Retro Spins: Eric Clapton - Journeyman

Hey, we made it to July 1 with a Retro Spin every single day so far. That's half a year wrapped up with daily Retro Spins!

For his final 80's studio album, Eric Clapton moved away from his prior two collaborations with Phil Collins, and instead utilized producer Russ Titelman exclusively. I do like me some Phil Collins, and I think his heavy influence on 1985's Behind The Sun, and 1986's August were major contributors to my enjoyment of those albums. Would this fare well for the artists 1989 released Journeyman? Well, there's one way to find out.

One thing I will say, is that I'm both shocked and surprised that the opening tracks for his past few albums have featured an opener that I had completely forgotten about from the 80's. I think my jaded prior opinion of Clapton worked against me to block out his contributions to that era, and this resulted in me really missing out. I'm glad, at this point, that I opted that one day at the used CD shop to grab his 80's discography. Though I saw it as a waste of money at the time, it has definitely panned out as worth it.

Forgotten gems included Pretending, and Bad Love. However, that's about all that this one had to offer me. The sound, overall, was very slow ballad driven, or pure rhythm and blues. Both are not my preferred style.

As such, Journeyman, or rather, my review of it, can be relatively short. I grabbed two tunes from it, and am passing on the rest. With that, my Eric Clapton comes to an end. It started out drab (Another Ticket), shifted course slightly (Money And Cigarettes) built up momentum (Behind The Sun) before peaking (August), then fizzled out (Journeyman).

Overall, it was worth it. Like I said above, I'm glad I opted that one day at the used CD shop to grab his 80's discography. I discovered some forgotten hits, and even picked a few more on the way. I can't hate on that.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
July 1, 1989

 

Retro Spins: Eric Clapton - August

Phil Collins returns to the collaboration table to produce, and once again provide multiple instrumentation and backing vocals. These helped in making yesterday's album, Behind The Sun better than I expected, but does this moment transfer to 1986's August?

By 1986, most 80's artists were still at the top of their game, though admittedly, many of them were shifting musical styles. Take Duran Duran for example, who by their 1986 Notorious release had shifted from bubblegum pop to a more mature sound. Michael Jackson was in the studio working on his 1987 Bad album, with Prince deeply working on what would become his opus, Sign O' The Times. Basically, what I'm saying is that 1986 / 1987 were periods where great artists dialed in, and released some of their best. Does this occur with Clapton?

If the opening track is any inclination, then right off the bat, I'd say yes. It's In The Way That You Use It is yet another massive song from Clapton that I'd completely forgotten about. In general, I'm discovering that I've forgotten more of his songs than I actually remember.

Turning to the Wiki page, I got pretty excited for what August should be offering. A duet with Tina Turner, a track which Michael Jackson allegedly worked on for potential use on Thriller, songs written by Motown legend Lamont Dozier, and of course, to mention it again, heavy collaboration with Phil Collins.

Run, and Hung Up On Your Love, were very apparent as the ones which Dozier wrote. The Motown sound is very much so present throughout them. Play them both. You'll know what I mean immediately when you hear it. Good stuff.

I had high hopes for the Tina Turner duet, Tearing Us Apart. Something along the lines of her and Bryan Adam's It's Only Love. Something were Clapton can cook on guitars, while Turner belts her traditional sound. While it's somewhat present, sadly, the song itself just isn't good. Mediocre at best. It's kind of a waste of Turner's talent. I did end up adding it to my shuffle list, but only for novelty purposes.

August offered some good stuff. By track four, I had added every single one to my shuffle. Of course, this included the aforementioned Tina Turner duet, so I won't say it was a solid consecutive run. There were also a few more in there that I nabbed, such as Hung Up On Your Love, Miss You, Holy Mother, Behind The Mask, and Grand Illusion, the latter exclusive to the CD release. Overall, it was enjoyable.

Let's upgrade Eric Clapton in my book from okay to good. He's growing on me. I can see now, based on my playthrough to date of August, how and why he became as renowned as he was. There is good material on his albums...well, the 80's ones I've heard so far. From this point on, my perspective of him won't be so harsh, but we also have one more album to go, 1989's Journeyman. I'm not going to give him a pass. I'll reserve judgements and opinions of that one upon hearing it...you know, tomorrow.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
June 30, 1984

 

Retro Spins: Eric Clapton - Behind The Sun

With yesterday's review of Eric Clapton's Money And Cigarettes, I had a bit of hopes that things would stay on par, or perhaps get better. This leads me to today's post, and listening session of 1985's Behind The Sun.

What I will say before diving in is that my absolute favorite song from Clapton, Heaven Is One Step Away, was released this same year on the Back To The Future soundtrack. Not only was I hoping this tune would be on the album, it wasn't, but that as a whole, Behind The Sun would have a familiar sound to that of the single.

Reading the liner notes, I also got excited to see that Phil Collins contributed extensively to the album, both as a producer, and musician on multiple instruments, as well as backing vocals. Okay, this was setting the stage, and high expectations. If there was one thing Collins could do in 1985, it was create massive hits.

Siked up, I dove in, being treated immediately to a tune I had forgotten about, She's Waiting. Now, don't get me wrong here. While I say I remember it, that's not to be misconstrued as necessary liking it. In fact, that seemed to the trend with this album. Songs I had forgotten about, such as the cover of Eddie Floyd's Knock On Wood. Again, familiar, but not necessarily a favorite.

It was very noticeable that Clapton was focusing on guitar solos on Sun. There are moments where he just jams out, and these are cool. Like I've said before, he's a solid guitar player. It's his lyrics, and overall style of rhythm and blues that don't really work for my personal tastes.

Behind The Sun's strongest point is that it features Clapton's number one hit, Forever Man, which at first I didn't recognize with the opening guitar. However, once the vocals started, I gave an audible, "Yes!" For a brief moment in time, I was actually excited about hearing one of his albums. Good stuff, for sure! The guitars in that track are so slick and polished.

Tunes picked up from here with It All Depends, and Tangled In Love keeping me invested. However, this momentum would crash with the very slow, very monotonous Never Make You Cry. Poised to drone on for six (plus) minutes, I finally skipped it around the four minute mark. 

Things did pick up briefly with Just Like A Prisoner, mainly for the vocal style, and guitar work. However, the title track itself, which closes everything out, was mediocre, at best.

We'll call Behind The Sun decent. Good enough to keep me going through the remaining 80's albums from Clapton with minimal grumbling, for now.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
June 29, 1985

Retro Spins: Eric Clapton - Money And Cigarettes

It's important when curating a collection of, well, anything, that you masterfully craft it. Don't but stuff simply because you need to complete something. Otherwise, you may end up with something the equivalent of an entire 80's discography of Eric Clapton. Mmm boy, I sure am ecstatic.

Can you feel the sarcasm?

Firing up Clapton's 1983 Money And Cigarettes, and my second venture into his music, I was immediately greeted by the same sound which promptly turned me off of his prior release, Another Ticket. It was at this point that I thought, "Maybe I should just cut my loses, and move on." But, no. I stayed the course, and I'm kind of glad I did. If for nothing else, tracks, Ain't Going Down, I've Got A Rock 'N' Roll Heart, Slow Down Linda, Crazy Country Hop, and Man Overboard. Despite being a ballad, Pretty Girl were okay.

While I'd love to say I turned into a massive fan, that would be a lie. Granted, I at least wasn't disappointed anymore. I was getting something for my purchase. Money And Cigarettes gets a golf clap for being better than Another Ticket. Sure, I'll even go so far as to say it's okay. Does it leave me excited to continue on through his albums? Not really, but I will.

What I will also give credit to Clapton for is his guitar work. The man can play, I won't deny that. I just don't see him as a master songwriter. His tunes aren't catchy (to me), and like I said, the overall style just isn't my thing. I don't see myself walking down the street...I mean, you can pretty much end that statement there...exercise...gross...but, to elaborate, I don't see myself walking down the street humming anything from the man.

But, I have three more albums to go. Will things change? I suppose it's possible. Other than that, this one is a relatively short and sweet post.

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THE WEEK ON THE CHARTS
June 28, 1980

 

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
June 28, 1986

Retro Spins: Eric Clapton - Another Ticket

I don't know if this happens to you, general collector's of things, or if it's just me. One day, I just get a hair up my butt that I want something, and must have it then and now. Never mind that I'm not necessarily a fan of it, or on any other day of the week would have even given said subject matter another thought. This is how I ended up with G1 Transformers, Real Ghostbusters, and more relatable to this post, a lot of CD's. 

One day, while perusing my local CD shop, I came across the Eric Clapton section, and found the majority of his 80's albums tucked within the shelf. Mind you, I don't like the artist. I couldn't name a song beyond Layla that I would honestly give a moment of time to listen to. Even then I would turn it off when it got to the long winded, and allegedly plagiarized piano section.

As far as I'm concerned, the guy had a lucky moment in the 70's where he became relevant with Cream, but then never went away. Lucky us? Yet, here I was, scooping up relatively cheap Clapton albums, fleshing out an entire discography of 80's albums.

Well, now that I have them, I have to listen to them...ugh. Well, let's get this ball of garbage rolling.

We start with 1981's Another Ticket...see, here's how much I care about this. I don't even know the album's name. As I started typing it out, I almost put "Ticket To Ride".

By track two, I had my fill of rhythm and blues, and was wondering if it was over already. It wasn't. There were seven left to go. What was this nonsense? I felt like I was stuck in that one scene from Adventures In Babysitting.

Seriously, and also, who names their album after a slow and monotonous track? Another Ticket, the song, is about as enjoyable as watching paint dry. Just when I thought that bashing my own head in with a bat would be a reasonable solution to my problem, I Can't Stand It came on. Yeah, you and me both, Clapton. Fortunately, this was a forgotten tune for me from the era that once played the airwaves of my yesterdays.

Putting the bat down moments from impact, I thought, "Hmm...Maybe this will get better now?" Well...I now...hospital...head trauma...no do can think more good no more. To summarize, Another Ticket, no thank you. I Can't Stand It, and Rita Mae were tolerable. The rest was a hard pass.

Ugh...four more albums to go...

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
June 27, 1981

 

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
June 27, 1987