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Cream - Fresh Cream (1966) (Audio Fidelity Remaster)
US only 24 kt gold-disc pressing.
Fresh Cream represents so many different firsts, it's difficult to keep count. Cream, of course, was the first supergroup, but their first album not only gave birth to the power trio, it also was instrumental in the birth of heavy metal and the birth of jam rock. That's a lot of weight for one record and, like a lot of pioneering records, Fresh Cream doesn't seem quite as mighty as what would come later, both from the group and its acolytes. In retrospect, the moments on the LP that are a bit unformed -- in particular, the halting waltz of "Dreaming" never achieves the sweet ethereal atmosphere it aspires to -- stand out more than the innovations, which have been so thoroughly assimilated into the vocabulary of rock & roll, but Fresh Cream was a remarkable shift forward in rock upon its 1966 release and it remains quite potent. Certainly at this early stage the trio was still grounded heavily in blues, only fitting given guitarist Eric Clapton's stint in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, which is where he first played with bassist Jack Bruce, but Cream never had the purist bent of Mayall, and not just because they dabbled heavily in psychedelia. The rhythm section of Bruce and Ginger Baker had a distinct jazzy bent to their beat; this isn't hard and pure, it's spongy and elastic, giving the musicians plenty of room to roam. This fluidity is most apparent on the blues covers that take up nearly half the record, especially on "Spoonful," where the swirling instrumental interplay, echo, fuzz tones, and overwhelming volume constitute true psychedelic music, and also points strongly toward the guitar worship of heavy metal. Almost all the second side of Fresh Cream is devoted to this, closing with Baker's showcase "Toad," but for as hard and restless as this half of the album is, there is some lightness on the first portion of the record where Bruce reveals himself as an inventive psychedelic pop songwriter with the tense, colorful "N.S.U." and the hook- and harmony-laden "I Feel Free." Cream shows as much force and mastery on these tighter, poppier tunes as they do on the free-flowing jams, yet they show a clear bias toward the long-form blues numbers, which makes sense: they formed to be able to pursue this freedom, which they do so without restraint. If at times that does make the album indulgent or lopsided, this is nevertheless where Cream was feeling their way forward, creating their heavy psychedelic jazz-blues and, in the process, opening the door to all kinds of serious rock music that may have happened without Fresh Cream, but it just would not have happened in the same fashion as it did with this record as precedent...S. Erlewine
All of the raw material that would make Cream one of the finest bands of their era is present here on this, their debut release. Fresh Cream contains the band’s signature mixture of psychedelic pop songs and blues-rock improvisations. The best of one extreme is the opener “I Feel Free” (absent on the original British release of the record). It is a ’60s pop gem, with a catchy opening and a haunting verse. This excellent track was made present on the American release of Fresh Cream in January of 1967 at the expense of the omission of “Spoonful”. An excellent example of Eric Clapton’s blues mastery, this reading of the Willie Dixon classic is ultimately the high point of the record. Not to downplay the contributions of Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, but it is Clapton’s incendiary playing that really makes this blues come alive. This is where his (and, by extension, Cream’s) muse really lies: in the extended, high-energy, improvised explorations of traditional blues tunes. However, Clapton seems a bit lost on some of the more pop-oriented fare; his rhythm guitar playing especially is often atrocious. Jack Bruce not only handles most of the vocal chores with panache, but also plays very innovative bass, using it both more aggressively and more melodically than most players of his generation were accustomed to doing. Also not to be missed is Bruce’s harmonica playing, showcased on the bass-less “Rollin’ and Tumblin’”. Ginger Baker’s heavy drumming is notable throughout. His distinct, idiosyncratic style is best demonstrated by the drum solo on his own “Toad”, wherein he gives his drums such a primal pounding that the listener is not sure whether to laugh at his caveman-like intensity or to sit back in awe at the unrelenting assault. Either way, it is extremely entertaining, and is one of the best moments of the record. All in all, Fresh Cream is a fine first album, but Baker, Bruce, and Clapton would all go on to bigger and better things, both together with Cream and separately with other projects...D. Jellinc
Codec: mp3
Bitrate: 320 kB/s
Size: 108 MB
Genre : Rock
2000mustangs
Tracklist:
01. I Feel Free 2:52
02. N.S.U. 2:44
03. Sleepy Time Time 4:20
04. Dreaming 2:00
05. Sweet Wine 3:18
06. Cat’s Squirrel 3:05
07. Four Until Late 2:07
08. Rollin’ and Tumblin’ (4:43
09. I’m So Glad 3:58
10. Toad 5:09
11. Spoonful (Bonus) 6:37
12. Wrapping Paper (Bonus) 2:22
13. The Coffee Song (Bonus) 2:44
Post je objavljen 14.12.2009. u 17:24 sati.