.

Users's Reviews - Cream : A solid debut album
Fresh Cream (1966.) Cream's first album.

In the mid-sixties, one of the first major classic rock supergroups was formed - a little band called Cream. The band took former Yardbird Eric Clapton, and equally-notable bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, and combined their music-making abilities. Although the band's days together were short lived, they made some excellent music together - and this album is where it all began. Read on for my review of the band's debut album, Fresh Cream.

As I previously stated, this is Cream's first album. On this album, the band hasn't quite found its sound yet - but they still manage to shell out a number of good tracks. Eric Clapton, although he is obviously the most popular member of the band, didn't contribute a single track to the lineup, oddly enough. Despite this, his guitar playing is excellent here. Baker and Bruce, who do contribute a few tracks, also play very well. In addition to the band's own tracks, there are also a few cover songs, the most popular one of which is I'm So Glad. But perhaps the most memorable track on the album is Toad, the closing track. This is an instrumental which consists almost entirely of a drum solo. It's one of the first major drum solos in rock history, and it's an excellent one. Ginger Baker deserves some major credit for this one. Overall, this album lacks the polish of, say, Disraeli Gears, but it's still excellent. So what if there's no hit single here? Every song is great.

Now, a brief note about the album itself. The original UK pressings of the album omitted I Feel Free but contained Spoonful, while on the US pressings of the album it was vice versa. This CD reissue of the album has BOTH of these tracks, so you won't have to buy two separate CDs for the sake of a single track. In my opinion, this was a VERY smart move by the record company.

Cream's music is nothing short of excellent, and it really shows here. Although this isn't their finest work, it is still a great debut album, and every band's gotta start some place! If you're a fan of classic rock, by all means pick this album up. You'll be doing yourself a real favor.

Your latest reviews - Cream : Cream shifts gears slightly with their epic second album
Have you ever noticed that for a lot of music groups their first album is their best? I always think of Bad Company, and how great their first album was and then they went into a continuing decline. You can probably substitute a group or recording artist of your own choice and make the same point. I think the explanation for why that is often the case is when most groups sign a recording contract they have two or three albums worth of material that they perform at their gigs. They pull the best songs for the first album and then they are left with the leftovers. When the debut album of the Doors was a success Elektra rushed out "Strange Days" as their second album and while there were some great tracks, most of what is on that album was pretty forgettable. Clearly, the Doors went on to enjoy success whereas Bad Company did not.

I mention all this because it strikes me that "Disraeli Gears" is arguably one of the best second albums of all time. "Fresh Cream," the first album that Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker put out as Cream was pretty good. It had "I Feel Free," "I'm So Glad," and Clapton showing his guitar mastery on Willie Dixon's "Spoonful." Building on such success most groups trying to provide more of the same, but the premier power trio of the Sixties decided to alter course slightly and influence the artistic blues over any commercial pop sensibilities. My memory is that "Sunshine of Your Love" was the song that announced Cream with authority to the masses, at least as far as I was concerned. When I put in my quarter for five songs in the jukebox at that point in the history of the universe that song would usually be one of the five. The song made it to #5 in 1968 and part of me says that was because a lot of people were just skipping the 45 and going straight for this album, which made it to #4.

You can reduce a Cream song to its three elements: Clapton's blues guitar riffs, Bruce's heavy bass lines, and Baker's eclectic works on the drums. But the songs certainly do not sound all the same. "Strange Brew" and "Tales of Brave Ulysses" show how much range Cream had in setting up Clapton's guitar solos. "Swlabr" is the final member of the album's most recognizable quartet, with "Dance the Night Away" the track that you might not have heard before if all you listen to are hits collections that will stand out when you listen to the entire album. It shows that Cream was willing to venture into psychadelic music a little bit, but do not ask me to explain why the final track, the a cappella "Mother's Lament," is there, because my best guess is the lads wanted one track on the album their mums and dads would recognize (and tolerate).

If you work through the Cream albums in order, you can see how "Disraeli Gears" gets us from "Fresh Cream" to "Wheels of Fire." This 1967 album clearly told the world what is obvious now, that this trio was going to follow their individual and collective Muses wherever the path might lead. But what I find interesting is that while Clapton had a hand in writing three of the four best songs on the album that did not inspire him to greater creativity as a songwriter. At this point he was apparently content to simply play his guitar and there was nobody who was going to suggest he should do anything else. That is why with Clapton it only gets better and better.