Crossroads [Box] (CD - 1988)

The motherload, this four-disc box set spans a quarter-century of Slowhand's career and acts as both a comprehensive introduction and an overview of the guitar legend.

A four-disc box set spanning Eric Clapton's entire career -- running from the Yardbirds to his '80s solo recordings -- Crossroads not only revitalized Clapton's commercial standing, but it established the rock & roll multi-disc box set retrospective as a commercially viable proposition. Bob Dylan's Biograph was successful two years before the release of Crossroads, but Clapton's set was a bona fide blockbuster. And it's easy to see why. Crossroads manages to sum up Clapton's career succinctly and thoroughly, touching upon all of his hits and adding a bevy of first-rate unreleased material (most notably selections from the scrapped second Derek and the Dominos album). Although not all of his greatest performances are included on the set -- none of his work as a session musician or guest artist is included, for instance -- every truly essential item he recorded is present on these four discs. No other Clapton album accurately explains why the guitarist was so influential, or demonstrates exactly what he accomplished. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The release of the 4-CD box set CROSSROADS is the perfect package to commemorate Eric Clapton's first 25 years of making music. Starting out as a blues purist with the like-minded Yardbirds, Clapton left after the band moved in a decidedly more pop direction. He began an apprenticeship under John Mayall. Encouraged to indulge in his love for the songs of Freddie King ("Hideaway") and Robert Johnson ("Ramblin' On My Mind") among others, Clapton metamorphosed into a guitar god after forming Cream with two of Mayall's sidemen, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. These three virtuosos set the bar for the classic power trio line-up and in the process redefined rock music and introduced unprecedented levels of improvisational freedom within songs such as "Crossroads." Post-Cream, Clapton took his godhead status into the supergroup Blind Faith before becoming a sideman with Delaney & Bonnie ("Comin' Home"). Using their back-up band on his solo debut led to the formation of Derek & The Dominos. This unit's synergy allowed Clapton to unleash all his accumulated creative might amidst the throes of personal unrest yielding the epic "Layla." Later, Clapton reinvented himself as a mellow singer-songwriter. CROSSROADS covers all this history and includes extensive liner notes by Anthony. minimize