WHEELS OF FIRE was the third album by rock supergroup Cream. Over their brief existence, the trio of Eric Clapton (guitar), Jack Bruce (bass) and Ginger Baker (drums) had dazzled both the record-buying audience and live audiences, and this 1968 release tries to present both facets of their art by containing both nine new songs put down in the studio and four live performances from San Francisco's Fillmore and Winterland venues.

I cherish Cream's second album&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Disraeli-Gears/dp/B0000067L2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Disraeli Gears</a>&nbsp;as one of the greatest rock albums of all time and a landmark of the psychedelic era, but the studio portion of this follow-up doesn't impress me all that much. Eschewing the psychedelic production of DISRAELI GEARS, the music here tends to be straight-up blues rock. Indeed, two tracks, "Sitting on Top of the World" and "Born Under a Bad Sign" are tracks by traditional bluesmen that Clapton decided to take up. Three other tracks are oddball songs that are essentially the band goofing off, though at times the instrumental performances within aren't entirely uninteresting. The production is also not very kind to Ginger Baker: the finest moments of this first rock drumming virtuoso are very low in the mix, making them hard to appreciate. The opening and closing songs of the studio portion, "White Room" and "Deserted Cities of the Heart", are the only ones that call me back again and again.

The live portion does a better job of showing the immense skill of these three musicians, given as they are to long jams (two of the tracks are over 16 minutes long). Though a blues classic written by Robert Johnson in 1936, "Crossroads" is utterly transformed here, ditto for Willie Dixon's "Spoonful". "Toad" has contributions from all three band members, but is best remembered for Ginger Baker's long drum solo.

Taking both sides together based on my own experience, I cannot give WHEELS OF FIRE more than an average rating. However, if you are a fan of blues rock, you are likely to get a lot more out of it than I did.
WHEELS OF FIRE was the third album by rock supergroup Cream. Over their brief existence, the trio of Eric Clapton (guitar), Jack Bruce (bass) and Ginger Baker (drums) had dazzled both the record-buying audience and live audiences, and this 1968 release tries to present both facets of their art by containing both nine new songs put down in the studio and four live performances from San Francisco's Fillmore and Winterland venues. I cherish Cream's second album&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Disraeli-Gears/dp/B0000067L2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt? ie=UTF8">Disraeli Gears</a>&nbsp;as one of the greatest rock albums of all time and a landmark of the psychedelic era, but the studio portion of this follow-up doesn't impress me all that much. Eschewing the psychedelic production of DISRAELI GEARS, the music here tends to be straight-up blues rock. Indeed, two tracks, "Sitting on Top of the World" and "Born Under a Bad Sign" are tracks by traditional bluesmen that Clapton decided to take up. Three other tracks are oddball songs that are essentially the band goofing off, though at times the instrumental performances within aren't entirely uninteresting. The production is also not very kind to Ginger Baker: the finest moments of this first rock drumming virtuoso are very low in the mix, making them hard to appreciate. The opening and closing songs of the studio portion, "White Room" and "Deserted Cities of the Heart", are the only ones that call me back again and again. The live portion does a better job of showing the immense skill of these three musicians, given as they are to long jams (two of the tracks are over 16 minutes long). Though a blues classic written by Robert Johnson in 1936, "Crossroads" is utterly transformed here, ditto for Willie Dixon's "Spoonful". "Toad" has contributions from all three band members, but is best remembered for Ginger Baker's long drum solo. Taking both sides together based on my own experience, I cannot give WHEELS OF FIRE more than an average rating. However, if you are a fan of blues rock, you are likely to get a lot more out of it than I did.