Rating:  -
i'm not sure why this album isn't more widely know and heralded as a great, original and unique (redundant i realize) album from the still relatively early days of rock. perhaps it is because clapton's guitar playing is subdued and chiming vs. aggressive and bluesy as was his other work prior to this album. the whole sound of the album is different than anythimg else you'll hear and has a haunting melodic feel throughout. cant find my way home is the track that, to me, stands above the rest, but only slightly. compared to the "supergroups" of today (Audioslave, Velvet Revolver, etc.) this album is truly new and different than the artists previous work and the collective musical talent truly shines through.
guy smiley signing off...
Rating:  -
Blind Faith was formed after the breakup of Cream in 1968, and they sold hundreds of thousands of concert tickets before they had recorded a single note of music. And poor Eric Clapton found himself on stage in Hyde Park in June of 1969, playing his first-ever concert with Blind Faith and hating every moment of it. The underrehearsed and unprepared combo played a lousy set and were cheered by 100,000 frenzied spectators, and in six or seven months the superstar expectations that Clapton had been trying to escape when he left Cream brought down Blind Faith as well.
They released this one album, six songs and less than fifty minutes of music, and people were falling all over themselves.
And "Blind Faith" is a good album, sure it is. But is sure as hell isn't the best thing Eric Clapton has even played on.
Blind Faith were never that together musically, and they suffered from musical elephantitis when they allowed Steve Winwood's "Had To Cry Today" and Peter "Ginger" Baker's "Do What You Like" to take up 24 minutes - more than half the album's playing time.
Mixing blues, jazz, rock n' roll, pop, gospel, folk, and a little bit of latin rhythms and English music hall, "Blind Faith" is sometimes grand and sometimes muddied. But it also boasts Eric Clapton's first great song (and only contribution), the soaring "Presence Of The Lord", an enjoyable rendition of Buddy Holly's "Well All Right", and the lovely ballad "Can't Find My Way Home". And Steve Winwood's "Sea Of Joy" is a genuine classic as well, thoughtful lyrics, a good, compact melody and a stylish arrangement.
Eric Clapton is not particularly prominent...this is Steve Winwood's album more than it is Clapton's, but Clapton does provide a couple of good blues riffs and some sizzling fills and solos.
And Ginger Baker can't be beat, of course. If only they had wrote a few more songs and practiced a bit more....
All in all...3 3/4 stars.
Yeah, I said it. I could give it five stars like everybody else because "woah, it's the Blind Faith album", but it's not a five star record. It's really good, absolutely it is, but it's not THAT good.
Rating: -
It really doesnt get any better than this...has to be one of the top 10 records ever made.
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Most people know that after Cream broke up, Eric Clapton diddled around a little in a few side groups before settling into his long solo career. Derek and the Dominos is the best known, and they probably should be, the "Layla" album is great, and it contains some of the last studio momens from Duane Allman. However, the Blind Faith album may be the best album ever by a band that only made one album. If you think Winwood and Clapton just bask in the spotlight, you are wrong. This is Ginger Baker's album--just a fantastic drummers album straight through. "Can't find my way home" is a classic, as is the sound that resonates through most of this beauty. Most have heard of Blind Faith and paid little attention simply because there was little fanfare regarding this effort (possibly because most were pissed at the breaking up of Cream and Traffic--ow!) Sure to please, this album has it all.
Rating: -
Good lord these are powerful jams. I think this is the one to turn up on a long fast drive. Had to Cry Today is just out of this world. These guys just knew how to improvise like nothing you've ever heard. Truly a supergroup. I think this is a good companion piece to live works of The Cream for obvious reasons. Presence of the Lord and Can't Find My Way Home lend a very medieval English sound to this album, like listening to the Knights of the Round Table had they discovered rock and roll. Ginger Baker's tune Do What You Like is the last one on the album and it is just a wild rhythmic masterpiece. There is definitely a style to these songs, but it's a loose unity. It feels like what it is: the hybrid of The Cream and Traffic. The songs are all quite different from each other, but with one thing in common, once they get back to improvising, which they do in practically every tune, they go wild and you get to listen to talented musical stylists at their best. It's like listening to jazz but amped up quite a few notches. I could have this wrong, but I think Clapton used some pugilistic little pignose amp on this thing without any reverb half the time and it's just perfect and punchy.
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