Rating : 8/10

4 November 2005

Crossroad 2 is volume 2 of his Crossroads box sets. Crossroads 1 is much better. The thing about Crossroads 2 is the fact its almost entirely live. Due to the fact it is live you hear some wonderful guitar solos. Most of these solos come at a time when Clapton was not playing his classic solos on his CD's. Having seen Clapton several time live during this time period I find it an accurate account of his live concerts. The first part of the collection is from his 1974 Comeback tour, when 461 Ocean Blvd had just come out. Clapton during this period was not playing his best guitar. He had taken a 3 year absence and his guitar playing though rusty is still good. Later on the CD after he had been touring again for awhile the solos get better.

This CD is for people like me who collect everything. If you are a casual listener you might want to avoid this box set. If you are a collector like me its a must to have.

Rating : 9/10

7 July 2002

Although the live years 1970-74 and 1979 have been quite well documented officially, Clapton's middle period 1975-78 had received little attention until the release of this set. 'Crossroads 2' fills the gap admirably. While Eric's studio albums from the mid-70's suggest he had almost abandoned his guitar hero-stance for that of singer-songwriter, 'Crossroads 2' shows that in concert his blues genius remained intact. Eric's playing is uniformly superb across all four discs, but it is fascinating to hear him grow in strength as a singer and stage performer as the set unfolds. Similarly, his American backing band start off sounding lacklustre in the 1974 performances on disc 1, are drastically improved in the 1975 songs on disc 2, and by the 1977-78 performances on discs 3 and 4, are absolutely smoking! This in turn drives Eric to even more intense soloing - for example, the furious climaxes reached on the 'Going Down Slow' medley, and the penetrating extended workouts on 'Double Trouble' and 'Stormy Monday.'
My only quibbles with this set are that compiler Bill Levenson includes nearly all the material from the average (and already available) 1974-recorded 'EC Was Here,' and yet includes only three cuts from Eric's magnificent concert at the Hammersmith Odeon on April 27, 1977. This was clearly one of the great shows of his career. With more stringent editing of the material on disc 1, and full use of the CD running times on discs 2 and 4. More cuts from this concert could easily have been included. Also, the four studio cuts included - although interesting - detract from the in-concert flow of this set and should have been sacrificed in favour of more live cuts from the brilliant 1977-78 era. Overall though, 'Crossroads 2' is a fine and long-overdue summary of Clapton's 1970's live work.

Rating : 10/10

4 January 2001

This may sound a bit 'poncy' but I shed real tears when I heard the solo on the live track "I Shot The Sheriff". Eric amazes me how he can turn an average song into a master peice.

Rating : 8/10

19 November 2000

In 1996 Polygram decided to release a 4 CD box-set as a follow up to the "Crossroads" - box, released eight years earlier. While volume one was a collection of greatest hits, alternative takes and some live cuts from Clapton's full career up to that point, this sequel is based on live performances in the seventies. Of the 35 songs presented in this collection only four are recorded in the studio. All previously unreleased. Now, however can two of them be found on the record "Blues" released in 1999.

I won't go review song by song, I'll just let you know the highlights. Actually, the first song is one of them. It's an acoustic blues recorded during the "461 Ocean Boulevard" - sessions in 1974. It's called Walkin' Down The Road and features some great, sensitive vocals from Eric and great guitar work.

The main part of the first disc can be found on the album "EC Was Here", but here they're in another mix and remastred. On the "EC Was Here" - album Driftin' and Ramblin' On My Mind were incomplete and presented as two different songs. Well, of course they are, but here you'll get the complete versions and you'll find out that they were played as a medley!

Disc two is the most interesting in my opinion. Both I Shot The Sheriff and Badge are extended with solos and are well over ten minutes. This disc also has a great jam with Carlos Santana on Eyesight To The Blind / Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?. And if you thought the other two songs were long, take a look at the time of this beautiful jam: 24:19!

The third disc is the one I'm not listening to very often. It does have some great material such as The Core, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Tell The Truth and Cocaine (with harmonica!) but I often overlook this one and put on disc number four instead. The last disc has a great version of Double Trouble and Worried Life Blues. I'm shocked every time I hear those songs. They're so good! The disc also have 3/4 previously unreleased studio tracks: To Make Somebody Happy, Cryin' and Water On The Ground. The first two later released on "Blues". If you already own "EC Was Here" and "Blues - Collectors' Edition" this box might not be necessary, but you will miss some great live performances by the greatest guitarist in the world.

It also has some very good pictures of our hero live on stage or in hotel rooms.