Track Listing

1. Strange Brew
2. Sunshine Of Your Love
3. World Of Pain
4. Dance The Night Away
5. Blue Condition
6. Tales Of Brave Ulysses
7. Swlabr
8. We're Going Wrong
9. Outside Woman Blues
10. Take It Back
11. Mother's Lament

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4173 in Music
• Released on: 1998-03-09
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Running time: 33 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 11 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

CD Description
Recorded in the U.S. in a three-and-a-half day flurry of inspired activity before the band members' visas expired, DISRAELI GEARS continued to present the legendary, unprecedentedrock power-trio acrobatics pioneered by Cream on their debut FRESH CREAM. The acronymic "SWLABR (She Walked Like a Bearded Rainbow)" for instance, featured some of the band's mostfiery instrumental interplay. The album, with its eye-catching day-glo cover, was produced by Felix Pappalardi (who went on to co-found the Cream-inspired Mountain) and once againfeatured collaborations between singer/bassist Jack Bruce and lyric poet Pete Brown. The Top Five hit "Sunshine Of YourLove", however, was written by Brown and Eric Clapton. Thaticonic riff-rocker, along with the slinky, bluesy "Strange Brew", and the mythographic, wah-wah stomper "Tales of BraveUlysses" was a staple of rock radio forever after, making DISRAELI GEARS one of the seminal '60s rock albums. Despite the good humor suggested by the jokey a capella reading of "Mother's Lament", however, all was far from peace and love inthe Cream camp at the time, as internal and external pressures broke up the band by the end of 1968.

Customer Reviews

A great album, but some of the best tracks are unsatisfactory in stereo because of the drums
Hasn't anyone who has reviewed this apart from 'Top Cat' noticed how unnatural and lightweight the drums sound on many of these tracks when heard in stereo. The people at the record company who put out a deluxe edition in stereo AND MONO must have noticed. But it does sound a lot more satisfactory on systems with fairly thudding, heavy but tight bass; that does go a long way towards binding it all together

40 years ago when I first got to know this it was a mono copy I had - on vinyl of course. When I acquired a CD copy some years ago at first I couldn't understand why I felt so let down but I soon realized that it was the stereo mix that was to blame; it was neither the quality of sound with the transfer to digital nor the music itself thankfully, although not having heard my old copy for some years, for a short time I was uncertain whether my old estimation of it had been correct. But no, when I was able to hear my old mono pressing again I found it was as good as ever, and there are not many things in rock I can say that about. It's still not as good as the best of their live recordings but I never thought it was. And it's not as good on CD, even in mono, as it is on vinyl, perhaps because a stereo cartridge playing a mono disc seems to give you a certain amount of right left separation, but it's still pretty good. See my review of the Deluxe Edition.
In referring to the stereo mix I am referring to all 3 stereo masterings that I have heard on CD, including the latest. One thing I can't complain about is the QUALITY of sound in stereo which is certainly very easy on the ears. It's not the quality that's in doubt it's whether the stereo sound stage and balance of the drums works well for the music.
Heard in a mixture of mono and stereo I would give it 5 stars. The most important improvement made by listening in mono on certain tracks is the difference it makes to the drums. In stereo the drums are too isolated on the right and sound rather tentative and half-hearted. They sound so light someone has described them as sounding as if Baker was using practice pads. But in mono they sound heavier and punchier, adding density. The stereo separation is made worse because often the lead guitar is on the extreme left, as far away from the drums as possible. But it's a moot point whether Baker's genius for using offbeats in the bar to place his stresses, and for suspending stresses where you expect them to be is clearer and more effective when heard in mono or stereo. This is vital in Cream. Without it a lot of the tension and release of tension is lost.
What I have said applies especially to the 5 most important tracks on the album, namely Sunshine, Ulysses, SWLABR, Outside Woman Blues, and to a lesser extent We're Going Wrong.
The wide stereo mix takes a lot of getting used to on these crucial tracks, especially because of what happens to the drums. It really shouldn't be too difficult to put it right with another remastering even if the original multi-tracks were lost in the 1976 fire.
I get to play things on a great many stereo systems and I have noticed that on some systems the stereo mix is not such a great problem because they emphasise the bottom end of the drums by fattening it, but systems like this are unusual.
Combining the right and left channels does not work with 'Disraeli Gears', as it does with 'Fresh Cream', because the drums just aren't quite loud enough in the stereo mix, and played in mono mode they are even less loud, even if they are better placed. There is no choice, therefore, but to get the Deluxe Edition with the original mono mix.

It has to be said though that the first track 'Strange Brew' is complete rubbish whether you hear it in mono or stereo. It is just a kitch version of 'Lawdy Mama' which can be heard as one of the demos. What a pity they couldn't have put that as the first track. It's not particularly noteworthy being nothing much more than a conventional blues but it has more credibility than the synthetic thing they made out of it. But Strange Brew is the one irritating blot on one of the best studio albums to come from the 60's.

The quintessential Cream.
Yes there are other albums and singles that may strike your fancy. But this one is the first to come to mind when mentioning Cream. It is too bad that the samples stop before "Tales Of Brave Ulysses" as each track is unique. Therefor you have to listen to them all to get a more complete picture of this group.

Warning this album is addictive I find my self singing, " Sunshine Of Your Love" a little too loud at work and then I hear others completing the words from other cubes

A GREAT group, a Great album
The most together and varied of the Cream studio recordings. Lots of things to discover and admire. A feast of memorable songs beautifully sung and played. They were one of the true groups in rock. Each musician was fantastic and you can hear that here. The drums and bass being as important as Claptons celebrated guitar. To this day Cream never get the respect they deserved. Read any poll of all time top albums and Creams work is usually missing. Thats because all the magazines etc pander to populist, commercial, middle of the road twaddle. Along with Hendrix, Cream pioneered the avenues of heavy rock. The more lauded groups like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones etc are not in the same league. They reproduced the same old stuff year in year out. Cream disbanded when they had no more to say. Clapton has remained famous but how many of todays listeners know of Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. They should because they are far superior musicians than most of the recognised superstars of rock. And Bruce has one of the most amazing voices ever. Buy this and open your mind to a true classic.