Rating : 9/10

18 September 2005

Shut up all you electric guitarists around the world take an acoustic one and try to do something like this... without words and obviously don't forget to sing this songs while you're performing live excuse me I'll go to listen to it one more time today see you later.

Rating : 10/10

8 September 2005

It's now been about 13 years since the release of this amazing album, and it has not lost any of its thrill. As my own learning on guitar progresses, I've decided to take a crack at learning some of what he does. What I found is that he stands out as brilliant artist who is less about himself and more about his music, which he gives us with dignified and elegant simplicity. Of course, simple doesn't mean easy. After a couple of years, I'm still wrestling with the Old Love solo. Playing it just adds to the appreciation. Thanks to EC, I've fallen in love with slide guitar, and and found a fresh, new dimension of appreciation for Delta blues. This guy is amazing.

Rating : 10/10

20 August 2005

Sheer excellence .He highlights his best abilities as a guitarist and as a vocalist with his influential meaningful songs and with his great interpretations of classics which couldn't get any better.

Rating : 10/10

2 May 2004

Eric Clapton was destined to be a great acoustic guitarist. He had a rollercoaster ride before the album, addiction and alcohol addiction. He was great in The Yardbirds and Cream and Derek and The Dominos, but for me, Eric is best when he is just by himself. The acoustic version of "Layla" is great, its just as good as the original. In "Tears In Heaven" he pours his heart out after the tragic s of Stevie Ray Vaughn and others, and the of Conor, his son. Over the years I have seen him in concert, and am seeing him again at the Hallam FM Arena when he comes, and I was lucky enough to see him at Birkdale School where he did a private talk/concert for the parents of pupils who go to Birkdale. Rock on EC!

Rating : 10/10

5 November 2003

An album to know Eric Clapton and his guitar feeling, his hot and bluesy voice and his love for his work. "Walkin' Blues" and "Malted Milk" are not unforgettable versions but these classic Delta blues are signs of his respect and love for the masters of the blues. Last but not least, the acoustic versions of "Layla" and "Nobody knows you when you're down and out"  are wonderful.

Rating : 10/10

17 March 2003

Being a "boomer", I am old enough to remember Eric from the '60's. While I always admired his skill as a guitarist, I was never really a fan. I felt that Eric was just another of the many "guitar heroes" around at the time. Unplugged made me a fan, and I have been one ever since. "Layla" just blew me away, and Eric's guitar solo in "Old Love" followed by Chuck Leavelle's keyboard solo was great also. The other highlight for me was "Rollin' and Tublin'", which was an impromptu jam.  The blues songs covered were a nice preview of what we could expect from "From The Cradle". The only "negative" I have is that "My Father's Eyes", "Circus Left Town", and "Worried Life Blues", which were part of the original show, were left off the CD and video.  Also, Eric did 5 of the numbers twice, the second playing being the one on the album in a couple of instances.

Rating : 10/10

25 September 2002

Unplugged is Eric Clapton at his finest. It includes "Runnin on Faith possibly his finest song. The dobro gives the song a new identity. Eric plays the slide well. He rarely plays dobro in concert and it gave us a chance to see how versatile a guitarist he really is. The Classic "Tears In Heaven" is of course one of his classics. "Walkin Blues" again shows him on dobro doing, his down home Mississippi Delta blues. Again his dobro is flawless as he taps his foot to give the music a beat. Alberta the old Ledbelly song is another song I cant get enough of as is "San Francisco Bay blues. On San Francisco Bay blues the members of the band all play Kazoos. This shows a lighter side of Eric Clapton that we rarely see. this however is only on the video, which is a most for any EC fan. This is the first time I had ever seen EC finger pick a guitar. I thought he was strictly a flat pick lead guitarist. This is Eric at his best. It includes a version of "Layla" that is jazzier than the original. I must admit that I was glad that he eventually went back to the electric version at his concerts. My only regret is that I find myself wanting more. His version of the old Cream song "Rollin and Tumblin" is the finale and really rocks as he uses his slide with his open "G" tuning. When does Vol.2 come out?

Rating : 10/10

9 March 2002

This album rocks!!!!! Plain and simple, this album transcends artistic talent on Eric's part. You can tell that he put his heart and soul into every note of every song. From the first note of Signe to the last of Rollin And Tumblin....it will captivate and surprise. The man is a musical genius and he proved it with this album...and to think he almost didn't release it because he didn't think it was good enough...that would have been a tragedy.  But lucky for us, this album WAS released. The ultimate tribute to his son and a musical treat for all of his fans. Thank you Eric for a great album!!!! Keep Rockin' dude...your the man!!!!!

Rating : 10/10

12 February 2002

This CD is one of the best Unplugged ever, together with Bob Dylan's. Excellent version of Layla and Tears in Heaven. Every song in this album is excellent, from Signe to Rollin' & Tumblin'. One of my favorite album. I totally recommend everyone to listen to it.

Rating : 9/10

20 September 2001

While the MTV-Unplugged trend can be nauseating in its overkill (anyone for Kiss or Rod Stewart unplugged..?), this CD is testament to the strengths of the form. Eric revisits his original songs with dignity and grace, and balances proceedings with a couple of lively standards and fine Robert Johnson covers. To my ears, Running on Faith, Walking Blues and Old Love particularly shine in the acoustic setting.

Rating : 10/10

28 June 2001

This is one of Eric's best album yet. He pushed his talents to new heights on this album. Clapton made a wonderful tribute to his son Conor, the song Tears in Heaven. EC's unplugged version of Layla and Old Love is simply mind blowing with outstanding guitar solos. He mixes all materials on this album making it one of a kind. Long live Clapton!!

Rating : 10/10

21 April 2001

This album kicks ass! I never got bored with the songs and I feel EC sounds better on acoustic than he does on electric!

Rating : 10/10

19 November 2000

This is by far the most amazing album I have ever heard!!  It has perfect balance with it's slow sad songs like "Tears In Heaven," to its rather fast beat shuffle entitled "Layla," which sounds just as good as the original. I personally believe that this is by far Clapton's best album and the best album you can get. Need I mention that it is a 6-time Grammy award winner, it just doesn't get any better than that, on a scale from one to ten, I give it about an eleven.

Rating : 9/10

17 November 2000

We all know the tragic story behind this album. The loss of Conor, Eric's only son. As it turned out, this was Eric's best selling album since the Cream days. To this day it has sold more than 7 million copies in US only. Mostly because of the monster hit Tears In Heaven.

Clapton wrote the main part of the song and the bridge (Time can bring you down...) was written by Will Jennings. This song is the one that most people think of when they hear about Clapton. This album has a great version of it and is more soulful than the studio recording (that was released on the soundtrack for the movie Rush. It can also be found on the greatest hits collection Chronicles).

Perhaps it's been played too much on the radio but it's still a good song. The other hit from this record was the new acoustic version of Layla. Not as Hugh as Tears in Heaven, though. Often people either hates this new version and prefer the original, electric version on the Derek & The Dominos album, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs, or the completely love it and dislike the original 1970 recording. I like the both versions. While the electric version is a great rocker with a real powerful riff, the acoustic version is slowed down and very low. One thing that the new version has that the electric version lacks is a great, semi-fantastic solo.

But this album has much more to offer than these two hit-singles. It opens with Signe, an up-beat instrumental samba-like song that's very nice. After follows a great version of the Bo Diddley song Before You Accuse Me with only Eric and Andy Fairweather-Low on guitars. I don't know what the rest of the band were doing... It's a quite standard 12 bar blues thing, but since I'm a great fan 12 bar blues I think it's great! Hey, Hey is the next song and this is also a standard blues song written by Big Bill Broonzy (that also wrote another of Eric's favorite songs: Key To The Highway) with a funny intro and main riff. Then, the monster hit, Tears In Heaven.

Next follows an Clapton original, Lonely Stranger. I really love this song and it features some of the best singing from Eric ever! To me the lyrics are very good too: "Some might say that I'm no good, baby, I agree". That's the blues in one sentence. Love it! Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out is the second song on this album that was recorded by the Dominos. This song is also rearranged, this time faster than the "Layla And Other..."-version. Layla is followed by the Jerry Lynn Williams written song, Running On Faith. This version is much better than the studio version on Journeyman and has some great dobro-playing by Eric. Next: Walking Blues, Robert Johnson written blues standard with marvelous slide-guitar playing from EC! Oh, is that great or what?! Alberta is next and it's very good (but I do like the version on the collection "Blues" better, recorded during the "Slowhand" sessions if I recall it right...) tasteful piano delivered by Chuck Leavell. San Francisco Bay Blues is another fun number with the audience clapping hands and the band on kazoos! Some more Robert Johnson with the song Malted Milk. Next song is one of the really highlights on the album: Old Love. This track was featured on Journeyman and once again this song easily beats out the original studio-recording! That solo is so great! I can't find words to describe it... Just simply on of the best solos Eric has ever given us. After this great ballad the fantastic slide-guitar of Clapton slowly fades in with the song Rollin' & Tumblin'.

The reason for fading in is that this song was never attended to be on the album, not even rehearsed! If you ever wondered why Clapton says "Did you get that?", he asked if they got it on tape, if it was recorded. I think that he was really proud of that version, and he should be!

Eric was not sure if it was the right thing to release this album, he thought that he didn't reach his normal standard. He was finally convinced by people that it was great and worth releasing. Thank God for that! It earned Clapton six Grammy-awards and is one of the greatest artistically comebacks ever!

Rating : 10/10

7 October 2000

This is the album that brought Clapton to the public. Before this one he was a 60's Guitar God, but not the respect that he deserved. It also opened up a new form of music on MTV, the Unplugged Series. Clapton did some of his best new work here. I especially liked Tears In Heaven, and Before You Accuse Me. A fantastic album all around.

Rating : 10/10

27 September 2000

I guess that in this album, Clapton shows his true feelings to people by his music's power! It's almost the same case as in Layla and other assorted love songs!. It probably is one of the masterpieces of whole music environment.

Rating : 10/10

17 September 2000

What can I say about such as great album. Winner of so many Grammy's! This album is one of those that will never date. I admit I am listening to it now while creating this page.

You never grow tired of hearing this album. It is the mother of all albums!