Review Summary: This is the rare record that serves both as a fantastic psychedelic trip, and at the same time, as a hard rock tour de force.
What a fantastic record, this one! Cream, after the enjoyable debut album adopt a fuller psychedelic vibe this time, and the results are fantastic. This is the album where the famous, classic
Sunshine Of Your Love comes from. But it is not the only gem on this record; this album is filled with fantastic riffs and melodies and, above all, an unmatched atmosphere that melds blues rawness with true spaced-out, psychedelic ambience.
What’s also crucial to the album’s quality is the playing of the members. Clapton is at his finest here; notice the, at times subtle and restrained and at times majestic and terrifying wah-wah outbursts in
Tales Of Brave Ulysses, the fuzzy, fat tone in
Swlabr, the whiplash-like chords in
Strange Brew or the cleaner arpeggios in
Dance The Night Away. In just 11 songs he demonstrates such a complete control over his guitar and all the possible sounds and colors he can produce from it, that in the end I’m left speechless. Wow. And don’t forget the classic riff in
Sunshine Of Your Love and his awesome soloing later in the song. He’s in top form, I tell you.
And Jack Bruce doesn’t disappoint either; being one of the finest bassists of his generation, he delivers accordingly. His bass lines complement the guitar provided by Clapton without becoming overbearing and most of all, they are
very memorable. Look at the descending line in
Tales, the crawling bass line in
Outside Woman Blues, or the more loud in the mix bass in
We’re Going Wrong. What I like most about Bruce’s playing though, is that he prefers to add texture in the tracks rather than just doing a few runs across the neck. In that respect, the whole album is a highlight; you can find little bits of genius in all of the tracks, but they are subtly put there.
As for Ginger Baker, well, he shines on all the tracks as well. But be sure to check
Tales (yes I’ve already mentioned the track 3 times! That means you should go ahead and listen to it if you haven’t already because it’s a damn highlight.) where he starts with cymbal fluctuations and alternates with hard-hitting but precise drumming on the outbursts of the track. But it’s not the only great moment by Mr.Baker. He provides amazing rhythmic patterns in
Dance The Night Away, as well as more ‘experimental’ drumming figures in
We’re Going Wrong.
But it is not only instrumental prowess the field in which
Disraeli Gears excels. The melodies here are extraordinary and provide a poppy contrast to the record’s bluesy side. Only a handful of tracks can be called somewhat derivative in this area, and they’re still catchy. I’m talking about
Outside Woman Blues and
Take It Back which, melodically, follow more or less a blues vocal pattern, but on the other hand, feature great playing from all and fantastic singing. The rest are magnificent. The voices of Clapton and Bruce meld perfectly on the harmonies ( see
Sunshine or
Dance The Night Away for instance) and in general, all the songs are filled with hooks that will leave no pop lover unsatisfied.
Atmosphere and production also play a big role in the album; the tracks balance between blues aggression and psychedelic chaos and abstractness with ease, not to mention the pop aesthetics of the record. Few bands of this era could have all these three ingredients rolled up in one album and
Cream was the best of the lot. Even classic psychedelic bands like
Jefferson Airplane couldn’t produce such a well-rounded record and that’s saying something. The album also never loses its direction or cohesion, thanks to the songs being similarly produced but rarely becoming monotonous as the longest track is only four minutes (
Sunshine Of Your Love).
Disraeli Gears is arguably the highest point of
Cream’s short career because it has every good side of the band; the virtuosity is here, but never overshadows the songs, the songwriting is marvelous, the atmosphere is drug-imitating and the album has a great pace, with no song overstaying its welcome. If you don’t owe this, you’re missing on a hugely entertaining and, at the same time important record. Shame on you!
