Clapton's "Complete Clapton" is an outstanding double CD collection that I would give anyone who had heard of Eric Clapton, but didn't have any of his music. It is an economical collection that is fairly representative of his music, but it is nowhere near a comprehensive collection of his music. With music from his work with Cream, Blind Faith, Derek & the Dominos, and his solo work, including tracks with B.B. King and J.J. Cale, I found this a great CD to have in my car in addition to all the other Clapton CD's I have.

What I enjoy about it most of all is a sense that this is what "he" wanted out on the streets when his autobiography was published. Looking through my collection of Eric Clapton CD's, I am amazed by the sheer amount of work he has issued, with a copy of "Cream of Clapton" and "Clapton Chronicles" serving as chapter dividers around 1995 and 1999.

But, what if you are a true fan of Clapton and you really want to have a definitive collection of his work, what CD's can you purchase now that will give you a true sense of the groups he played with and how his music evolved over the years? Personally, I would have "Crossroads

," a four CD Boxed-Set compilation of his earlier work with heavy doses of his work with the Yardbirds, Mayall, and Cream, and later solo work up to the mid 1980's. Another collection, that I don't have, but it has more of his earlier work with groups you never knew he performed with, and several tunes he played with Jimmy Page, is "Clapton is God,"

a four CD collection that is an import from England.

A second box-set I would have would be the Derek and the Dominos 20th Anniversary one,

that has an extra 2.5 hours of recordings that feature Eric playing along with Duane Allman. This is a great set of recordings. The third CD collection I would have to be representative of his work would be either the "Clapton Chronicles"

or "Complete Clapton" because they both have two of his better commercial successes, "Forever Man" and "It's In the Way You Use It" along with several of his "unplugged" work, "Layla" and "Tears in Heaven."

All-in-all, "Complete Clapton" is a great double CD for someone who doesn't have any Clapton music, and I wouldn't hesitate buying it to have in my car or as a gift for those in your life who are musically challenged.

I don't own any Clapton except "Derek and the Dominoes" and the "Best of Cream" so songs 1-5 and 9-10 on CD1 duplicate what I have, but this 2 CD set is perfect for me who doesn't like Slowhand enough to invest in his solo CDs. CD1 is 79:49! and CD2 is 76:16. All the great stuff is here including the original "Layla" from 1970 and the unplugged version from 1992. The other ballads "Bell Bottom Blues", "Wonderful Tonight" and "Tears In Heaven" (studio version) are here as are the sweeping epics such as "Presence of the Lord," "Let It Rain" and "Let It Grow." The Clapton I don't like because they bore me such as "Lay Down Sally," "Cocaine," "I Shot the Sheriff," and "Promises" are also here, but how can these not be included? This to me was his worst period and yet these songs are probably what he is best known for. CD1 closes strong with "I Can't Stand It" and CD2 has some great stuff, especially "Forever Man" and the very catchy cover of "Motherless Child." And I love "Riding With the King" with B.B. King and the great covers of Robert Johnson blues tunes "Sweet Home Chicago" and "If I Had Possession..." These 2 songs just kick! And by the way, the 5 Cream songs on CD1 are the best 5 they did. The bass and piano on "Badge" are superb and the all-too-brief guitar solo on this song rings out with beautiful clarity.

For those who complain about re-issues and duplication, you have to ask yourself this: Given the limitation of a 2 CD package, what would you put on to represent the career of a musical icon like Clapton? This CD fulfills that and surpasses, especially with the remastering and length of each CD, any other previous collection of similar or smaller size. It's pointless to compare this to a larger boxed set. So, if you only need 2 CDs of Clapton, then get this. I would have called it "Clapton Collection" because only 2 CD's for this guy could never be "complete" but who cares about the title? Plus, they didn't muck it up by including a lot of live or demo versions. You get the real studio stuff at full lengths, plus 2 live classics from the unplugged album.

This is THE perfect 2 CD compilation.

If you're a compilation producer and your next project is Eric Clapton, the first thing you gotta ask yourself is "Do I go for a complete career retrospective including all of the bands Clapton has worked with, or do I stick to only the solo recordings?" The smart money is on the former, but to truly do justice with that approach you would need a boxed set. An excellent boxed set,

was released many years ago which fills that need, but perhaps it should've been updated. If it were me, I would choose the latter approach. I would fill two discs with all of Clapton's solo work since any self-respecting classic rock fan will already own

or

, along with

. Since that frees me up with quite a bit more room, I would select "Willie & The Hand Jive", "Watch Out For Lucy", "Blues Power", "Tulsa Time", "The Shape You're In", "Tearing Us Apart" and "Before You Accuse Me" to truly make a collection that is "complete".

COMPLETE CLAPTON

I have always been a fan of Eric's but my interest was renewed after we adopted our newest Greyhound girl, Leyla. We have been walking around singing LAYLA to her over and over again. I finally had to own this CD.

What a good move. This CD is LOADED and I mean LOADED with the best of the best. The vocals, the music, everything is just perfect. This is classic rock and roll, along with all of Clapton's hits. There are 36 cuts on this CD including some by CREAM, BLIND FAITH and DEREK and the DOMINOS.

The Cream cuts include I FEEL FREE, SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE, and my personal favorite by them, WHITE ROOM. Derek and the Dominos treat us with BELL BOTTOM BLUES and, of course, LAYLA.

Everyone's favorites are here too -- CHANGE THE WORLD, TEARS IN HEAVEN, MY FATHER'S EYES, and LAY DOWN SALLY. Who wouldn't love this CD?

Eric Clapton can rock and roll. His vocals and guitar work are out of this world. This is one CD I am so glad to add to my collection. And Leyla our Greyhound is happy to listen to it repeatedly too!

This is a must have CD!

Thank you!

Pam

Well, I rate it very good, like most of the songs, the quality of the recordings are good. Surely you should buy, I recommend to everyone.