Which Clapton CDs?


The Eric Clapton store is having a sale.

http://store.ericclapton.com/music.html?cat=11914

Which of these CDs are of particularly good quality, both performance and recording?
kythyn
kythyn-

a catalog of this magnitude all begins with his 1st solo LP/CD;
Eric Clapton s/t
I have Unplugged and Road to Escondido on CD for certain.  Also a Cream boxed set.

There is now a re-released version of "Eric Clapton" in the deluxe edition, containing the original mix and a second disc with a different mix.  Any thoughts on whether the re-release is worth acquiring or just go with the original release?


I have the Deluxe issue of EC. Some of the alternate takes are interesting but still not as good as the original versions.Just my humble opinion.
ct0517,

I had no idea such a thing existed!  Do you feel that anything in the green range is reasonable quality recording or is there a number to stay above?

tpreaves,

Thanks for the feedback. Based on the DR ratings from the link above, would the Deluxe version make more sense regarding audio quality?  The Maggies are good at revealing flaws as well as strengths as I recall.

Dan
From the Clapton Store:

  • Journeyman
  • 24 Nights

From Amazon:

  • The Cream of Eric Clapton
  • Layla
probably not from the store, but:
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, featuring E.C.
Unplugged
Tracks:  Here in the Dark from Taj Mahal's Phantom Blues
While My Guitar Gently Weeps--The Beatles ("White" album)
Cold Turkey--Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
there are also some good Yardbirds tracks--I think "Aint Got You" is Clapton and it is fine

Do you feel that anything in the green range is reasonable quality recording or is there a number to stay above?


Hi Dan

the database can prove very interesting sometimes. For example there was a thread here on the new Adele album. Have a look at the Adele album ratings and then compare them to Claptons.

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=adele&album=

The differences are like night and day which in this case means red and green.

imo - Dynamic Range is one aspect of music, and can be a really important one depending on the genre of music. Now I consider myself a Music Lover first and part time Audiophile. Meaning...
If I like the music and the artist, that comes first, even if the
music engineer did a not so great job on their work for my situation (listening on a home stereo mainly) So I don't really worry about the numbers. I will still buy and listen to the albums of Artists I like.

This is true of popular (pop) music and classic rock, folk, to name a few genres. where for me sometimes the music message (the words) are just as important as the melodies and stirs my emotions. Now with music that has no words like Classical and most Jazz, the music/sound quality becomes more important to me.    

The bigger problem I think for the home stereo setup, is that much of todays popular music has been engineered for air play in people cars, or their phones with ear plugs. There is a lot of noise going around them, and people are not standing still, they are active physically and mentally; so compression is high to hear everything, The music engineer/s did not make a mistake -they did exactly what they wanted to do. 

The new Adele album is an example of this to me. Sounds ok through my laptop and headphones. Not so through my home stereo. Also when I am running on the treadmill and Adele comes on, I will listen to it through the small stereo there. It sounds ok.
Just some thoughts. 

Cheers 
I forgot about "From the Cradle"--his 90's all-blues album.  It's got some especially fine guitar playing on it.  The singing is good, but I think it would have been better with Kim Wilson, Taj Mahal and/or other vocalists.  Still a strong product and well worth your time and money.