seminal and timeless! a must for all guitar lovers, 26 Dec 2008
This is a fantastic album. Clapton's playing from one so young (he was 21) and Mayall's singing and keyboards, and arrangements, are just spine-chilling. Best moments for me - Clapton's solo on "Have You heard" and the whole band/arrangement/composition "Double Crossing Time". Oh, and by the way, you get to hear Clapton's first lead vocal on record - "Ramblin on my Mind". Great band, great performances and SO well recorded - hats off to Mike Vernion and decca!
I first heard it in 1972 on a dansette "gramophone" and it an album I keep coming back to again and again. A "must have" album for any lover or student of electric guitar and blues.

Beyond brilliance, 05 Dec 2008
I first listened to this album when it was released during the 1960's
I was 17 years old and could not believe what I was hearing!
A truly ground breaking album that influenced most aspiring guitar players of that era.
The Bluesbreaker album features the young Eric Clapton at his best, in my opinion he has never surpassed the sublime guitar breaks on this album, he was truly inspired when this was recorded, with the great John Mayall's haunting vocals and keyboard skills, John Mcvie's bass work and Hughie Flint on drums, it is a brilliant piece of work.
If I was only allowed to own one CD, this would be it!



can you imagine..., 02 Mar 2007
I was going to mention Clapton's christening of the Les Paul, Marshall setup, but others have beaten me to it. I liken it's impact to what happened to harp playing when Little Walter and other's deciding to blow through the PA or an early guitar amp. They REDEFINED the sound of the instrument.

So all I'll add is the rhetorical question...can you imagine being a teenage Brit, having been reared on the sounds of the Beatles, Jerry and the Pacemakers, or even the Dave Clark Five, wandering into a London club because someone had recommended the Bluesbreakers, and hearing THIS STUFF? Probably as epiphanic as being a white guy in mid 50's Chicago and having the nerve to wander into the Dew Drop Inn and hearing Muddy, Wolf, or later, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. Simply put, a life changing experience.

The most important guitar album of all time!, 08 Feb 2007
The best guitar player of the time on top of his game. Classic tracks. The perfect combination of guitar and amp. Incredible solos... Listening to this album it is easy to see why rock took the directions it did. This is the blueprint for pretty much every rock/blues album that followed, and in my opinion the closest Clapton ever got to this ever again is on Layla... This is Essential.

The album that changed my life., 28 May 2006
On a week's holiday with my parent's in Littlehampton in Sussex during the summer of '66, as ever, I found a record shop. Without much money as I was still at school, (just), I had the choice, in my mind anyway, between two albums; The Mother's Of Invention's 'Freakout,' and 'Bluesbreakers.' Maybe there had been a lot of publicity at the time about 'Freakout,' I can't remember, but for some reason I was torn between which one to buy. Probably the fact that I was a Yardbirds fan and had listened to 'Five Live' a great deal made up my mind, and I plumped for 'Bluesbreakers.' It was to be the wisest move and the best purchase I ever made. As a then, and still now, 'would-be' guitarist, this album, for its time in rock history, had everything you wanted and more, and has pretty much stayed that way over the ensuing years. To play with this degree of skill and feeling at Clapton's age of 21 at the time, was and is incredible. At 15, he was almost an old man to me being 6 years older, yet even so, the bluesmen I had heard were in their 30's and over, (really old men!), and even now this album begs the question "Why was Clapton so great at such a young age?" We will never know, and if put to the question, probably neither would he? It was just something he was drawn to and did, and has had the good fortune to do so for the rest of his life. If you're a guitarist, Clapton fan, blues enthusiast, whatever, and you don't own this album, simply buy it now - it will remain a classic for as long as planet Earth keeps turning.

Proclaiming his intentions with "Are You Ready for the Country?", Young detoured briefly to the Nashville mainstream. On this 1972 album, even the singer's acquired-taste voice comes across smooth and beautiful--the smash "Heart of Gold", with steel guitars and Linda Ronstadt's backup vocals, is by far Young's most commercial-sounding song. His usual dissonant touches, like the otherworldly guitar in "Out on the Weekend", are less spooky in this new context. The last two tracks, the deceptively gentle "The Needle and the Damage Done" and the hypnotic rocker "Words (Between the Lines of Age)", predict "Tonight's the Night", Young's haunted 1975 classic. --Steve Knopper

seminal and timeless! a must for all guitar lovers, 26 Dec 2008
This is a fantastic album. Clapton's playing from one so young (he was 21) and Mayall's singing and keyboards, and arrangements, are just spine-chilling. Best moments for me - Clapton's solo on "Have You heard" and the whole band/arrangement/composition "Double Crossing Time". Oh, and by the way, you get to hear Clapton's first lead vocal on record - "Ramblin on my Mind". Great band, great performances and SO well recorded - hats off to Mike Vernion and decca!
I first heard it in 1972 on a dansette "gramophone" and it an album I keep coming back to again and again. A "must have" album for any lover or student of electric guitar and blues.

Beyond brilliance, 05 Dec 2008
I first listened to this album when it was released during the 1960's
I was 17 years old and could not believe what I was hearing!
A truly ground breaking album that influenced most aspiring guitar players of that era.
The Bluesbreaker album features the young Eric Clapton at his best, in my opinion he has never surpassed the sublime guitar breaks on this album, he was truly inspired when this was recorded, with the great John Mayall's haunting vocals and keyboard skills, John Mcvie's bass work and Hughie Flint on drums, it is a brilliant piece of work.
If I was only allowed to own one CD, this would be it!



can you imagine..., 02 Mar 2007
I was going to mention Clapton's christening of the Les Paul, Marshall setup, but others have beaten me to it. I liken it's impact to what happened to harp playing when Little Walter and other's deciding to blow through the PA or an early guitar amp. They REDEFINED the sound of the instrument.

So all I'll add is the rhetorical question...can you imagine being a teenage Brit, having been reared on the sounds of the Beatles, Jerry and the Pacemakers, or even the Dave Clark Five, wandering into a London club because someone had recommended the Bluesbreakers, and hearing THIS STUFF? Probably as epiphanic as being a white guy in mid 50's Chicago and having the nerve to wander into the Dew Drop Inn and hearing Muddy, Wolf, or later, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. Simply put, a life changing experience.

The most important guitar album of all time!, 08 Feb 2007
The best guitar player of the time on top of his game. Classic tracks. The perfect combination of guitar and amp. Incredible solos... Listening to this album it is easy to see why rock took the directions it did. This is the blueprint for pretty much every rock/blues album that followed, and in my opinion the closest Clapton ever got to this ever again is on Layla... This is Essential.

The album that changed my life., 28 May 2006
On a week's holiday with my parent's in Littlehampton in Sussex during the summer of '66, as ever, I found a record shop. Without much money as I was still at school, (just), I had the choice, in my mind anyway, between two albums; The Mother's Of Invention's 'Freakout,' and 'Bluesbreakers.' Maybe there had been a lot of publicity at the time about 'Freakout,' I can't remember, but for some reason I was torn between which one to buy. Probably the fact that I was a Yardbirds fan and had listened to 'Five Live' a great deal made up my mind, and I plumped for 'Bluesbreakers.' It was to be the wisest move and the best purchase I ever made. As a then, and still now, 'would-be' guitarist, this album, for its time in rock history, had everything you wanted and more, and has pretty much stayed that way over the ensuing years. To play with this degree of skill and feeling at Clapton's age of 21 at the time, was and is incredible. At 15, he was almost an old man to me being 6 years older, yet even so, the bluesmen I had heard were in their 30's and over, (really old men!), and even now this album begs the question "Why was Clapton so great at such a young age?" We will never know, and if put to the question, probably neither would he? It was just something he was drawn to and did, and has had the good fortune to do so for the rest of his life. If you're a guitarist, Clapton fan, blues enthusiast, whatever, and you don't own this album, simply buy it now - it will remain a classic for as long as planet Earth keeps turning.

Harvest - cream of the crop., 12 Nov 2008
This is one of those classic albums that everyone has to own, and it is a very special record.

There are so many brilliant songs on this album; personal favourites are Out On The Weekend, Heart Of Gold and Old Man, but every track is just as brilliant as the previous and next.

The overall feel is just mellow and relaxed in terms of musical arrangement and vocal delivery, but the lyrics are intense in their depths of heartfelt emotion.

It sounds too simple to be this good, with very modest and unassuming instruments and a harmonica, which adds to the feel of the heart of the American countryside/prairies.

This album may be 36 years old but it still sounds so fresh and is still relevant now.

King Harvest (Has Surely Come), 23 Oct 2008
Like another reviewer in these pages, once upon a time I too was quick to dismiss Neil Young, but now I wear the sackcloth and ashes and berate myself for not picking up on his vibe sooner. This is a stunningly good and deceptively easy album to listen to. I bought it in a job lot, with several other albums by NY, and for weeks and weeks now I have woken up and gone to sleep listening to nothing else but 'Harvest' 'After The Goldrush' 'On The Beach' 'Tonight's The Night' 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' and 'Greatest Hits', knowing that sooner or later the hook of 'Old Man' and 'Heart Of Gold' (songs I've always loved) would eventually place the key in my hand that would unlock the beauty and genius of this man. I love all these mentioned above, and I am buying more at the weekend: 'Zuma' and 'Comes A Time' and 'Harvest Moon'. I have to say, much as I love the others, this album goes way beyond praise: it is up there with (in my book) 'Astral Weeks' 'What's Going On' 'The Gilded Palace Of Sin' 'Blood On The Tracks' and several others I could name. Why didn't I get it all those years ago? Because Young is not a conventional songwriter in one sense; lyrically, all his albums seem to comprise of one never-ending travelogue through the dreams, aspirations and wreckage of the generations, which is all more grist to his mill, as he is able to sonically sculpt the most amazing and simple tunes and wrest the heart and soul from passing moments. I could not recommend this album higher.

And what a harvest!, 18 Aug 2008
An astonishing work. Merely one of the many gems that are scattered throughout Young's career. Rather than waxing lyrical about this album, it is better just to say that I can't think of a single second on this ambum that isn't sheer quality. A couple of years ago I lived with a group of people that only listened to house music. I leant this to one of them, and before the end of the week our whole house had turned into Neil Young converts. Next to Bob Dylan, Young is one of the greatest artists of all time. A prolifically creative genius.

Enjoy.

Peerless Genius., 14 Apr 2008
Okay. Pub argument Number 120. Who is the greatest song-writer ever? Dylan, Lennon and McCartney are all in with a shout. Brian Wilson, Kurt Cobain, Roger Waters, the list goes on. But seriously, how could anyone take this title other than Neil Young. I mean it, this guy is so good, it defies belief.

I did try to collect a few Neil Young albums a few years back. In time they disappeared or got sold, and I continued to listen to all sorts of mindless rubbish (what the hell was I supposed to know, I was only a punk kid). But over the last few years i've come to the conclusion that not only is Neil Young far better than even people think he is, but even amongst the elite, he's virtually untouchable.

Don't believe me? Then listen again. Every single song on 'Harvest' is masterful. Honestly, not a single note is wasted anywhere. My favourites are probably 'A Man Needs A Maid', a touching ballad about then-girlfriend Carrie Snodgress, 'Needle And The Damage Done', concerning heroin addicted rock musicians and 'Old Man', a song about old and young lives being similar.

But whatever the merits of the rest of the album, it's 'Heart Of Gold' that remains Young's masterpiece. His only number one single and the fan's firm favourite, a beautifully soft ballad that for me, is endlessly re-listenable.

If there's one thing I hate, it's hyperbole. But for 'Harvest' i'll make an exception. And if William Blake was a rock star, he'd be Neil Young. He really is that good.

So to conclude, there are great song-writers, and then there's Neil Young. And anyone who wants to disagree had better step outside.



Golden Harvest, 11 Apr 2008
I'm sure many people waited eagerly for this release and I was certainly one of them. The fear was that it would be a huge disappointment after Goldrush - well it wasn't. Harvest has taken on almost a mythical feel over the years.

Many consider it his best work and certainly it met with critical acclaim and is still talked of today. When Young releases a low key, tuneful album it is always described as "The New Harvest" and the composer also references the album many times in his subsequent offerings.

It was more progressive than Goldrush. To me the songs aren't quite so effective but there is no denying the power and beauty of an album that once again contained some outstanding music with the likes of "Harvest", "A Man Needs a Maid" "Heart of Gold" (I can hear you singing it now and two songs with much stronger messages "Old Man" and a foray into drug culture "The Needle and the Damage Done."

The only question on the lips of Young fans were "where does he go from here and can he produce a trio of essential albums?"

Experience Hendrix brings together the major singles with a stack of majestic album tracks and the career-defining live Woodstock version of "The Star Spangled Banner" on a fat 20-tracker. While best used as a sampler to direct new listeners to the immortal Are You Experienced, Electric Ladyland, and so on, the CD (which supplants the short-lived Ultimate Experience collection) does hang together as a listen. Its blend of Hendrix the rocker and Hendrix the underrated soul man is suggestive, painting a picture of a multifaceted genius and transcending its plainly mercenary origins. In the end, its effect--like that of all Hendrix's best records--is to remind us of a Jimi very, very much alive. --Rickey Wright

seminal and timeless! a must for all guitar lovers, 26 Dec 2008
This is a fantastic album. Clapton's playing from one so young (he was 21) and Mayall's singing and keyboards, and arrangements, are just spine-chilling. Best moments for me - Clapton's solo on "Have You heard" and the whole band/arrangement/composition "Double Crossing Time". Oh, and by the way, you get to hear Clapton's first lead vocal on record - "Ramblin on my Mind". Great band, great performances and SO well recorded - hats off to Mike Vernion and decca!
I first heard it in 1972 on a dansette "gramophone" and it an album I keep coming back to again and again. A "must have" album for any lover or student of electric guitar and blues.

Beyond brilliance, 05 Dec 2008
I first listened to this album when it was released during the 1960's
I was 17 years old and could not believe what I was hearing!
A truly ground breaking album that influenced most aspiring guitar players of that era.
The Bluesbreaker album features the young Eric Clapton at his best, in my opinion he has never surpassed the sublime guitar breaks on this album, he was truly inspired when this was recorded, with the great John Mayall's haunting vocals and keyboard skills, John Mcvie's bass work and Hughie Flint on drums, it is a brilliant piece of work.
If I was only allowed to own one CD, this would be it!



can you imagine..., 02 Mar 2007
I was going to mention Clapton's christening of the Les Paul, Marshall setup, but others have beaten me to it. I liken it's impact to what happened to harp playing when Little Walter and other's deciding to blow through the PA or an early guitar amp. They REDEFINED the sound of the instrument.

So all I'll add is the rhetorical question...can you imagine being a teenage Brit, having been reared on the sounds of the Beatles, Jerry and the Pacemakers, or even the Dave Clark Five, wandering into a London club because someone had recommended the Bluesbreakers, and hearing THIS STUFF? Probably as epiphanic as being a white guy in mid 50's Chicago and having the nerve to wander into the Dew Drop Inn and hearing Muddy, Wolf, or later, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. Simply put, a life changing experience.

The most important guitar album of all time!, 08 Feb 2007
The best guitar player of the time on top of his game. Classic tracks. The perfect combination of guitar and amp. Incredible solos... Listening to this album it is easy to see why rock took the directions it did. This is the blueprint for pretty much every rock/blues album that followed, and in my opinion the closest Clapton ever got to this ever again is on Layla... This is Essential.

The album that changed my life., 28 May 2006
On a week's holiday with my parent's in Littlehampton in Sussex during the summer of '66, as ever, I found a record shop. Without much money as I was still at school, (just), I had the choice, in my mind anyway, between two albums; The Mother's Of Invention's 'Freakout,' and 'Bluesbreakers.' Maybe there had been a lot of publicity at the time about 'Freakout,' I can't remember, but for some reason I was torn between which one to buy. Probably the fact that I was a Yardbirds fan and had listened to 'Five Live' a great deal made up my mind, and I plumped for 'Bluesbreakers.' It was to be the wisest move and the best purchase I ever made. As a then, and still now, 'would-be' guitarist, this album, for its time in rock history, had everything you wanted and more, and has pretty much stayed that way over the ensuing years. To play with this degree of skill and feeling at Clapton's age of 21 at the time, was and is incredible. At 15, he was almost an old man to me being 6 years older, yet even so, the bluesmen I had heard were in their 30's and over, (really old men!), and even now this album begs the question "Why was Clapton so great at such a young age?" We will never know, and if put to the question, probably neither would he? It was just something he was drawn to and did, and has had the good fortune to do so for the rest of his life. If you're a guitarist, Clapton fan, blues enthusiast, whatever, and you don't own this album, simply buy it now - it will remain a classic for as long as planet Earth keeps turning.

Harvest - cream of the crop., 12 Nov 2008
This is one of those classic albums that everyone has to own, and it is a very special record.

There are so many brilliant songs on this album; personal favourites are Out On The Weekend, Heart Of Gold and Old Man, but every track is just as brilliant as the previous and next.

The overall feel is just mellow and relaxed in terms of musical arrangement and vocal delivery, but the lyrics are intense in their depths of heartfelt emotion.

It sounds too simple to be this good, with very modest and unassuming instruments and a harmonica, which adds to the feel of the heart of the American countryside/prairies.

This album may be 36 years old but it still sounds so fresh and is still relevant now.

King Harvest (Has Surely Come), 23 Oct 2008
Like another reviewer in these pages, once upon a time I too was quick to dismiss Neil Young, but now I wear the sackcloth and ashes and berate myself for not picking up on his vibe sooner. This is a stunningly good and deceptively easy album to listen to. I bought it in a job lot, with several other albums by NY, and for weeks and weeks now I have woken up and gone to sleep listening to nothing else but 'Harvest' 'After The Goldrush' 'On The Beach' 'Tonight's The Night' 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' and 'Greatest Hits', knowing that sooner or later the hook of 'Old Man' and 'Heart Of Gold' (songs I've always loved) would eventually place the key in my hand that would unlock the beauty and genius of this man. I love all these mentioned above, and I am buying more at the weekend: 'Zuma' and 'Comes A Time' and 'Harvest Moon'. I have to say, much as I love the others, this album goes way beyond praise: it is up there with (in my book) 'Astral Weeks' 'What's Going On' 'The Gilded Palace Of Sin' 'Blood On The Tracks' and several others I could name. Why didn't I get it all those years ago? Because Young is not a conventional songwriter in one sense; lyrically, all his albums seem to comprise of one never-ending travelogue through the dreams, aspirations and wreckage of the generations, which is all more grist to his mill, as he is able to sonically sculpt the most amazing and simple tunes and wrest the heart and soul from passing moments. I could not recommend this album higher.

And what a harvest!, 18 Aug 2008
An astonishing work. Merely one of the many gems that are scattered throughout Young's career. Rather than waxing lyrical about this album, it is better just to say that I can't think of a single second on this ambum that isn't sheer quality. A couple of years ago I lived with a group of people that only listened to house music. I leant this to one of them, and before the end of the week our whole house had turned into Neil Young converts. Next to Bob Dylan, Young is one of the greatest artists of all time. A prolifically creative genius.

Enjoy.

Peerless Genius., 14 Apr 2008
Okay. Pub argument Number 120. Who is the greatest song-writer ever? Dylan, Lennon and McCartney are all in with a shout. Brian Wilson, Kurt Cobain, Roger Waters, the list goes on. But seriously, how could anyone take this title other than Neil Young. I mean it, this guy is so good, it defies belief.

I did try to collect a few Neil Young albums a few years back. In time they disappeared or got sold, and I continued to listen to all sorts of mindless rubbish (what the hell was I supposed to know, I was only a punk kid). But over the last few years i've come to the conclusion that not only is Neil Young far better than even people think he is, but even amongst the elite, he's virtually untouchable.

Don't believe me? Then listen again. Every single song on 'Harvest' is masterful. Honestly, not a single note is wasted anywhere. My favourites are probably 'A Man Needs A Maid', a touching ballad about then-girlfriend Carrie Snodgress, 'Needle And The Damage Done', concerning heroin addicted rock musicians and 'Old Man', a song about old and young lives being similar.

But whatever the merits of the rest of the album, it's 'Heart Of Gold' that remains Young's masterpiece. His only number one single and the fan's firm favourite, a beautifully soft ballad that for me, is endlessly re-listenable.

If there's one thing I hate, it's hyperbole. But for 'Harvest' i'll make an exception. And if William Blake was a rock star, he'd be Neil Young. He really is that good.

So to conclude, there are great song-writers, and then there's Neil Young. And anyone who wants to disagree had better step outside.



Golden Harvest, 11 Apr 2008
I'm sure many people waited eagerly for this release and I was certainly one of them. The fear was that it would be a huge disappointment after Goldrush - well it wasn't. Harvest has taken on almost a mythical feel over the years.

Many consider it his best work and certainly it met with critical acclaim and is still talked of today. When Young releases a low key, tuneful album it is always described as "The New Harvest" and the composer also references the album many times in his subsequent offerings.

It was more progressive than Goldrush. To me the songs aren't quite so effective but there is no denying the power and beauty of an album that once again contained some outstanding music with the likes of "Harvest", "A Man Needs a Maid" "Heart of Gold" (I can hear you singing it now and two songs with much stronger messages "Old Man" and a foray into drug culture "The Needle and the Damage Done."

The only question on the lips of Young fans were "where does he go from here and can he produce a trio of essential albums?"

simply the best, 25 Dec 2008
Got this for £2.98 useing freemp3s
Puts Itunes To Shame
Great Price, All Songs 5 Stars

the best jimi hendrix compilation he is the bomb!!, 20 Jul 2008
what a legend this is the best jimi hendrix compilation cd its fantastic love the wind cries mary,vodoo child,red house,all along the watchtower,and more u2 ruined the song all along the watchtower hate u2!! bonos voice annoying like bruce springsteen rubbish jimi hendrix had a good and unique talent before his time with the phcadelic thing!! its some trip elecric ladyland need i say more anouther album from the 60s i like was hey love by the rotary connection featuring the legend minnie riperton she is cool!! and the beatles dusty springfield aretha franklin ray charles all had at least one good album from the 60s there legends i also recommend nuggetts 60s phcadelic rock compilation cd its cool!! buy this its fab jimi hendrix R.I.P

Pure Guitar Genius!, 10 Apr 2008
Jimi was the first real experimenter with the then new fangled electronic gadgetry associated with electric guitar and guitar effects, and the first man to actually try to make a guitar talk! In '69 at the Albert Hall, The Experience were superb. Ever seen a guitar player playing the background and melody both at the same time on one guitar left handed? This was Hendrix! Absolute genius!! If any musician ever deserved legendary status it was Jimi. Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding too were superb artists in their own right in The Experience. Although better guitarists have come, and gone, nobody has been as revolutionary on electric guitar as Jimi was. Always striving to exceed the limits of the technology back then, and with such wonderful songs, I really miss him. On this album you can hear just how good. Favourite? Little Wing. It is such a short tune, but always fills me up inside almost to tears. Jimi always was and always will be special. Get this compilation to find out just how special.

Voodoo Chile, 18 Dec 2007
I own this album, its got to be probably my most played album.
I jam along to it, I can listen to it. I have some of Jimi's stuff, you know the original albums etc, but this compilation just for me is what Jimi was all about.
A must have, every one should have this CD in their collection.

the guy who invented the heavy metal guitar, 03 Nov 2007
i really miss jimi hendrix he was a great guitar player and would be one of my favorite guitar players of all time. he invented the great heavy metal guitar and he was a great one for a beginner. i'm so sad that he's been dead for a long time. i love this compilation, my favorite hit from the album is voodoo child that is some of his best guitar. purple haize and all along the watchtower are my other favorites. i also like the wind cries mary, fire, hey joe, and foxy lady too. it is highly recommended to get this cd.

After labouring in Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Neil Young finally hit perfect pitch--if his endearing off-centre whine can be called "perfect"--with his third album. He's equally passionate with trippy riddles (has anybody figured out what "We've got mother nature on the run" means in the title track?) and pointed protest (after 30 years of rock-radio overplay, "Southern Man" still rings with truth about redneck racism). His creaky ensemble, including pianist Jack Nitzsche and rotating members of Crazy Horse, transforms ramshackle country and folk songs into soulful hippie hymns. --Steve Knopper

seminal and timeless! a must for all guitar lovers, 26 Dec 2008
This is a fantastic album. Clapton's playing from one so young (he was 21) and Mayall's singing and keyboards, and arrangements, are just spine-chilling. Best moments for me - Clapton's solo on "Have You heard" and the whole band/arrangement/composition "Double Crossing Time". Oh, and by the way, you get to hear Clapton's first lead vocal on record - "Ramblin on my Mind". Great band, great performances and SO well recorded - hats off to Mike Vernion and decca!
I first heard it in 1972 on a dansette "gramophone" and it an album I keep coming back to again and again. A "must have" album for any lover or student of electric guitar and blues.

Beyond brilliance, 05 Dec 2008
I first listened to this album when it was released during the 1960's
I was 17 years old and could not believe what I was hearing!
A truly ground breaking album that influenced most aspiring guitar players of that era.
The Bluesbreaker album features the young Eric Clapton at his best, in my opinion he has never surpassed the sublime guitar breaks on this album, he was truly inspired when this was recorded, with the great John Mayall's haunting vocals and keyboard skills, John Mcvie's bass work and Hughie Flint on drums, it is a brilliant piece of work.
If I was only allowed to own one CD, this would be it!



can you imagine..., 02 Mar 2007
I was going to mention Clapton's christening of the Les Paul, Marshall setup, but others have beaten me to it. I liken it's impact to what happened to harp playing when Little Walter and other's deciding to blow through the PA or an early guitar amp. They REDEFINED the sound of the instrument.

So all I'll add is the rhetorical question...can you imagine being a teenage Brit, having been reared on the sounds of the Beatles, Jerry and the Pacemakers, or even the Dave Clark Five, wandering into a London club because someone had recommended the Bluesbreakers, and hearing THIS STUFF? Probably as epiphanic as being a white guy in mid 50's Chicago and having the nerve to wander into the Dew Drop Inn and hearing Muddy, Wolf, or later, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. Simply put, a life changing experience.

The most important guitar album of all time!, 08 Feb 2007
The best guitar player of the time on top of his game. Classic tracks. The perfect combination of guitar and amp. Incredible solos... Listening to this album it is easy to see why rock took the directions it did. This is the blueprint for pretty much every rock/blues album that followed, and in my opinion the closest Clapton ever got to this ever again is on Layla... This is Essential.

The album that changed my life., 28 May 2006
On a week's holiday with my parent's in Littlehampton in Sussex during the summer of '66, as ever, I found a record shop. Without much money as I was still at school, (just), I had the choice, in my mind anyway, between two albums; The Mother's Of Invention's 'Freakout,' and 'Bluesbreakers.' Maybe there had been a lot of publicity at the time about 'Freakout,' I can't remember, but for some reason I was torn between which one to buy. Probably the fact that I was a Yardbirds fan and had listened to 'Five Live' a great deal made up my mind, and I plumped for 'Bluesbreakers.' It was to be the wisest move and the best purchase I ever made. As a then, and still now, 'would-be' guitarist, this album, for its time in rock history, had everything you wanted and more, and has pretty much stayed that way over the ensuing years. To play with this degree of skill and feeling at Clapton's age of 21 at the time, was and is incredible. At 15, he was almost an old man to me being 6 years older, yet even so, the bluesmen I had heard were in their 30's and over, (really old men!), and even now this album begs the question "Why was Clapton so great at such a young age?" We will never know, and if put to the question, probably neither would he? It was just something he was drawn to and did, and has had the good fortune to do so for the rest of his life. If you're a guitarist, Clapton fan, blues enthusiast, whatever, and you don't own this album, simply buy it now - it will remain a classic for as long as planet Earth keeps turning.

Harvest - cream of the crop., 12 Nov 2008
This is one of those classic albums that everyone has to own, and it is a very special record.

There are so many brilliant songs on this album; personal favourites are Out On The Weekend, Heart Of Gold and Old Man, but every track is just as brilliant as the previous and next.

The overall feel is just mellow and relaxed in terms of musical arrangement and vocal delivery, but the lyrics are intense in their depths of heartfelt emotion.

It sounds too simple to be this good, with very modest and unassuming instruments and a harmonica, which adds to the feel of the heart of the American countryside/prairies.

This album may be 36 years old but it still sounds so fresh and is still relevant now.

King Harvest (Has Surely Come), 23 Oct 2008
Like another reviewer in these pages, once upon a time I too was quick to dismiss Neil Young, but now I wear the sackcloth and ashes and berate myself for not picking up on his vibe sooner. This is a stunningly good and deceptively easy album to listen to. I bought it in a job lot, with several other albums by NY, and for weeks and weeks now I have woken up and gone to sleep listening to nothing else but 'Harvest' 'After The Goldrush' 'On The Beach' 'Tonight's The Night' 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' and 'Greatest Hits', knowing that sooner or later the hook of 'Old Man' and 'Heart Of Gold' (songs I've always loved) would eventually place the key in my hand that would unlock the beauty and genius of this man. I love all these mentioned above, and I am buying more at the weekend: 'Zuma' and 'Comes A Time' and 'Harvest Moon'. I have to say, much as I love the others, this album goes way beyond praise: it is up there with (in my book) 'Astral Weeks' 'What's Going On' 'The Gilded Palace Of Sin' 'Blood On The Tracks' and several others I could name. Why didn't I get it all those years ago? Because Young is not a conventional songwriter in one sense; lyrically, all his albums seem to comprise of one never-ending travelogue through the dreams, aspirations and wreckage of the generations, which is all more grist to his mill, as he is able to sonically sculpt the most amazing and simple tunes and wrest the heart and soul from passing moments. I could not recommend this album higher.

And what a harvest!, 18 Aug 2008
An astonishing work. Merely one of the many gems that are scattered throughout Young's career. Rather than waxing lyrical about this album, it is better just to say that I can't think of a single second on this ambum that isn't sheer quality. A couple of years ago I lived with a group of people that only listened to house music. I leant this to one of them, and before the end of the week our whole house had turned into Neil Young converts. Next to Bob Dylan, Young is one of the greatest artists of all time. A prolifically creative genius.

Enjoy.

Peerless Genius., 14 Apr 2008
Okay. Pub argument Number 120. Who is the greatest song-writer ever? Dylan, Lennon and McCartney are all in with a shout. Brian Wilson, Kurt Cobain, Roger Waters, the list goes on. But seriously, how could anyone take this title other than Neil Young. I mean it, this guy is so good, it defies belief.

I did try to collect a few Neil Young albums a few years back. In time they disappeared or got sold, and I continued to listen to all sorts of mindless rubbish (what the hell was I supposed to know, I was only a punk kid). But over the last few years i've come to the conclusion that not only is Neil Young far better than even people think he is, but even amongst the elite, he's virtually untouchable.

Don't believe me? Then listen again. Every single song on 'Harvest' is masterful. Honestly, not a single note is wasted anywhere. My favourites are probably 'A Man Needs A Maid', a touching ballad about then-girlfriend Carrie Snodgress, 'Needle And The Damage Done', concerning heroin addicted rock musicians and 'Old Man', a song about old and young lives being similar.

But whatever the merits of the rest of the album, it's 'Heart Of Gold' that remains Young's masterpiece. His only number one single and the fan's firm favourite, a beautifully soft ballad that for me, is endlessly re-listenable.

If there's one thing I hate, it's hyperbole. But for 'Harvest' i'll make an exception. And if William Blake was a rock star, he'd be Neil Young. He really is that good.

So to conclude, there are great song-writers, and then there's Neil Young. And anyone who wants to disagree had better step outside.



Golden Harvest, 11 Apr 2008
I'm sure many people waited eagerly for this release and I was certainly one of them. The fear was that it would be a huge disappointment after Goldrush - well it wasn't. Harvest has taken on almost a mythical feel over the years.

Many consider it his best work and certainly it met with critical acclaim and is still talked of today. When Young releases a low key, tuneful album it is always described as "The New Harvest" and the composer also references the album many times in his subsequent offerings.

It was more progressive than Goldrush. To me the songs aren't quite so effective but there is no denying the power and beauty of an album that once again contained some outstanding music with the likes of "Harvest", "A Man Needs a Maid" "Heart of Gold" (I can hear you singing it now and two songs with much stronger messages "Old Man" and a foray into drug culture "The Needle and the Damage Done."

The only question on the lips of Young fans were "where does he go from here and can he produce a trio of essential albums?"

simply the best, 25 Dec 2008
Got this for £2.98 useing freemp3s
Puts Itunes To Shame
Great Price, All Songs 5 Stars

the best jimi hendrix compilation he is the bomb!!, 20 Jul 2008
what a legend this is the best jimi hendrix compilation cd its fantastic love the wind cries mary,vodoo child,red house,all along the watchtower,and more u2 ruined the song all along the watchtower hate u2!! bonos voice annoying like bruce springsteen rubbish jimi hendrix had a good and unique talent before his time with the phcadelic thing!! its some trip elecric ladyland need i say more anouther album from the 60s i like was hey love by the rotary connection featuring the legend minnie riperton she is cool!! and the beatles dusty springfield aretha franklin ray charles all had at least one good album from the 60s there legends i also recommend nuggetts 60s phcadelic rock compilation cd its cool!! buy this its fab jimi hendrix R.I.P

Pure Guitar Genius!, 10 Apr 2008
Jimi was the first real experimenter with the then new fangled electronic gadgetry associated with electric guitar and guitar effects, and the first man to actually try to make a guitar talk! In '69 at the Albert Hall, The Experience were superb. Ever seen a guitar player playing the background and melody both at the same time on one guitar left handed? This was Hendrix! Absolute genius!! If any musician ever deserved legendary status it was Jimi. Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding too were superb artists in their own right in The Experience. Although better guitarists have come, and gone, nobody has been as revolutionary on electric guitar as Jimi was. Always striving to exceed the limits of the technology back then, and with such wonderful songs, I really miss him. On this album you can hear just how good. Favourite? Little Wing. It is such a short tune, but always fills me up inside almost to tears. Jimi always was and always will be special. Get this compilation to find out just how special.

Voodoo Chile, 18 Dec 2007
I own this album, its got to be probably my most played album.
I jam along to it, I can listen to it. I have some of Jimi's stuff, you know the original albums etc, but this compilation just for me is what Jimi was all about.
A must have, every one should have this CD in their collection.

the guy who invented the heavy metal guitar, 03 Nov 2007
i really miss jimi hendrix he was a great guitar player and would be one of my favorite guitar players of all time. he invented the great heavy metal guitar and he was a great one for a beginner. i'm so sad that he's been dead for a long time. i love this compilation, my favorite hit from the album is voodoo child that is some of his best guitar. purple haize and all along the watchtower are my other favorites. i also like the wind cries mary, fire, hey joe, and foxy lady too. it is highly recommended to get this cd.

Rush to buy this album...it's pure gold., 22 Dec 2008
This is classic Neil Young, at his finest, with an album full of songs which are well composed and which have meaningful, interesting lyrics delivered with feeling and sincerity.

Most people who get as far as reading this review will know the songs Don't Let It Bring You Down and Only Love Can Break Your Heart, which are the best tracks on this record, but there are none which aren't good.

This is essential listening for any fan of Neil Young and of American folk-pop-rock music. It's one of his finest albums.

One of Rock's Benchmark Albums, 20 Dec 2008
As any Neil Young fan will tell you, you're somewhat spoilt for choice in picking out his best work but the fact that many of his albums tend to be either predominantly acoustic or electric may help to narrow down the choice - if you have a personal preference. If you're like me though, it doesn't help, especially when it comes to After the Goldrush! I often think of it as an "electric" album, because the wonderful rockers "Southern Man" and "When You Dance (I can really love)" etch themselves so deeply into one's musical memory but in fact it's predominantly acoustic, with some very nice fingerpick guitar and piano work. Full of beautiful melody and intriguing lyrics, the songs range in style from the plaintive, tear-jerking Birds, through the jaunty Cripple Creek Ferry, to the storming guitar-crunching rock of the aforementioned Southern Man and When You Dance. A perennial classic, this is one of those benchmark albums that every music-lover should own.

A great starter album for those that haven't heard anything by the great man yet, 04 Dec 2008
If you want to try the music of Neil Young then this is a good one to start with but beware, being a Neil Young fan is addictive and expensive although its also very rewarding. With over 30 solo albums to his name, plus being a part of Crosby, Nash, Stills and Young and Buffalo Springfield too, you've stumbled across one of the most prolific and brilliant singer-songwriters ever to grace our wonderful planet.

Released in 1970, this was Young's third solo album and the most succesful until the release of Harvest two years later. Many people class this as his best piece of work and its certainly his most complete studio album in my opinion.

The album went multi Platinum in the states and has appeared on a number of "greatest albums of all time" lists. As usual Young played many of the instruments on the album including guitar, piano, and harmonica and wrote all of the songs with the exception of Oh Lonesome Me which is an old Nashville number.

There are many great tracks on the album but the stand out tracks for me are After the Goldrush (one of my favourite tracks of all time) and Only Love Can Break Your Heart (US single).


Sublime!, 21 Oct 2008
This album was on constant play throughout an American road-trip of mine in a camper van from festival to festival, state to state, gradually heading westward to California. I was 18 at the time and the year was 1989. The start of the journey began at the Woodstock festival, twenty years on, (opened with a speech from Jimi Hendrix's father and a set by Richie Havens). As a consequence it is drenched in memories.

This album has it all. Steeped in the golden glow of the times, it covers many areas of being, heartache, visions, psychedelic thoughts, glimpses of pastoral idylls, all set within a hybrid of folk/country/rock that is distinctively Neil's own. His thin nasally voice is perfect throughout, the harmonies sublime, the quality of recording simultaneously sparse and lush in a way that you never find on digital media these days.

A classic, a slice of time frozen. If you only ever get one Neil Young album in your life, get this one. It's his best, and goes in my top ten favourite albums of all time.

Mother Nature on the run, 23 Apr 2008
After the Goldrush the song itself. Is a brilliant song, only 3 verses. The third verse is the most important with regard Mother Nature. I would advise people to read Arthur C Clarkes story called Childhoods End. Verse 3 of the Neil Young song puts that story into 5 lines:-
"Well I dreamed I saw the silver spaceships lying In the yellow haze of the sun
There were children Crying and Colours flying All around the Chosen ones
All in a dream all in a dream, the loading had begun
Flying Mother Natures silver seed to a new home in the Sun
Flying Mother Natures silver seed, to a new home."
A truly inspirational song and an album which shows great versatility and lasting power. Along with Harvest my favourite Neil Young Albums.

Fresh Cream, the album that introduced this seminal super-blues trio to America, was perhaps a bit too blues-based to do the advance hype ("Clapton is God!") justice. Two of its three best-known tracks, after all, were blues covers; it was Disraeli Gears that turned Cream into a "supergroup." Here they pursue the psychedelic ideals of the era with total abandon (the LP cover art still stands as one of the 1960s' most striking designs), merging these ideals with their take on the blues and adorning the amalgamation with some superb pop craftsmanship. Of the 11 originals here, four--"Tales of Brave Ulysses", "SWLABR", "Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love"--earned major airplay. This, their excess-free greatest moment, does the Cream legend proud. --Bill Holdship

seminal and timeless! a must for all guitar lovers, 26 Dec 2008
This is a fantastic album. Clapton's playing from one so young (he was 21) and Mayall's singing and keyboards, and arrangements, are just spine-chilling. Best moments for me - Clapton's solo on "Have You heard" and the whole band/arrangement/composition "Double Crossing Time". Oh, and by the way, you get to hear Clapton's first lead vocal on record - "Ramblin on my Mind". Great band, great performances and SO well recorded - hats off to Mike Vernion and decca!
I first heard it in 1972 on a dansette "gramophone" and it an album I keep coming back to again and again. A "must have" album for any lover or student of electric guitar and blues.

Beyond brilliance, 05 Dec 2008
I first listened to this album when it was released during the 1960's
I was 17 years old and could not believe what I was hearing!
A truly ground breaking album that influenced most aspiring guitar players of that era.
The Bluesbreaker album features the young Eric Clapton at his best, in my opinion he has never surpassed the sublime guitar breaks on this album, he was truly inspired when this was recorded, with the great John Mayall's haunting vocals and keyboard skills, John Mcvie's bass work and Hughie Flint on drums, it is a brilliant piece of work.
If I was only allowed to own one CD, this would be it!



can you imagine..., 02 Mar 2007
I was going to mention Clapton's christening of the Les Paul, Marshall setup, but others have beaten me to it. I liken it's impact to what happened to harp playing when Little Walter and other's deciding to blow through the PA or an early guitar amp. They REDEFINED the sound of the instrument.

So all I'll add is the rhetorical question...can you imagine being a teenage Brit, having been reared on the sounds of the Beatles, Jerry and the Pacemakers, or even the Dave Clark Five, wandering into a London club because someone had recommended the Bluesbreakers, and hearing THIS STUFF? Probably as epiphanic as being a white guy in mid 50's Chicago and having the nerve to wander into the Dew Drop Inn and hearing Muddy, Wolf, or later, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. Simply put, a life changing experience.

The most important guitar album of all time!, 08 Feb 2007
The best guitar player of the time on top of his game. Classic tracks. The perfect combination of guitar and amp. Incredible solos... Listening to this album it is easy to see why rock took the directions it did. This is the blueprint for pretty much every rock/blues album that followed, and in my opinion the closest Clapton ever got to this ever again is on Layla... This is Essential.

The album that changed my life., 28 May 2006
On a week's holiday with my parent's in Littlehampton in Sussex during the summer of '66, as ever, I found a record shop. Without much money as I was still at school, (just), I had the choice, in my mind anyway, between two albums; The Mother's Of Invention's 'Freakout,' and 'Bluesbreakers.' Maybe there had been a lot of publicity at the time about 'Freakout,' I can't remember, but for some reason I was torn between which one to buy. Probably the fact that I was a Yardbirds fan and had listened to 'Five Live' a great deal made up my mind, and I plumped for 'Bluesbreakers.' It was to be the wisest move and the best purchase I ever made. As a then, and still now, 'would-be' guitarist, this album, for its time in rock history, had everything you wanted and more, and has pretty much stayed that way over the ensuing years. To play with this degree of skill and feeling at Clapton's age of 21 at the time, was and is incredible. At 15, he was almost an old man to me being 6 years older, yet even so, the bluesmen I had heard were in their 30's and over, (really old men!), and even now this album begs the question "Why was Clapton so great at such a young age?" We will never know, and if put to the question, probably neither would he? It was just something he was drawn to and did, and has had the good fortune to do so for the rest of his life. If you're a guitarist, Clapton fan, blues enthusiast, whatever, and you don't own this album, simply buy it now - it will remain a classic for as long as planet Earth keeps turning.

Harvest - cream of the crop., 12 Nov 2008
This is one of those classic albums that everyone has to own, and it is a very special record.

There are so many brilliant songs on this album; personal favourites are Out On The Weekend, Heart Of Gold and Old Man, but every track is just as brilliant as the previous and next.

The overall feel is just mellow and relaxed in terms of musical arrangement and vocal delivery, but the lyrics are intense in their depths of heartfelt emotion.

It sounds too simple to be this good, with very modest and unassuming instruments and a harmonica, which adds to the feel of the heart of the American countryside/prairies.

This album may be 36 years old but it still sounds so fresh and is still relevant now.

King Harvest (Has Surely Come), 23 Oct 2008
Like another reviewer in these pages, once upon a time I too was quick to dismiss Neil Young, but now I wear the sackcloth and ashes and berate myself for not picking up on his vibe sooner. This is a stunningly good and deceptively easy album to listen to. I bought it in a job lot, with several other albums by NY, and for weeks and weeks now I have woken up and gone to sleep listening to nothing else but 'Harvest' 'After The Goldrush' 'On The Beach' 'Tonight's The Night' 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' and 'Greatest Hits', knowing that sooner or later the hook of 'Old Man' and 'Heart Of Gold' (songs I've always loved) would eventually place the key in my hand that would unlock the beauty and genius of this man. I love all these mentioned above, and I am buying more at the weekend: 'Zuma' and 'Comes A Time' and 'Harvest Moon'. I have to say, much as I love the others, this album goes way beyond praise: it is up there with (in my book) 'Astral Weeks' 'What's Going On' 'The Gilded Palace Of Sin' 'Blood On The Tracks' and several others I could name. Why didn't I get it all those years ago? Because Young is not a conventional songwriter in one sense; lyrically, all his albums seem to comprise of one never-ending travelogue through the dreams, aspirations and wreckage of the generations, which is all more grist to his mill, as he is able to sonically sculpt the most amazing and simple tunes and wrest the heart and soul from passing moments. I could not recommend this album higher.

And what a harvest!, 18 Aug 2008
An astonishing work. Merely one of the many gems that are scattered throughout Young's career. Rather than waxing lyrical about this album, it is better just to say that I can't think of a single second on this ambum that isn't sheer quality. A couple of years ago I lived with a group of people that only listened to house music. I leant this to one of them, and before the end of the week our whole house had turned into Neil Young converts. Next to Bob Dylan, Young is one of the greatest artists of all time. A prolifically creative genius.

Enjoy.

Peerless Genius., 14 Apr 2008
Okay. Pub argument Number 120. Who is the greatest song-writer ever? Dylan, Lennon and McCartney are all in with a shout. Brian Wilson, Kurt Cobain, Roger Waters, the list goes on. But seriously, how could anyone take this title other than Neil Young. I mean it, this guy is so good, it defies belief.

I did try to collect a few Neil Young albums a few years back. In time they disappeared or got sold, and I continued to listen to all sorts of mindless rubbish (what the hell was I supposed to know, I was only a punk kid). But over the last few years i've come to the conclusion that not only is Neil Young far better than even people think he is, but even amongst the elite, he's virtually untouchable.

Don't believe me? Then listen again. Every single song on 'Harvest' is masterful. Honestly, not a single note is wasted anywhere. My favourites are probably 'A Man Needs A Maid', a touching ballad about then-girlfriend Carrie Snodgress, 'Needle And The Damage Done', concerning heroin addicted rock musicians and 'Old Man', a song about old and young lives being similar.

But whatever the merits of the rest of the album, it's 'Heart Of Gold' that remains Young's masterpiece. His only number one single and the fan's firm favourite, a beautifully soft ballad that for me, is endlessly re-listenable.

If there's one thing I hate, it's hyperbole. But for 'Harvest' i'll make an exception. And if William Blake was a rock star, he'd be Neil Young. He really is that good.

So to conclude, there are great song-writers, and then there's Neil Young. And anyone who wants to disagree had better step outside.



Golden Harvest, 11 Apr 2008
I'm sure many people waited eagerly for this release and I was certainly one of them. The fear was that it would be a huge disappointment after Goldrush - well it wasn't. Harvest has taken on almost a mythical feel over the years.

Many consider it his best work and certainly it met with critical acclaim and is still talked of today. When Young releases a low key, tuneful album it is always described as "The New Harvest" and the composer also references the album many times in his subsequent offerings.

It was more progressive than Goldrush. To me the songs aren't quite so effective but there is no denying the power and beauty of an album that once again contained some outstanding music with the likes of "Harvest", "A Man Needs a Maid" "Heart of Gold" (I can hear you singing it now and two songs with much stronger messages "Old Man" and a foray into drug culture "The Needle and the Damage Done."

The only question on the lips of Young fans were "where does he go from here and can he produce a trio of essential albums?"

simply the best, 25 Dec 2008
Got this for £2.98 useing freemp3s
Puts Itunes To Shame
Great Price, All Songs 5 Stars

the best jimi hendrix compilation he is the bomb!!, 20 Jul 2008
what a legend this is the best jimi hendrix compilation cd its fantastic love the wind cries mary,vodoo child,red house,all along the watchtower,and more u2 ruined the song all along the watchtower hate u2!! bonos voice annoying like bruce springsteen rubbish jimi hendrix had a good and unique talent before his time with the phcadelic thing!! its some trip elecric ladyland need i say more anouther album from the 60s i like was hey love by the rotary connection featuring the legend minnie riperton she is cool!! and the beatles dusty springfield aretha franklin ray charles all had at least one good album from the 60s there legends i also recommend nuggetts 60s phcadelic rock compilation cd its cool!! buy this its fab jimi hendrix R.I.P

Pure Guitar Genius!, 10 Apr 2008
Jimi was the first real experimenter with the then new fangled electronic gadgetry associated with electric guitar and guitar effects, and the first man to actually try to make a guitar talk! In '69 at the Albert Hall, The Experience were superb. Ever seen a guitar player playing the background and melody both at the same time on one guitar left handed? This was Hendrix! Absolute genius!! If any musician ever deserved legendary status it was Jimi. Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding too were superb artists in their own right in The Experience. Although better guitarists have come, and gone, nobody has been as revolutionary on electric guitar as Jimi was. Always striving to exceed the limits of the technology back then, and with such wonderful songs, I really miss him. On this album you can hear just how good. Favourite? Little Wing. It is such a short tune, but always fills me up inside almost to tears. Jimi always was and always will be special. Get this compilation to find out just how special.

Voodoo Chile, 18 Dec 2007
I own this album, its got to be probably my most played album.
I jam along to it, I can listen to it. I have some of Jimi's stuff, you know the original albums etc, but this compilation just for me is what Jimi was all about.
A must have, every one should have this CD in their collection.

the guy who invented the heavy metal guitar, 03 Nov 2007
i really miss jimi hendrix he was a great guitar player and would be one of my favorite guitar players of all time. he invented the great heavy metal guitar and he was a great one for a beginner. i'm so sad that he's been dead for a long time. i love this compilation, my favorite hit from the album is voodoo child that is some of his best guitar. purple haize and all along the watchtower are my other favorites. i also like the wind cries mary, fire, hey joe, and foxy lady too. it is highly recommended to get this cd.

Rush to buy this album...it's pure gold., 22 Dec 2008
This is classic Neil Young, at his finest, with an album full of songs which are well composed and which have meaningful, interesting lyrics delivered with feeling and sincerity.

Most people who get as far as reading this review will know the songs Don't Let It Bring You Down and Only Love Can Break Your Heart, which are the best tracks on this record, but there are none which aren't good.

This is essential listening for any fan of Neil Young and of American folk-pop-rock music. It's one of his finest albums.

One of Rock's Benchmark Albums, 20 Dec 2008
As any Neil Young fan will tell you, you're somewhat spoilt for choice in picking out his best work but the fact that many of his albums tend to be either predominantly acoustic or electric may help to narrow down the choice - if you have a personal preference. If you're like me though, it doesn't help, especially when it comes to After the Goldrush! I often think of it as an "electric" album, because the wonderful rockers "Southern Man" and "When You Dance (I can really love)" etch themselves so deeply into one's musical memory but in fact it's predominantly acoustic, with some very nice fingerpick guitar and piano work. Full of beautiful melody and intriguing lyrics, the songs range in style from the plaintive, tear-jerking Birds, through the jaunty Cripple Creek Ferry, to the storming guitar-crunching rock of the aforementioned Southern Man and When You Dance. A perennial classic, this is one of those benchmark albums that every music-lover should own.

A great starter album for those that haven't heard anything by the great man yet, 04 Dec 2008
If you want to try the music of Neil Young then this is a good one to start with but beware, being a Neil Young fan is addictive and expensive although its also very rewarding. With over 30 solo albums to his name, plus being a part of Crosby, Nash, Stills and Young and Buffalo Springfield too, you've stumbled across one of the most prolific and brilliant singer-songwriters ever to grace our wonderful planet.

Released in 1970, this was Young's third solo album and the most succesful until the release of Harvest two years later. Many people class this as his best piece of work and its certainly his most complete studio album in my opinion.

The album went multi Platinum in the states and has appeared on a number of "greatest albums of all time" lists. As usual Young played many of the instruments on the album including guitar, piano, and harmonica and wrote all of the songs with the exception of Oh Lonesome Me which is an old Nashville number.

There are many great tracks on the album but the stand out tracks for me are After the Goldrush (one of my favourite tracks of all time) and Only Love Can Break Your Heart (US single).


Sublime!, 21 Oct 2008
This album was on constant play throughout an American road-trip of mine in a camper van from festival to festival, state to state, gradually heading westward to California. I was 18 at the time and the year was 1989. The start of the journey began at the Woodstock festival, twenty years on, (opened with a speech from Jimi Hendrix's father and a set by Richie Havens). As a consequence it is drenched in memories.

This album has it all. Steeped in the golden glow of the times, it covers many areas of being, heartache, visions, psychedelic thoughts, glimpses of pastoral idylls, all set within a hybrid of folk/country/rock that is distinctively Neil's own. His thin nasally voice is perfect throughout, the harmonies sublime, the quality of recording simultaneously sparse and lush in a way that you never find on digital media these days.

A classic, a slice of time frozen. If you only ever get one Neil Young album in your life, get this one. It's his best, and goes in my top ten favourite albums of all time.

Mother Nature on the run, 23 Apr 2008
After the Goldrush the song itself. Is a brilliant song, only 3 verses. The third verse is the most important with regard Mother Nature. I would advise people to read Arthur C Clarkes story called Childhoods End. Verse 3 of the Neil Young song puts that story into 5 lines:-
"Well I dreamed I saw the silver spaceships lying In the yellow haze of the sun
There were children Crying and Colours flying All around the Chosen ones
All in a dream all in a dream, the loading had begun
Flying Mother Natures silver seed to a new home in the Sun
Flying Mother Natures silver seed, to a new home."
A truly inspirational song and an album which shows great versatility and lasting power. Along with Harvest my favourite Neil Young Albums.

One of the very few classic rock albums that are actually classics., 10 Aug 2008
I am 17 year old and i'm a massive fan of heavy metal, I love most types of music from Heavy Metal to Blues to abit of Indie to Instrumental rock and all types of rock from 60s 70s and 80s. 2 of my friends who have similar taste in music as me really like Eric Clapton so I checked his greatest hits and that was brilliant. Then I decided to start my Cream selection and bought this and i love it.

This awesome rock/blues album was made famous by the song Sunshine Of Your Love, which is a brilliant song but there is more to this album then that song. The best song for me here is World Of Pain it's amazing and the vocals on this album are brilliant. In conclusion, this album is brilliant and should any music lovers collection whatever music you like buy it.

You need to buy this album, 10 Jul 2008
Chances are, if you've stumbled upon this page, then you know something about music. There are going to be people out there who have no interest in this album, but a lot of them will be people with a very narrow view on music, and tastes which fall into very specific confines. This album, however, is one of the most important and great albums in the history of popular music. Eric, Jack and Ginger, influenced by some of the greatest music released up until 1967, went into the studio for their second album together and recorded something that not only paid a respectful homage to the Blues legends, but something that stood near the forefront of the blossoming psychedelic scene. It remains today one of the great psychedelic albums, alongside "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" or "Electric Music For The Mind And Body," perhaps even the greatest, and its influence on popular music thereafter is immeasurable.
Of course, if your music collection consists entirely of electro-pop, or speed metal, it's worth noting that this album doesn't really fit into either of those genres. If, on the other hand, you appreciate many different kinds of music, or you're just a fan of Psychedelia or great Blues based Rock, then get it, I'm surprised you haven't already.

A great album, but some of the best tracks are unsatisfactory in stereo because of the drums , 08 Feb 2008
Hasn't anyone who has reviewed this apart from 'Top Cat' noticed how unnatural and lightweight the drums sound on many of these tracks when heard in stereo. The people at the record company who put out a deluxe edition in stereo AND MONO must have noticed.

40 years ago when I first got to know this it was a mono copy I had - on vinyl of course. When I acquired a CD copy some years ago at first I couldn't understand why I felt so let down but I soon realized that it was the stereo mix that was to blame; it was neither the quality of sound with the transfer to digital nor the music itself thankfully, although not having heard my old copy for some years, for a short time I was uncertain whether my old estimation of it had been correct. But no, when I was able to hear my old mono pressing again I found it was as good as ever, and there are not many things in rock I can say that about. It's still not as good as the best of their live recordings but I never thought it was. And it's not as good on CD, even in mono, as it is on vinyl, perhaps because a stereo cartridge playing a mono disc seems to give you a certain amount of right left separation, but it's still pretty good. See my review of the Deluxe Edition.
In referring to the stereo mix I am referring to all 3 stereo masterings that I have heard on CD, including the latest.
Heard in a mixture of mono and stereo I would give it 5 stars. The most important improvement made by listening in mono on certain tracks is the difference it makes to the drums. In stereo the drums are too isolated on the right and sound rather tentative and half-hearted. They just don't make sense in a way that makes a positive contribution to the music. They sound so light someone has described them as sounding as if Baker was using practice pads. But in mono they sound heavier and right, adding density and complexity. In stereo because they are in a separate world of their own they can sound predictably regular, and instead of being contrapuntal are just distracting. This is made worse because often the lead guitar is on the extreme left, as far away from the drums as possible. But Baker's genius for using offbeats in the bar to place his stresses, and for suspending stresses where you expect them to be is clear and effective when heard in mono. This is vital in Cream. Without it a lot of the tension and release of tension is lost.
What I have said applies to the 5 most important tracks on the album, namely Sunshine, Ulysses, SWLABR, Outside Woman Blues, and to a lesser extent We're Going Wrong. The rest of the tracks sound OK in stereo.
The stereo mix is just too wide for these crucial tracks, especially because of what happens to the drums. It's very sad this silly mistake was made and it really shouldn't be too difficult to put it right with another remastering.
I get to play things on a great many stereo systems and I have noticed that on some systems the stereo mix is not such a great problem and can at least be lived with, but systems like this are unusual.
Combining the right and left channels does not work with 'Disraeli Gears', as it does with 'Fresh Cream', as the drums just aren't quite loud enough in the stereo mix, and played in mono mode they are even less loud, even if they are better placed. There is no choice, therefore, but to get the Deluxe Edition with the original mono mix.



Simply the best album of my teen years!, 21 May 2006
If Cream recorded this album in 3 and a half days, what would it have been like given a week, or a fortnight? Maybe it would have been better, possibly, it might have been worse. Spontaneity was obviously a key factor, and this may be the reason it is an 'all time classic.' At 16 when it was released, I had the stereo copy even though the equipment used was mono, and I virtually wore it out with repeated playings. It was 'the album' of the era of Hippy-dom surrounding it, and 'tiny purple fishes runing laughing through your fingers' just about gave everyone exactly what they wanted should they be taking an LSD trip at the time. The first CD issue of this album was hastily undertaken, blatantly re-recorded from the master-tapes with little care, the background hiss of the tape source was annoyingly evident, yet perfect silence, as CD should be, between each track. Agreed, 'Mother's Lament' and 'Blue Condition' are perhaps not up to par with the other tracks, but they are a part of it, and the era, and to take them away, (rather like the mistake of adding other tracks from the same show as a later re-issue on The Who's Live At Leeds), it would ruin the whole concept of the album. There is yet another re-issue of this album on Amazon with both mono and stereo versions, plus Clapton singing 'Blue Condition,' so to those who find Ginger's vocal on this track a bit mournful, perhaps try this as an alternative. Couple this album with the 'Classic Albums' DVD where a much fuller picture can be gained about the songwriting and recording, along with comments by the band some 35 years later, and you have all you need to know about one of the best albums of all time.

Forgotten how good it is?, 06 Feb 2006
If you haven't done so recently put your CD of "Disraeli Gears" into your best hi-fi system, turn it up and play it straight through. Different... you bet. Not only does the incredibly rich sound just jump out of the speakers but the sheer power of the songs played back-to-back is quite stunning. That's what it was like when you originally bought the LP, and that's how it should be heard to remember why it's one of rock's "classic" albums. Best of all you can use the wonders of modern technology to skip over its two fairly serious aberrations, "Blue Condition" & "Mothers Lament", to end up with a superb set of genuinely progressive "psychedelia meets the blues" that, on the way, features some quite breathtaking interactions between three world class musicians.

If it's true that songwriters have a vision in their head of what their dream album would be, Electric Ladyland was the project Jimi Hendrix hoped would be as close to perfection as possible. No longer content with the rush-recorded psychedelic pop-rock of Experienced and Axis, Ladyland was an exploration of what could be achieved with time, money and experience. Jimi's soul roots from his session days shine through for the first time with the laid-back groove of the title track and the doo-woppy "Long Hot Summer Night" showing a vocal style reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield. It's hard to pick a standout piece as the quality of the album is so high, but the four-part dream segue of "Rainy Day", "1983", "Moon Turn the Tides" and "Still Raining" is a monumental piece of early prog rock continuing the acid-soaked ideal of extraterrestrials, love, peace and war that he started earlier on with "Third Stone from the Sun". However, it's not all spectacular drawn-out blues jams and sublime soundscapes, Electric Ladyland managed to produce Jimi's only UK No. 1 single, "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" plus the timeless classics "Crosstown Traffic" and "All Along the Watchtower" making it arguably the best studio album the Experience produced in their brief career together.--David Trueman

seminal and timeless! a must for all guitar lovers, 26 Dec 2008
This is a fantastic album. Clapton's playing from one so young (he was 21) and Mayall's singing and keyboards, and arrangements, are just spine-chilling. Best moments for me - Clapton's solo on "Have You heard" and the whole band/arrangement/composition "Double Crossing Time". Oh, and by the way, you get to hear Clapton's first lead vocal on record - "Ramblin on my Mind". Great band, great performances and SO well recorded - hats off to Mike Vernion and decca!
I first heard it in 1972 on a dansette "gramophone" and it an album I keep coming back to again and again. A "must have" album for any lover or student of electric guitar and blues.

Beyond brilliance, 05 Dec 2008
I first listened to this album when it was released during the 1960's
I was 17 years old and could not believe what I was hearing!
A truly ground breaking album that influenced most aspiring guitar players of that era.
The Bluesbreaker album features the young Eric Clapton at his best, in my opinion he has never surpassed the sublime guitar breaks on this album, he was truly inspired when this was recorded, with the great John Mayall's haunting vocals and keyboard skills, John Mcvie's bass work and Hughie Flint on drums, it is a brilliant piece of work.
If I was only allowed to own one CD, this would be it!



can you imagine..., 02 Mar 2007
I was going to mention Clapton's christening of the Les Paul, Marshall setup, but others have beaten me to it. I liken it's impact to what happened to harp playing when Little Walter and other's deciding to blow through the PA or an early guitar amp. They REDEFINED the sound of the instrument.

So all I'll add is the rhetorical question...can you imagine being a teenage Brit, having been reared on the sounds of the Beatles, Jerry and the Pacemakers, or even the Dave Clark Five, wandering into a London club because someone had recommended the Bluesbreakers, and hearing THIS STUFF? Probably as epiphanic as being a white guy in mid 50's Chicago and having the nerve to wander into the Dew Drop Inn and hearing Muddy, Wolf, or later, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. Simply put, a life changing experience.

The most important guitar album of all time!, 08 Feb 2007
The best guitar player of the time on top of his game. Classic tracks. The perfect combination of guitar and amp. Incredible solos... Listening to this album it is easy to see why rock took the directions it did. This is the blueprint for pretty much every rock/blues album that followed, and in my opinion the closest Clapton ever got to this ever again is on Layla... This is Essential.

The album that changed my life., 28 May 2006
On a week's holiday with my parent's in Littlehampton in Sussex during the summer of '66, as ever, I found a record shop. Without much money as I was still at school, (just), I had the choice, in my mind anyway, between two albums; The Mother's Of Invention's 'Freakout,' and 'Bluesbreakers.' Maybe there had been a lot of publicity at the time about 'Freakout,' I can't remember, but for some reason I was torn between which one to buy. Probably the fact that I was a Yardbirds fan and had listened to 'Five Live' a great deal made up my mind, and I plumped for 'Bluesbreakers.' It was to be the wisest move and the best purchase I ever made. As a then, and still now, 'would-be' guitarist, this album, for its time in rock history, had everything you wanted and more, and has pretty much stayed that way over the ensuing years. To play with this degree of skill and feeling at Clapton's age of 21 at the time, was and is incredible. At 15, he was almost an old man to me being 6 years older, yet even so, the bluesmen I had heard were in their 30's and over, (really old men!), and even now this album begs the question "Why was Clapton so great at such a young age?" We will never know, and if put to the question, probably neither would he? It was just something he was drawn to and did, and has had the good fortune to do so for the rest of his life. If you're a guitarist, Clapton fan, blues enthusiast, whatever, and you don't own this album, simply buy it now - it will remain a classic for as long as planet Earth keeps turning.

Harvest - cream of the crop., 12 Nov 2008
This is one of those classic albums that everyone has to own, and it is a very special record.

There are so many brilliant songs on this album; personal favourites are Out On The Weekend, Heart Of Gold and Old Man, but every track is just as brilliant as the previous and next.

The overall feel is just mellow and relaxed in terms of musical arrangement and vocal delivery, but the lyrics are intense in their depths of heartfelt emotion.

It sounds too simple to be this good, with very modest and unassuming instruments and a harmonica, which adds to the feel of the heart of the American countryside/prairies.

This album may be 36 years old but it still sounds so fresh and is still relevant now.

King Harvest (Has Surely Come), 23 Oct 2008
Like another reviewer in these pages, once upon a time I too was quick to dismiss Neil Young, but now I wear the sackcloth and ashes and berate myself for not picking up on his vibe sooner. This is a stunningly good and deceptively easy album to listen to. I bought it in a job lot, with several other albums by NY, and for weeks and weeks now I have woken up and gone to sleep listening to nothing else but 'Harvest' 'After The Goldrush' 'On The Beach' 'Tonight's The Night' 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' and 'Greatest Hits', knowing that sooner or later the hook of 'Old Man' and 'Heart Of Gold' (songs I've always loved) would eventually place the key in my hand that would unlock the beauty and genius of this man. I love all these mentioned above, and I am buying more at the weekend: 'Zuma' and 'Comes A Time' and 'Harvest Moon'. I have to say, much as I love the others, this album goes way beyond praise: it is up there with (in my book) 'Astral Weeks' 'What's Going On' 'The Gilded Palace Of Sin' 'Blood On The Tracks' and several others I could name. Why didn't I get it all those years ago? Because Young is not a conventional songwriter in one sense; lyrically, all his albums seem to comprise of one never-ending travelogue through the dreams, aspirations and wreckage of the generations, which is all more grist to his mill, as he is able to sonically sculpt the most amazing and simple tunes and wrest the heart and soul from passing moments. I could not recommend this album higher.

And what a harvest!, 18 Aug 2008
An astonishing work. Merely one of the many gems that are scattered throughout Young's career. Rather than waxing lyrical about this album, it is better just to say that I can't think of a single second on this ambum that isn't sheer quality. A couple of years ago I lived with a group of people that only listened to house music. I leant this to one of them, and before the end of the week our whole house had turned into Neil Young converts. Next to Bob Dylan, Young is one of the greatest artists of all time. A prolifically creative genius.

Enjoy.

Peerless Genius., 14 Apr 2008
Okay. Pub argument Number 120. Who is the greatest song-writer ever? Dylan, Lennon and McCartney are all in with a shout. Brian Wilson, Kurt Cobain, Roger Waters, the list goes on. But seriously, how could anyone take this title other than Neil Young. I mean it, this guy is so good, it defies belief.

I did try to collect a few Neil Young albums a few years back. In time they disappeared or got sold, and I continued to listen to all sorts of mindless rubbish (what the hell was I supposed to know, I was only a punk kid). But over the last few years i've come to the conclusion that not only is Neil Young far better than even people think he is, but even amongst the elite, he's virtually untouchable.

Don't believe me? Then listen again. Every single song on 'Harvest' is masterful. Honestly, not a single note is wasted anywhere. My favourites are probably 'A Man Needs A Maid', a touching ballad about then-girlfriend Carrie Snodgress, 'Needle And The Damage Done', concerning heroin addicted rock musicians and 'Old Man', a song about old and young lives being similar.

But whatever the merits of the rest of the album, it's 'Heart Of Gold' that remains Young's masterpiece. His only number one single and the fan's firm favourite, a beautifully soft ballad that for me, is endlessly re-listenable.

If there's one thing I hate, it's hyperbole. But for 'Harvest' i'll make an exception. And if William Blake was a rock star, he'd be Neil Young. He really is that good.

So to conclude, there are great song-writers, and then there's Neil Young. And anyone who wants to disagree had better step outside.



Golden Harvest, 11 Apr 2008
I'm sure many people waited eagerly for this release and I was certainly one of them. The fear was that it would be a huge disappointment after Goldrush - well it wasn't. Harvest has taken on almost a mythical feel over the years.

Many consider it his best work and certainly it met with critical acclaim and is still talked of today. When Young releases a low key, tuneful album it is always described as "The New Harvest" and the composer also references the album many times in his subsequent offerings.

It was more progressive than Goldrush. To me the songs aren't quite so effective but there is no denying the power and beauty of an album that once again contained some outstanding music with the likes of "Harvest", "A Man Needs a Maid" "Heart of Gold" (I can hear you singing it now and two songs with much stronger messages "Old Man" and a foray into drug culture "The Needle and the Damage Done."

The only question on the lips of Young fans were "where does he go from here and can he produce a trio of essential albums?"

simply the best, 25 Dec 2008
Got this for £2.98 useing freemp3s
Puts Itunes To Shame
Great Price, All Songs 5 Stars

the best jimi hendrix compilation he is the bomb!!, 20 Jul 2008
what a legend this is the best jimi hendrix compilation cd its fantastic love the wind cries mary,vodoo child,red house,all along the watchtower,and more u2 ruined the song all along the watchtower hate u2!! bonos voice annoying like bruce springsteen rubbish jimi hendrix had a good and unique talent before his time with the phcadelic thing!! its some trip elecric ladyland need i say more anouther album from the 60s i like was hey love by the rotary connection featuring the legend minnie riperton she is cool!! and the beatles dusty springfield aretha franklin ray charles all had at least one good album from the 60s there legends i also recommend nuggetts 60s phcadelic rock compilation cd its cool!! buy this its fab jimi hendrix R.I.P

Pure Guitar Genius!, 10 Apr 2008
Jimi was the first real experimenter with the then new fangled electronic gadgetry associated with electric guitar and guitar effects, and the first man to actually try to make a guitar talk! In '69 at the Albert Hall, The Experience were superb. Ever seen a guitar player playing the background and melody both at the same time on one guitar left handed? This was Hendrix! Absolute genius!! If any musician ever deserved legendary status it was Jimi. Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding too were superb artists in their own right in The Experience. Although better guitarists have come, and gone, nobody has been as revolutionary on electric guitar as Jimi was. Always striving to exceed the limits of the technology back then, and with such wonderful songs, I really miss him. On this album you can hear just how good. Favourite? Little Wing. It is such a short tune, but always fills me up inside almost to tears. Jimi always was and always will be special. Get this compilation to find out just how special.

Voodoo Chile, 18 Dec 2007
I own this album, its got to be probably my most played album.
I jam along to it, I can listen to it. I have some of Jimi's stuff, you know the original albums etc, but this compilation just for me is what Jimi was all about.
A must have, every one should have this CD in their collection.

the guy who invented the heavy metal guitar, 03 Nov 2007
i really miss jimi hendrix he was a great guitar player and would be one of my favorite guitar players of all time. he invented the great heavy metal guitar and he was a great one for a beginner. i'm so sad that he's been dead for a long time. i love this compilation, my favorite hit from the album is voodoo child that is some of his best guitar. purple haize and all along the watchtower are my other favorites. i also like the wind cries mary, fire, hey joe, and foxy lady too. it is highly recommended to get this cd.

Rush to buy this album...it's pure gold., 22 Dec 2008
This is classic Neil Young, at his finest, with an album full of songs which are well composed and which have meaningful, interesting lyrics delivered with feeling and sincerity.

Most people who get as far as reading this review will know the songs Don't Let It Bring You Down and Only Love Can Break Your Heart, which are the best tracks on this record, but there are none which aren't good.

This is essential listening for any fan of Neil Young and of American folk-pop-rock music. It's one of his finest albums.

One of Rock's Benchmark Albums, 20 Dec 2008
As any Neil Young fan will tell you, you're somewhat spoilt for choice in picking out his best work but the fact that many of his albums tend to be either predominantly acoustic or electric may help to narrow down the choice - if you have a personal preference. If you're like me though, it doesn't help, especially when it comes to After the Goldrush! I often think of it as an "electric" album, because the wonderful rockers "Southern Man" and "When You Dance (I can really love)" etch themselves so deeply into one's musical memory but in fact it's predominantly acoustic, with some very nice fingerpick guitar and piano work. Full of beautiful melody and intriguing lyrics, the songs range in style from the plaintive, tear-jerking Birds, through the jaunty Cripple Creek Ferry, to the storming guitar-crunching rock of the aforementioned Southern Man and When You Dance. A perennial classic, this is one of those benchmark albums that every music-lover should own.

A great starter album for those that haven't heard anything by the great man yet, 04 Dec 2008
If you want to try the music of Neil Young then this is a good one to start with but beware, being a Neil Young fan is addictive and expensive although its also very rewarding. With over 30 solo albums to his name, plus being a part of Crosby, Nash, Stills and Young and Buffalo Springfield too, you've stumbled across one of the most prolific and brilliant singer-songwriters ever to grace our wonderful planet.

Released in 1970, this was Young's third solo album and the most succesful until the release of Harvest two years later. Many people class this as his best piece of work and its certainly his most complete studio album in my opinion.

The album went multi Platinum in the states and has appeared on a number of "greatest albums of all time" lists. As usual Young played many of the instruments on the album including guitar, piano, and harmonica and wrote all of the songs with the exception of Oh Lonesome Me which is an old Nashville number.

There are many great tracks on the album but the stand out tracks for me are After the Goldrush (one of my favourite tracks of all time) and Only Love Can Break Your Heart (US single).


Sublime!, 21 Oct 2008
This album was on constant play throughout an American road-trip of mine in a camper van from festival to festival, state to state, gradually heading westward to California. I was 18 at the time and the year was 1989. The start of the journey began at the Woodstock festival, twenty years on, (opened with a speech from Jimi Hendrix's father and a set by Richie Havens). As a consequence it is drenched in memories.

This album has it all. Steeped in the golden glow of the times, it covers many areas of being, heartache, visions, psychedelic thoughts, glimpses of pastoral idylls, all set within a hybrid of folk/country/rock that is distinctively Neil's own. His thin nasally voice is perfect throughout, the harmonies sublime, the quality of recording simultaneously sparse and lush in a way that you never find on digital media these days.

A classic, a slice of time frozen. If you only ever get one Neil Young album in your life, get this one. It's his best, and goes in my top ten favourite albums of all time.

Mother Nature on the run, 23 Apr 2008
After the Goldrush the song itself. Is a brilliant song, only 3 verses. The third verse is the most important with regard Mother Nature. I would advise people to read Arthur C Clarkes story called Childhoods End. Verse 3 of the Neil Young song puts that story into 5 lines:-
"Well I dreamed I saw the silver spaceships lying In the yellow haze of the sun
There were children Crying and Colours flying All around the Chosen ones
All in a dream all in a dream, the loading had begun
Flying Mother Natures silver seed to a new home in the Sun
Flying Mother Natures silver seed, to a new home."
A truly inspirational song and an album which shows great versatility and lasting power. Along with Harvest my favourite Neil Young Albums.

One of the very few classic rock albums that are actually classics., 10 Aug 2008
I am 17 year old and i'm a massive fan of heavy metal, I love most types of music from Heavy Metal to Blues to abit of Indie to Instrumental rock and all types of rock from 60s 70s and 80s. 2 of my friends who have similar taste in music as me really like Eric Clapton so I checked his greatest hits and that was brilliant. Then I decided to start my Cream selection and bought this and i love it.

This awesome rock/blues album was made famous by the song Sunshine Of Your Love, which is a brilliant song but there is more to this album then that song. The best song for me here is World Of Pain it's amazing and the vocals on this album are brilliant. In conclusion, this album is brilliant and should any music lovers collection whatever music you like buy it.

You need to buy this album, 10 Jul 2008
Chances are, if you've stumbled upon this page, then you know something about music. There are going to be people out there who have no interest in this album, but a lot of them will be people with a very narrow view on music, and tastes which fall into very specific confines. This album, however, is one of the most important and great albums in the history of popular music. Eric, Jack and Ginger, influenced by some of the greatest music released up until 1967, went into the studio for their second album together and recorded something that not only paid a respectful homage to the Blues legends, but something that stood near the forefront of the blossoming psychedelic scene. It remains today one of the great psychedelic albums, alongside "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" or "Electric Music For The Mind And Body," perhaps even the greatest, and its influence on popular music thereafter is immeasurable.
Of course, if your music collection consists entirely of electro-pop, or speed metal, it's worth noting that this album doesn't really fit into either of those genres. If, on the other hand, you appreciate many different kinds of music, or you're just a fan of Psychedelia or great Blues based Rock, then get it, I'm surprised you haven't already.

A great album, but some of the best tracks are unsatisfactory in stereo because of the drums , 08 Feb 2008
Hasn't anyone who has reviewed this apart from 'Top Cat' noticed how unnatural and lightweight the drums sound on many of these tracks when heard in stereo. The people at the record company who put out a deluxe edition in stereo AND MONO must have noticed.

40 years ago when I first got to know this it was a mono copy I had - on vinyl of course. When I acquired a CD copy some years ago at first I couldn't understand why I felt so let down but I soon realized that it was the stereo mix that was to blame; it was neither the quality of sound with the transfer to digital nor the music itself thankfully, although not having heard my old copy for some years, for a short time I was uncertain whether my old estimation of it had been correct. But no, when I was able to hear my old mono pressing again I found it was as good as ever, and there are not many things in rock I can say that about. It's still not as good as the best of their live recordings but I never thought it was. And it's not as good on CD, even in mono, as it is on vinyl, perhaps because a stereo cartridge playing a mono disc seems to give you a certain amount of right left separation, but it's still pretty good. See my review of the Deluxe Edition.
In referring to the stereo mix I am referring to all 3 stereo masterings that I have heard on CD, including the latest.
Heard in a mixture of mono and stereo I would give it 5 stars. The most important improvement made by listening in mono on certain tracks is the difference it makes to the drums. In stereo the drums are too isolated on the right and sound rather tentative and half-hearted. They just don't make sense in a way that makes a positive contribution to the music. They sound so light someone has described them as sounding as if Baker was using practice pads. But in mono they sound heavier and right, adding density and complexity. In stereo because they are in a separate world of their own they can sound predictably regular, and instead of being contrapuntal are just distracting. This is made worse because often the lead guitar is on the extreme left, as far away from the drums as possible. But Baker's genius for using offbeats in the bar to place his stresses, and for suspending stresses where you expect them to be is clear and effective when heard in mono. This is vital in Cream. Without it a lot of the tension and release of tension is lost.
What I have said applies to the 5 most important tracks on the album, namely Sunshine, Ulysses, SWLABR, Outside Woman Blues, and to a lesser extent We're Going Wrong. The rest of the tracks sound OK in stereo.
The stereo mix is just too wide for these crucial tracks, especially because of what happens to the drums. It's very sad this silly mistake was made and it really shouldn't be too difficult to put it right with another remastering.
I get to play things on a great many stereo systems and I have noticed that on some systems the stereo mix is not such a great problem and can at least be lived with, but systems like this are unusual.
Combining the right and left channels does not work with 'Disraeli Gears', as it does with 'Fresh Cream', as the drums just aren't quite loud enough in the stereo mix, and played in mono mode they are even less loud, even if they are better placed. There is no choice, therefore, but to get t