Review number 96. Specially for the asking price, this twenty track compilation of Cream's repertoire is an absolute must-have for any true patron - being casual, die-hards or even young / new fans. This CD freaking smokes! Tunes that I might often find myself looking forward to the most while listening to this CD while on the way to a show, work, etc. are "I Feel Free", "I'm So Glad", "Tales Of Brave Ulysses" (one of my personal Cream favorites), "Politician" and "Crossroads". Highly recommended.

Before going any further with this review I want you to just stop and look at everything that is in the room you are currently in. Even if you're not at home and you're on your laptop just look at everything that is in your view. Don't judge it. Just look at everything with a kind of detached attitude. Just observe everything that is in your sight and acknowledge that it is a part of your life. You put it there. You created it.

Common sense will tell you this is true. If it wasn't part of your life, it wouldn't be there. But it is there and that is why it's in your life at the moment...

"Uh, this is all very well and good, but what does this have to do with anything? I just came here to decide if whether or not I should buy the Very Best of Cream..."

Oh, my friend, it has everything to do with it. Because at this very moment you are about to make a decision that will affect your entire life and the lives of everyone on the planet. We are all interconnected. we are all One. What affects the individual, affects the collective.

"Dude, you are trippin' me out. I just wanna buy a flippin' CD..."

Of course you do...on a human level of things...but on a soul level, you want to buy something that you think will contribute to your overall enjoyment of Life. You think - and correctly, I might add - that this CD will cause you to feel good and when you feel good, you send these good feelings out into the universe affecting every single one of us.

Now, go back to the things that you observed in the room you are in. You created everything that is in your life up to this moment. You let certain things become a part of your existence. Even if you live in a room full of Salvation Army furniture, you let these things become a part of your life and if just one thing were different, you'd be different, and if you were different, the world would be, as well.

All of these tiny pieces, all these miniscule moments go into the making of a Whole and Holy Life.

You're pretty darn amazing, man, you are one heck of a creator.

So, now you want to get this CD. You're mulling it over in your mind. You or deciding if whether or not you should spend the money on yourself or on your Aunt Bess. Afterall, it is the Holiday Season. But then again, Aunt Bess has Alzheiner's. She thinks she's a tuna sandwich. Her mind is gone, man. You know it...I know it. Just give her a rock. Tell her it's from an African Priestess and that it will increase her libido. She won't know.

C'mon, it's Christmas...give the poor woman some hope!

So you go in the backyard and find a rock and then you go back online and order the Very Best of Cream. You order it because has some incredible music on it. You order it because the magical happened when Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, and Ginger Baker kept their Divine Appointment with destiny and created timeless music that awakens the mind, stirs the spirit, and frees the heart.

You know that Badge, Crossroads, Sunshine Of Your Love, I Feel free, and the Tales of Brave Ulysses' are not just classic 60s soundtracks, they are songs that the rock 'n roll gods breathed new life into causing music to roll back the stoneand ascend from the dead.

"Oh, man...I gotta get this!"

Of course you do, dude. Of course you do.

And in a few days, your Aunt will have her magic rock and you also will have Magic Rock. It will absorb itself into the very atoms of your existence causing you to feel lighter and happier and more at peace and not only will your life will change, but the entire world will, as well.

And it's all because you bought this incredible CD.

Can't you feel it, man? Wars will stop, peace will reign, love will reconnect us with Mother Earth and Father Sky, the stars will realign with the forces of good all because you bought this CD instead of that stupid ugly aqua-blue sweater you saw at the Salvation Army for your Aunt Bess. I, on behalf of the entire universe, thank you for such a wise, life altering decision.

Rock on....

Peace & Blessings, everyone!

John, "the Light Coach"

Probably one of the best comp. CDs you can buy if you are interested in psychedelic rock, Eric Clapton, classic rock, blues-rock, or any and all of the above. This famous band, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce, which formed in the mid 1960s and broke up in the late 1960s, managed to produce some studio albums, couple of live albums, and some flatout psychedelic staples that would prove both enormously popular and enormously influential.

Cream, like any great band, was also wonderfully versatile. Not only did they do blues and hard-rock, but they did gentle lilting ballads and psychedelic jams. "Spoonful", the old Willie Dixon song, is remade into an epic, acid-blues track here. "Tales of Brave Ulysses" turns Homer on his head. "Politician" has one of my al ltime favorite Clapton riffs. "Wrapping Paper", the band's first single, is also sedate but great fun to sing along too. "Crossroads", a live track taken from their 1968 double album WHEEL OF FIRE (half studio, half live), is seen by many (including E.C. himself) as Clapton's definitive song. "Anyone For Tennis" sounds like an aural twin to "Wrapping Paper". For you Beatles fans, George Harrison co-wrote the last track to this album with Eric Clapton, the phenomenal "Badge", and also played rhythm guitar.

With any major band, there's been a long line of compilations for this band. This is one of the best ones. Longer than the Strange Brew comp from the 1980s, aimed at the causal listener looking for a single disc Cream, it's long enough to feature the majority of the most important work. If I'm not mistaken there's been some more comprehensive comps. released after this, but for a single disc jobber nothing beats this.

For the hard core Cream fans, there will be those who complain some tracks are left off. Cream only released four albums, so it's just as easy to get them. But if you're looking for an introduction to the band, this is one of the best places to start.

If you like classic rock, Cream is one of those bands you can't avoid. A number of their songs helped define classic rock. This compilations is solid. Has everything you'll want.

It's rather amusing to think that Cream formed over 40 years ago. They were so revolutionary, just about everything they did left a huge influence on rock bands to come. Ginger Baker is an insane drummer, and was one of, if not the very first, to use a double bass drum the way he did. Jack Bruce invented and perfected that fade-in bass technique and Eric Clapton...well, when you hear the man rip it out on this album, you know these guys were something special.
Cream was one of the first power trios around. Right after them emerged bands like Blue Cheer, Rush and The Jimi Hendrix Experience, but seriously, how many guys were playing like the boys of Cream were in '66? Now, honestly speaking, I was fairly skeptical when purchasing this, at first at least, due to the fact that I saw Clapton listed as the second greatest rock guitarist of all time. Anybody who ranks high on a list has got to be there for a reason, and he proved it to me. I literally started laughing when I heard the blazing solos on songs like "Sweet Wine" and "NSU". The last time I heard a guy that great was somebody like Eddie Van Halen or the legendary Jimi Hendrix, (I got into Hendrix before I became a guitarist, and VH just as I started.)
Clapton, Bruce and Baker form a magnificent band and the songwriting is just as strong as the musicianship. From the epic lyrics in "Tales of Brace Ulysses" to the timeless riff on "Sunshine Of Your Love", these guys could do it all. They went from psychedelic rock, blues rock, proto-metal, jazz fusion, jam rock, and a fusion of all of those elements to make a signature sound that made them the prototypical blues-rock trio that they were.

Pros:
- You get 20, great songs on this album.
- I've seen it on sale for as low as ten bucks.
- The liner notes are great, and you gotta love the psychedelic colors in the inner and outer covers!

Cons:
- Not too many negativities here, except for the recording technique that was used on the tracks from their debut, "Fresh Cream". All of the instruments are to the right and the vocals are to the left, for the most part. I would've thought that the record company would've fixed that! Oh well, it's just for a few tracks that the production is messed up.

Overall:
If you're just getting into Cream, this will make for a great album. Don't have any doubts when buying this, because you get plenty of songs at a great price. It's too bad these guys only lasted for a short time, but they really made magic in the period that they did. Cheers, and peace!