In the '60's, you could expect great things from anything Clapton released, and you'd usually get them. But his solo career was consistently inconsistent. On the high end of the specturm are discs like Unplugged and 461 Ocean Blvd. On the low, Back Home and Backless (any album with "back" in its title by Clapton is bound to suck). This occupies the space between the two - killer in places, filler in others. A bare minimum of blues (the only blues song is The Sky Is Crying, and naturally it's the best here). Instead, it's all either reggae, completely insincere soft-rock or slightly harder, but still completely insincere relatively hard rock. Of course, the soft rock's hard to listen to, but nothing's as bad as Wonderful Tonight (though Pretty Blue Eyes and High come close), and I like Better Make It Through Today. No, the best stuff here is the reggae (Swing Low, Sweet Chariot) and the rock (Little Rachel). If you're a Claptonophile, buy it if you wish, and I will insist you could do much worse. But don't expect Layla.
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