A Brilliant Conflict

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

These are videos of the hits of both Eric Clapton and some of the early bands he was in such as "The Yardbirds" and "Cream." It guess you could call this an "anthology" as it shows the famous guitarist-singer from the early '60s through the '80s when this tape was made. Whatever the era, it's simply good rock 'n roll music.Most tunes, even the very early stuff in which I didn't recognize the ultra-young, thin and beardless Clapton, are still good to hear and his guitar work has always been a pleasure. With each video, Clapton's appearance really changes.When the video switches to color and to stereo, it really picks up steam. "Layla," "Cocaine," "Forever Man," and a "Tearing Us Apart" were the highlights for me. The latter was a duet with Tina Turner. "Layla" is uniquely done in that they mix several concert tapings into the song, but keep it cohesive.The last two songs aren't much so I end it with that duet with Turner. It makes the video end on a high note.

17 tracks here: Louise (Yardbirds), Crossroads (Cream), I Feel Free, (Cream), Sunshine of Your Love (Cream), Strange Brew (Cream), White Room (Cream), Badge (Cream or Blind Faith, I forget), Worried Life Blues, Layla (Derek and the Dominos but performed solo), Knockin' on Heaven's Door, Cocaine, I Shot the Sheriff, Wonderful Tonight, Forever Man, Tearing Us Apart, Behind the Mask, Holy Mother.What you think of it depends on your opinion of the Four Eras of Clapton (pre-Cream blues, Cream psychedelica, Derek and the Dominoes, and solo) - the balance is tipped more towards his solo work which I'm not too keen on. I found the last three tracks in particular to be diabolical.However this video can be bought *very* cheap - £6 - so it's probably worth the price for ace footage of the Yardbirds (a mile away from For Your Love, thankfully) and Cream both live and in the studio (or the old grey whistle test, or something). Layla is disappointing as it's cobbled together from bits here and there, including one section with (yikes!) Phil Collins on drums. If you are reading this and are an archivist, make it your duty to go out *now* and search for Derek and the Dominos live footage!