Disraeli Gears | 
| Artist: Cream
Label: Polydor / Umgd
Category: Music
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $4.10
You Save: $5.88 (59%)
New (64) Used (30) Collectible (1) from $3.98
Rating:  121 reviews
Sales Rank: 949
Format: Original Recording Reissued, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 531811
UPC: 731453181120
EAN: 0731453181120
ASIN: B0000067L2
Release Date: April 7, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Strange Brew - Cream, Clapton, Eric | | • | Sunshine of Your Love - Cream, Clapton, Eric | | • | World of Pain - Cream, Pappalardi, Felix | | • | Dance the Night Away - Cream, Bruce, Jack | | • | Blue Condition - Cream, Baker, Ginger | | • | Tales of Brave Ulysses - Cream, Clapton, Eric | | • | Swlabr - Cream, Bruce, Jack | | • | We're Going Wrong - Cream, Bruce, Jack | | • | Outside Woman Blues - Cream, Reynolds, Blind Joe | | • | Take It Back - Cream, Bruce, Jack | | • | Mother's Lament - Cream, Traditional |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
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 eleven 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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 116 more reviews...
 ukulele music to my ears August 25, 2004
running_man (Chesterfield Twp., MI)
78 out of 82 found this review helpful
In the summer of 1968 a friend and I were fortunate fourteen-year olds... we scored a brief summer job clearing knee-high weeds from behind a sign manufacturing shop. With our $30 windfall we purchased two of the classic psychedelic albums released the previous year. I walked home with The Beatles 'Sgt. Peppers', while my buddy picked up Cream's 'Disraeli Gears'. Both were wise purchases, but I felt I had made the better choice since I got the cool pop-out Pepper inserts! Given the same choice today, I may well walk home with Cream...
'Disraeli Gears' is, arguably, the finest album recorded by Cream. The only real competition is from 'Wheels Of Fire', and that's a double-lp, so it's difficult to make comparisons. It is one of several albums that made the late-1960's psychedelic era the psychedelic era. It was the second of their four studio releases, and for most people it was the work that brought the band to their attention. Cream had a hit with 'Crossroads' from their first album, but 'Sunshine of Your Love' rose to number five on the national charts, and essentially ushered in the heavy metal feel for bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. The overall strength of 'Disraeli Gears' also easily eclipsed the quality of their first album, 'Fresh Cream'. Eric Clapton indulges heartily in the mainstay of psychedelic rock, the wah-pedal guitar, while Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce add their readily distinguishable style on drums and bass, respectively. All three contribute to the vocals, though Clapton and Bruce share most of the leads.
The origins of psychedelic rock albums and songs often has strange origins, and this album is a case in point. Consider that the title for this album was gleaned from a mispronunciation of "derailleur gears" for racing bicycles as "Disraeli gears". Can you imagine how many hours stoned-out freaks spent contemplating the connection between Benjamin Disraeli and gears? Ukulele Music To My Ears would have rhymed and perhaps made more sense. The psychedelic imagery is ever-present in the lyrics as well. 'SWLABR', for example, is an acronym for She Walks Like a Bearded Rainbow, words that appear nowhere in this rocked-up tune (though we are told that "the picture has a mustache"...).
I love the beginning of 'Disraeli Gears'. 'Strange Brew', which gleaned a lot of playing time on the emerging FM stations of the era, is the opener. It's followed by 'Sunshine of Your Love', 'World of Pain' and 'Dance the Night Away', superb psychedelic rock numbers. You would be hard pressed to find four finer consecutive songs on any disc. 'Blue Condition', like 'We're Going Wrong' are both slow, dismal numbers, which capture their stories well, but seem to stand in the way of rummaging through the other great rock tracks on the disc, 'Tales of Brave Ulysses', an excellent electrified cover of Arthur Reynold's 'Outside Woman Blues', and 'Take It Back'. 'Mother's Lament', a short (1:47), traditional cockney number, is the a capella closer, essentially a throw-away unless you're into traditional cockney numbers.
Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce are the author's of most of the great compositions found on 'Disraeli Gears'. The album is steeped in memorable guitar riffs and clever, thought-provoking lyrics. And few bands, especially bands stripped down to lead guitar, bass and drums, aside from today's White Stripes (who somehow do it with two...), rocked as fluidly as Cream. There won't be a dollar of your entertainment money wasted here.
 Hands Down, Best Cream Album January 16, 2002
jumpy1 (New York, NY)
37 out of 41 found this review helpful
When you've heard all of Hendrix a thousand times and are desperate for more, but not the same, you must turn to Cream's psychedelic bluesy classic rock! Great tunes, great solos, by the best rock stylists of their time. One great thing about Cream is that whether in the studio or live, they remain fresh and this album is proof. I realize that saying Disraeli Gears is the best Cream album (over Wheels of Fire) is setting myself up for a fight, but there it is. Every song is a major one, with the most immitated rock guitar tracks of all time (the only exception being Stairway to Heaven). Plus, it is most distinctively Cream, whereas the other albums have integrated many licks and styles that can be found on Hendrix and other blues and rock artists' albums. That doesn't stop me from owning and playing the heck out of them, but establishes, for me, that Disraeli Gears is the supreme achievement of the band.
Four and a half stars February 5, 2003
FairiesWearBoots8272 (USA)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
One of the truly classic rock albums, Disraeli Gears was the album that made superstars of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Recorded in 1967, this was the group's follow-up to the blues-rock masterpiece, Fresh Cream. Disraeli Gears is far less blues-based than its predecessor and goes more towards hard rock. Although it is a great, classic album, I find it to be less solid than Fresh Cream as it contains a few weak spots which that album did not. I'll elaborate on a track-by-track analysis. Strange Brew - Perfect album opener. This is a Cream classic and one of their most well-known songs. Great song and a good groove with Clapton imitating Albert King on the solo. Sunshine Of Your Love - Classic, classic, classic rock song. One of the all-time great guitar riffs. Excellent solo. Absolutely perfect. World Of Pain - A bit slower than most of the songs on the album, and not one of the most memorable either. Clapton's guitar, however, is the high point of this song with nice wah-wah rhythm parts and a cool solo. Great bass playing by Jack too. Dance The Night Away - Another good, but not great one. One of the lesser songs on the album. Blue Condition - Who's idea was it to let Ginger sing? This song really isn't bad, but Ginger Baker is known for being a drummer, not a singer. This song illustrates why. One of the low points. Tales Of Brave Ulysses - Short, but sweet. Great wah-wah guitar from Clapton and weird, poetic lyrics. A real high point. Swlabr - More psychedelia. A pretty hard rocking tune with an unpronounceable title (actually stands for "She Walks Like A Bearded Rainbow"). More weird, psychedelic lyrics from Pete Brown. We're Going Wrong - The tempo slows down again on this Jack Bruce song. A very nice vocal from Jack and great drumming from Ginger, but it's kind of dull. Outside Woman Blues - A great bluesy song with vocals by Clapton and a nice riff. One of my personal favorite songs on the album. Great guitar solo. Take It Back - Another blues tune sung by Jack, with some nice harmonica blowing too. I like this one a lot. Mother's Lament - An interesting conclusion to the album. An English pub song sung with thick cockney accents. The only instrument is piano. It's a slight, but enjoyable addition to this fine album. Overall, this a great but uneven album. I find Fresh Cream to be Cream's best overall album. Disraeli Gears, even with its flaws, is still a very strong album with more high points than low. An essential rock album and very necessary for Clapton fans.
A Classic for the ages! March 9, 2001
Billy (Wilmington, DE)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
"Disraeli Gears." In my opinion the finest record from the Summer of Love, the year that included monster albums like "Sgt. Peppers," "Are you Experienced," "Strange Days," "Axis: Bold As Love," "The Who Sell Out," etc, etc. This record is the epitome of psychedelic blues rock. Just look at classics such as "Strange Brew" and Cream's signature song, the immortal "Sunshine Of Your Love." "World of Pain," "Dance the Night Away," and Baker's "Blue Condition" are superb, dreary, and stoned out. "Tales of Brave Ulysses" is Clapton's wondrous introduction to the wah-wah pedal. "Swlabr" (She Walks Like a Bearded Rainbow) is catchy as all hell, even though the lyrics are as incoherent as a Turkmenstani literature book. "Outside Women Blues" features a great riff and some great lyrics "If You lose your money, great God, don't lose your mind/ And if you lose your woman, please don't fool with mine." "Take It Back" is a fine blues rock song. The only song I dislike on "Gears" is "We're Going Wrong. ("Mother's Lament doesn't really count)" Bruce's voice is annoying and the song itself is boring. This is a colorful record and the best mix of hardcore blues riffs and acid. Go Get It. NOW!!
WARNING: This is an OBJECTIVE review from a true fan April 4, 2005
Rich Latta (Albuquerque, NM - Land of Entitlement)
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
These 60s rock gods made some of the best music of the era which was, along with Jimi Hendrix, a precursor to Heavy Metal. Each musician was and still is extremely talented. Drummer Ginger Baker loved to make full use of his kit. He turned the drums into musical instruments, far beyond simply functioning to keep time. Especially of note was his genius use of the double kick drums, putting all his limbs into fluid motion. Eric Clapton really came into his own with Cream, finally playing with musicians who could really challenge him. As great as his music has been over the years, I think his playing with Cream finds him at his most adventurous, a true creative peak. And main vocalist Jack Bruce is a unique bassist who could hold his own with Clapton.
Having said all that, this album, great as it is, doesn't exactly sound timeless to me. It's very much stuck in the 60s, a product of its time. Of course, the best rock ever made was in the 60s and DISREALI GEARS is very enjoyable today, but I think younger kids just getting into it won't look at it the same way or even as fondly as those who were there. I actually hate a lot of the frat-punk, nu-metal, whatever-you-want-to-label-it that's around today, but I don't think younger people would find Cream as exciting as newer bands like, say, Van Halen, Rage Against the Machine, Death or Mars Volta. Of course, this review will get poo-pooed on by the old cheese-cutter types who were "there" and who would claim that 60s groups like Cream are the be-all-end-all of rock and that rock has hardly changed or progressed in any interesting way since then (me? I'm somewhere in between, born in 1970).
Also, many rock fans will no doubt be happy with a "best-of" Cream collection that includes the best songs from this album ("Strange Brew," "Sunshine of Your Love," "Tales of Brave Ulysses," and "SWLABR"); the others are less essential. They're good though, especially if you like old-school blues with standard chord changes - Cream handles this style expertly.
Like most really talented bands, seeing them live is where it's at. To my amazement, they've recently reunited and immediately started selling out shows in London. If you can't catch them, at least try to get a hold of some classic live footage where they've really played out their improvisational jazz-influenced skills to the hilt.
My impressions of DISRAELI GEARS:
"Strange Brew" - killer, loping melody that's almost funky. Clapton totally off the hook and all over the frets. *****
"Sunshine of Your Love" - a monster, possibly their most famous tune save for "White Room" which still gets played to death on classic rock radio. Incredible, but Jimi Hendrix, who loved Cream, could play this one better than anybody. *****
"World of Pain" - good song, classic Cream sound, Clapton tripping the psychedelic tones. ***1/2
"Dance the Night Away" - mysterious sounding rocker loaded with psychedelia. ***1/2
"Blue Condition" - written (and I believe sung) by Ginger Baker, this is a quirky waltz with honky-tonk piano accents. ***1/2
"Tales of Brave Ulysses" - "Slow Hand" speaks through his guitar in pure note-warping heaven. ****1/2
"SWLABR" - with the possible exception of "Crossroads," this might be the most upbeat, exciting, rockin'-est Cream tune ever and my personal favorite on the album. *****
"We're Going Wrong" - as the title indicates, this is a rather downbeat number, although Ginger is just all over his drums. Amazing performance, but probably my least favorite track here. ***
"Outside Woman Blues" - upbeat, standard blues, Clapton on vocals. Quite enjoyable if you're into this sort of thing. ***3/4
"Take It Back" - peppy downhome blues shuffle accented with harmonica and crowd noises. ***1/2
"Mother's Lament" - basically a joke song with vocals and piano, the boys hamming it up, having a ball.
Worth getting, and I would agree with most other reviewers here, this is Cream's best album - but see 'em live! (however you can!)
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