and finally bought the album Wheels of Fire. Now, Cream were a blues band (not a rock band) inspired by classical pieces of music and Pete Brown-style poetry, yet everything they did ROCKED and they never quite made it as songwriters. Check out the Inside Cream DVD release if you haven't already. Anyway, this is still a great record, despite the confusion about it. The live album is the best. "Crossroads" is the best blues jam I have ever heard anywhere by anybody ever. The bass and guitar are so fast and raucous that you are inclined to believe they will fly to pieces, but of coarse, they never do. This song demonstrates the intensity and excitement that people got out of seeing great rock/blues being performed live, and showed why it was necessary. I can't imagine "Crossroads" in the studio. "Spoonful" is brilliant too, however, so turn it up load. Those seventeen minutes fly by. Who the heck says it is boring? Music is awesome and exciting, and these guys could play. The Band are actually my cup of tea, and I don't think Clapton quite held a candle to Hendrix, but if you want a record by Cream to give any one of those two competition, this would be the one. "White Room" is a classic, but the rest of the studio side is imaginative and fresh. So pick this up even if you don't like long blues improvisation. Cream just may turn you on to what Dylan and Robbie were rebelling against, without ever endangering your desire to go back to their ingenious music. Oh, and Clapton and Baker are two of the best musicians I have ever heard.