461 Ocean Boulevard

J'attendais l'entrée en matière générateurienne d'Eric Clapton depuis un bon moment déjà, et je dois dire que je suis resté sur ma faim. Cet album ne présente en effet aucun tube de l'artiste à l'exception d'une reprise de Bob Marley totalement hors de propos. Pendant toute la durée du morceau précité, Clapton va nous adresser des regards (qu'il croit sûrement discrets) dans le but de déceler si oui ou non on est en train de comprendre l'escroquerie qui se déroule à ce moment-là. « I Shot The Sheriff ! » s'exclame-t-il alors en espérant que nos oreilles n'y entendent que du feu. Manque de pot pour lui, cette chanson m'a été enseignée par mon professeur de guitare Matthis il y a plus de dix ans, je sais donc qui en est le véritable auteur.

3.5 stars - not bad, but nothing really stood out to me. I'm not sure why Clapton covered Bob Marley's I Shot The Sheriff.

I reckon that the mega decibel, psychedelic hard rockin’ of Cream, the intensely extended jammin’ of Blind Faith, and the soul wrenching blues of Derek and the Dominos would wear out any poor soul. And adding the colossal amounts of alcohol and drugs Eric Clapton consumed during those years, including a mighty heroin addiction that precipitated a several year hiatus from performing, it’s a miracle he even lived to return to the studio. But when he did, '461 Ocean Boulevard' was recorded and released, introducing a very different kind of Clapton. On the positive side, Clapton’s voice (which was never great, sometimes straining beyond the breaking point, forced, if you will) sounds much more gentle, rested, and relaxed. The whole tone has changed, not dissimilar to Bob Dylan’s own remarkably different voice on 'Nashville Skyline.' (Dylan claimed it was the result of quitting cigarette smoking.) I think Clapton’s was more intentional, a purposed change. His voice and, in fact, the entire LP sparkles with cleanliness and good health. Warm and sunny like the south Florida location in which it was recorded. And while the sunshine state might be infamous for cocaine, Clapton sure wasn’t snorting any. Quite the contrary. Instead, I think the heroin must have still been leaching out of his body because this LP is mostly downtempo. But it’s also quite lovely. And a great deal of the sound of '461 Ocean Boulevard' has to do with three musicians in particular: background singers Yvonne Ellian (known for her role as Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar), who we’re introduced to on the reggae-meets-the-blues ‘Get Ready,’ and Tom Bernfield who joins in the fun on the beautiful acoustic number, ‘Please Be with Me’ with harmonies rivaling Crosby, Stills, and Nash, as well as the anthemic ‘Let It Grow’ (which, incidentally, sounds like a song Clapton’s best friend George Harrison could have written, with its striking transition between the minor key verses to a major key chorus right as the words, ‘Plant your love and let it grow’ are sung.) But it’s organist Dick Sims who truly gives '461 Ocean Boulevard' its signature sound. Pianist Albhy Galuten plays a riff ala Leon Russell on the Robert Johnson cover, ‘Steady Rollin’ Man,’ and some marvelous little tinkles here and there on the LPs big hit, the Bob Marley tune, ‘I Shot the Sherrif;’ but it’s Sims’ organ playing that would have made Marley proud. And, his versatility shows throughout, particularly on the confessional, ‘Give Me Strength.’ Sims must have had working knowledge of and experience within the African American Christian tradition, because his organ on ‘Give Me Strength’ sounds like ‘chutch.’ (Black comedian Steve Harvey teases white folks for calling it chuRch. When you’re black though, he jokes, its pronounced, ‘chutch.’) This is almost as much Sims’ LP as it is Clapton’s. On the minus side, '461 Ocean Boulevard' almost completely lacks Clapton’s greatest asset, the reason why Cream’s cover of ‘Crossroads,’ for example, is one of the finest live recordings you’ll ever be fortunate enough to hear: The Guitar Solo. I fidgeted in my listening seat, growing in impatience with each passing track- surely this will be the one where Clapton tears it up. Nope. Allright, gotta be the next one. Uh uh. C’mon, Eric, give it to me, man. Make that guitar wail. Maybe he’ll wait for the LP’s closer to let loose? If there ever was a number to shred on, ‘Mainline Florida’ would be it. And when we finally do get some soloing on that last song, it comes across a little lackluster. Clapton still plays some good slide guitar on the opener, the traditional ‘Motherless Children,’ and Willie Dixon’s ‘I Can’t Hold Out,’ throwing a little dirt on the pickup. But his rare soloing is subdued. I’d like to use the more respectful adjective, ‘subtle,’ but I think ‘subdued’ is a better descriptor. Or maybe most accurate of all, just plain slow. It’s not that his playing is without passion. His vocals, while also softer and more mellow- close to a whisper on a couple of occasions- at other times do rise in volume and intensity, on the songs I suspect he most enjoyed or meant a little something more to him personally. Would that his guitar solos have risen to their occasion a time or two as well. That would have made this good LP great. But it’s still pretty good nonetheless. Maybe he was purposefully trying to distance himself from the ‘Clapton Is God’ days? Could be. I dunno. All in all, though, good vibes. Inspirational sing-alongs, feet tappin’ reggae, groovin’ rockers and tearful blues. Journalist Robert Christgau dubbed it, respectfully (I think), ‘Sleepy postjunk funk.’ I say it would be a terrific LP to listen to just as the sun was setting over the Atlantic Ocean, relaxing in your lounge chair planted on the white sands of the Florida beach, while sipping on an icy cold Pina Colada. Well, a virgin Pina Colada. We don’t want to throw Eric off his sobriety.

I’m not the biggest Clapton fan and I’m a guitar player

Nicely laid-back songwriting from a racist prick.

Peak dad music.

Smooth. How can a guy who takes so much from Black music have such despicable views.

2nd Listen. Still the same. Clapton is pretty great, but the album is just ok for me. 3/5 still. Songs like Give Me Strength and Let it Grow make this album great, but I Shot the Sheriff brings it down a notch. Standouts: Give Me Strength, Let it Grow Others: Motherless Children, Get Ready, I Can't Hold Out, Please Be With Me Overplayed and Tired: I Shot the Sheriff. 3/5

Jammy and pretty good. I shot the sheriff!

Did he write I shot the sheriff ?

"I Shot the Sheriff" is a nice cover, but the majority of these tracks didn't speak to me!

first listen kinda sleepy, definitely not his best work

Kyllä ukko osaa musaa tehdä ja antoi pienen kipinän kuunnella koko tuotantoa jossain vaiheessa vähän laajemminkin.

Solid! Reipas kolkki

The vibe on 461 Ocean Boulevard is warm and relaxed, perhaps to a fault. While “Motherless Children” is a classic song and a perfect start for the album, some of the songs that follow are on the sleepy side and not particularly compelling musically. The band has great chemistry and Clapton’s guitar is spot on as ever, but ultimately the album only has a few standout tracks. When “I Shot the Sheriff” kicks off it’s almost a little startling in contrast to the songs that precede it. The strongest songs on the album are obviously “Sheriff” and “Motherless Children.” I also like a couple of the deeper tracks like “Please Be with Me” and “Give Me Strength.” It’s not Clapton’s best work, but it’s the musical equivalent of a side roads detour on a summer day – pleasant, laid back, more journey than destination. Fave Songs: I Shot the Sheriff, Motherless Children, Give Me Strength, Please Be with Me, Let It Grow

Classic 70s rock

Don't dislike this and the bluesy guitars are nice. But the whole thing seems a bit aimless and dare i say dull. Can't decide if its laid back blues rock which i like or lazy uninspiring blues which i hate. Think he just about gets away with it here. 3/5

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: I shot the sheriff

It’s alright, about half of the record reminds me of what older people in church were listening to but the other half (mostly toward the end) is much better

Blues with a couple reggae covers Relisten: No

Really enjoyed this album, though I can't say most tracks were particularly memorable for me. Clapton is a great musician and I love hearing all the interesting layers in the music, but I can't say I'd listen to the entire album start to finish repeatedly, so it's not a total winner for me as much as I enjoyed it. Fave tracks: I Shot the Sheriff (the obvious choice) and Please Be With Me. Knew from the opening chords alone that I was going to adore the latter.

Bluesrock, smooth, lækre riffs, i shot the sherif

12/20/2021 Today's Album: "461 Ocean Blvd" by Eric "God Himself" Clapton - This album is beautifully balanced and incredibly technical. Motherless Children is a great opener with a ton of really fun guitar playing. Give me strength is a slow soul ballad and has some really funky and interesting lead guitar sounds. Lyrics of asking for strength from god and being on the highway are kinda boring imo but really nice instrumental for sure. Willie and the Hand Jive is a pretty cool boogie track and the vocals are super smooth and nice to listen to. This is an amazing track its so bouncy and fun. Get ready is a chill funk tune and I dig it. There's a female vocalist that pairs really well with Clapton's voice on this track. I swear my dad always played I Shot The Sheriff in the car or something because its very familiar. Its a very groovy reggae track. I Can't Hold Out has a pretty generic chord progression and doesn't really do anything interesting lyrically either. Please Be With Me is a slower stripped back song that has some nice guitar work between 3 or 4 guitars at the back half of it. Let it Grow is a darker track that sounds sorta like moody blues but the chorus literally sounds like the Lorax song and I cannot take it seriously. Steady Rollin Man is a pretty great upbeat track with some great guitar grooves and organ. The soloing gets pretty great on this track. We close off with Mainline Florida which is a pretty rocking closer. It wraps up a lot of the sounds on this album and sort of summarizes the whole piece. This album overall was very nice to listen to, but I just wouldn't say any of its very memorable. It's like if the eagles only had 1 hit per album. Still good and you have to respect Clapton for his amazing guitarwork and it covers a lot of 60s and 70s styles, similar to The Beatles white album. Overall a must listen to album Score: 7/10 Essential Listening Highlights: Willie And The Hand Jive, I Shot The Sheriff.

A bit up and down. Though i like Please Be With Me and I Shot, both Hand Jive and Get Ready drive me bonkers. Overall, he slow bluesy rock style is interesting and reasonably enjoyable.

Clapton is another one of those artists whom I can consider objectively great without liking their stuff. This album was fine, and I'd listen to it again, but I certainly wouldn't reach for it (or any other Clapton album). 3 stars.

Not his best work. A bit slow and stale. Still enjoy me some Clapton

This was pretty good, enjoyed some of the covers.

Enjoyed this, almost a 4 but not quite enough stand out tracks

side 1 is awesome. motherless children, get ready, i shot the sheriff side 2 - mellow and bland. not bad, but also nothing i'd come back to

Some good songs, tbt with "shoot the sheriff"

Pleasant enough but a bit dull

Ah this is where the subpar Sheriff cover is, ok overall

11th November 2021 Listened in the shower mainly and also on the living room speaker. Went bowling in the evening with snakes on a lane. Love a bit of slow hands even though he's a prick. I prefer the gnarlier, bluesy tracks and the I shot the sheriff cover is questionable but overall I enjoyed it.

Opening track is a banger but unfortunately the rest doesn't hit the same heights.

I don't know what bluegrass is but this sounds like bluegrass more than it sounds like Rock, but it also sounds like Rock? Blame my poor ear on my lack of rock knowledge. 2nd song is a god song yuck The uptempo songs are fun, but the downtempo songs aren't my style. I'm not one for lyrics, and the downtempo songs focus on lyrics Please be with me sounds like an iron and wine song Let it Grows refrain sounds neat. I'm liking it more than I thought Highlights: Motherless Children, I Shot the Sheriff, I Can't Hold Out

Mellow album and representative of what I know Eric Clapton to play. Probably wouldn't listen again, but enjoyed it.

Listened to a fair bit of Clapton (and Cream) in my late teens/early 20s era, and not much since. A great guitarist obviously, this holds up (despite the odd success of the slightly cringey, to my today ears, reggae cover) but a few standouts aside, a lot of it is pretty average English white guy does the Blues fare.

Plagued by heroin dependency, Clapton dropped from the scene for some years, but returned triumphant with 461 Ocean Boulevard. Did you know that Clapton’s cover of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “I Shot the Sheriff” is his only #1 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100? (6/10) FT: I Shot the Sheriff, Motherless Children, Ain't That Lovin You

I am doing something i shouldnt really and marking down a fine album as I struggle to balance the man and the music these days

101021 10:34 3

3 1/2

Surprised me how much I dug this one.

Старина Клэптон неподражаем

Básico

I don't like reggae...

It’s fine

Clapton as he started to mellow out. Some really nice laid back tracks here, where the emphasis is less on flashy playing and more on playing for the song.

Bit tepid at times. WHERE'S THE SHRED ERIC?

guitar slapping

It’s ok. The hits are obviously the high points and the rest is forgettable. Not best Clapton.

Bluesy 70s, all ok but nothing cutting through though

Maybe not completely like my thing. I'm a fan of the blues, but this album just didn't hit me quite right.

Snooze fest

Southern Inspired soft rock album. Easy listen, includes I shot the Sheriff.

Really relaxing. I have no real complaints about it, I just probably won’t listen to it again any time soon. Except “I Shot the Sheriff”, of course.

Solid album.

meh

Good. Not great.

Some great blues licks and a nice short listen.

I don’t think this album is anything outstanding or inventive but it’s really nice to just vibe to and it’s also consistent as I don’t think there’s a song I would skip on here. I liked it can see myself vibing to this on a good summer day. This is not usually a genre I’m into but i can enjoy this. After a while the songs do kinda sound the same and I don’t think I would play this very much because it gets boring easily. 6.9/10

Very fun listen. None of the songs stuck out much other than I Shot The Sheriff, but still greatly enjoyable.

Not really into Clapton. Not bad or anything, just not for me. Honestly kind of tired of 70s rock on this list.

Nice background music while working. Nothing wowed me on this album, solidifying Eric Clapton's place on my list of overrated musicians. Although I heard Clapton's version of I Shot the Sherrif first when I was young, I still like Bob Marley's version better. Motherless Children is a great first track to start a road trip with and Willie and the Hand Jive continues that vibe. The sassy groove of Get Ready is a high point on the album for me; the chord progressions of Let It Grow give it compositional merit which enhances my enjoyment of the song, despite it being a ballad.

pleasantly surprised.

I thought I would like it more

Nice and short and snappy. Eric Clapton = gentle, inoffensive guitar with background organs. Unique sound to be fair.

Lief ehrlich gesagt nur nebenbei so durch. Hat überhaupt nicht gestört, war in Teilen auch überraschend interessant. Hab trotzdem keine richtige Meinung zu Clapton, dem lonely Wolf in allem Gassen. Ziemlicher Rock’n’Roller war er ja wohl, kriegte alle Coolness aber leider in den für mich entscheidenden Adoleszenztagen mit 90 Grad rausgebleached. Ok, 2,4 für angenehm und nicht uninteressant, 0,1 fürs schöne Cover, 0,1 für die Verheißung vom wilden Leben.

I shot the sheriff

Eric Klepto-man is at it again. Motherless Children - What a joyful memory about dead moms! Give Me Strength - Mellow and Bluesy Willie and the Hand Jive - I think I hate this. But, to be fair, I have always found the phrase "hand jive" inexplicably gross. Get Ready - A nice bluesy rocker I Shot the Sheriff - The Bob Marley version is so much more superior in every way. This version is over produced, and the poor attempt at reggae seems vaguely racist in 2021. I Can't Hold Out - Great blues track, but not as Hard as Muddy Waters is. Please Be With Me - Maybe my favorite track. Fun and peppy Let It Grow - What if Stairway to Heaven but shorter and more boring? Steady Rolling Man - Another winner Mainline Florida - As a mainline Floridian, this is wonderful. All together, this album is FINE. Probably better than Robbie Williams, but it doesn't feel like it *deserves* 4 stars.

A few good blues songs on here

A fine, enjoyable album.

It’s a vibe. Really chill. I dig the atmosphere on the record.

Heavy reggae inspiration. Some jams

Get Ready- reallly dig this song. B Minor Jam- yasssssss My overall impression is that it seems like a fairly chill, laid back album. It's got a cool vibe. I really love all the blues influences in his music.

Motherless Children had a good guitar line. Please Be With Me sounds like an Isbell song. Laid back

Not my style, but very atmospheric. Maybe better for summer

Didn't listen all the way through

Not bad good chill songs to throw on

Good for dad rock

sublime samples song 3 Overall I thought the album was ok, it wasn't anything different. I never thought Clapton's songwriting was very good, he focused mostly on his guitar expression.

Now I know who shot the sheriff

Classic Clapton blues

I really like Eric Clapton but some of his stuff is a little weak. This was a bit weak in places. Reptile is his best album in my personal opinion

It was okay. The album cover was my favorite part!

Guitar good.

3. Nice 70's rock album. I shot the sheriff is a classic, but the rest of the album isn't as good as that song.

Not thrilled

Meh

Eric is a good guitar player who does really good work with other artists. His solo stuff has always bored me, though. This album hasn't done anything to change how I feel.

Scandalous thoughts… this is kinda —1 dimensional and a tad boring.

Post-heroin bland-fest from racist old fart who can't sing. Most overrated guitarist on God's green Earth. It's interesting that he'd cover I shot the sheriff considering how in another life, he'd be the sheriff. Ranting aside, it's a very average, well produced album of bland mid 70s rock.

Some real classics on this but, you know, the music just can’t be separated from the awful person the musician turned out to be. I listened and agree maybe this deserves to be one in a thousand, though any time he comes up in a playlist I move on as quickly as I can

Claptonslop- he's done much better

I am not a Clapton fan at all, but this is the best of all his solo albums.

While I understand the importance of Eric Clapton, his music never did all that much for me, doubly so when he isn't diluted by being a part of a band. And that basically sums up how I feel about 461 Ocean Boulevard. Eric Clapton has some really great, creative guitar work here, but his songwriting in general just isn't that interesting to me (and frankly it doesn't help that he's *wildly* unlikable). To my ears, the blues rock on this album is far too late, and it doesn't sound a ton to stand out from the crowd to me. I will say that Motherless Children, I Shot The Sheriff (a Bob Marley cover) and Let It Grow are really greal, very unique cuts. But I'm pretty cold on most of 461 Ocean Boulevard.

Seemed like he swapped heroin for quaaludes, too sleepy for me

10 songs I see a lot of people giving this a 1 star rating because of Clapton as a person. I think that defeats the purpose of this project, and I try to separate the artist from the art. Unfortunately for Clapton, the art is also pretty cheeks in this case. Influential guitarist with plenty of great songs in his catalogue, but this album is the musical equivalent of unseasoned chicken breast.

A skilled & confident guitar player echoing what he hears skilfully & confidently. But I never get any depth of feeling or interest from anything here (or from other Clapton work). The iconic ISTS is good, but not as good as Marley’s original (so why bother).

It was hokay

This was rather dull. I usually love blues. And it can even be slow. But this just plodded along and didn’t offer any delightful surprises. I Shot The Sheriff

2/5. The guitar playing was good and I liked “Motherless Children” and “I shot the sheriff” well enough, but beyond that ehhhhhh. I’m sure it went hard for men going through their midlife crisis in the 1970’s.

Boring

I've heard plenty of Clapton adjacent albums, and I've definitely enjoyed a couple, but I never indulged in his solo work. I never knew blues could sound so lifeless. Clapton sounds like he can't wait to get out of the studio. It's competently made and there are a couple of decent radio staples here, but I couldn't imagine listening to the entirety of this album ever again.

Pretty tepid stuff dude. One or two maybe got my foot tapping, but it couldn't lock me down for the duration.

The debate about separating the artist from the art isn't as relevant with this album, since there are so many stinkers on here. Favorite Track: "I Shot The Sheriff".

Wasn’t as painful as I expected, but I’m still not an Eric Clapton fan.

Super lame

se eu não me engano esse cara é racista

booorrrrrrrriiiiinnnnnnnggggggggggggggggg

I shot the sherrif is een banger, voor de rest een cv album zonder meer.

This album would not be on the list if it wasn't by Eric Clapton. Mellow album of mostly covers that don't compare to the originals. Let it Grow and the more uptempo songs stand out. Not much of his legendary guitar playing here.

meh

Should've stayed on the heroin

Mellanmjölk. Teknisk skicklighet och att vara en bra gitarrist tycker inte jag räcker. Clapton tar andras låtar och gör dem tråkigare. Vit mans musik på ett sätt. Det är inte dåligt bara tråkigt. Slätstruket.

A "just ok" album from a pretty terrible person.

1,5

In my humble opinion, this was mid… af.

One of the best blues guitar players of all times of that there is no doubt. However Claptons voice does not match up to the songs. There are moments on this album but they are very fleeting and the overall feeling is one of tedium

1. children - 2 2. give - 2 3. jive - 2 4. ready - 1 5. zheriff - 3 6. hold - 2 7. pleaze - 2 8. grouu - 1 9. man - 2 10. florida - 1

A fairly unremarkable album, largely a collection of covers. It’s pretty egregious that at the same time Clapton was cheerleading for Enoch Powell he was using the songs of black musicians to build his career. Whilst these covers are fine, they don’t strike me that remarkable.

This album, unlike his comments on immigration from around the same time, is largely inoffensive. Most of the songs are good, because most of them are written by better songwriters than Clapton. There are just three original tracks here, and even one of those, while quite good, rips off 'Stairway to Heaven.' The guitar playing is good, as you would expect, though fairly restrained. I expect my rating of 2 is more driven by personal animosity than an accurate reflection of the album's merits, but there you go.

In which famous Enoch Powell fanboy and ‘keep Britain white’ proponent Eric Clapton covers tracks by numerous black musicians, including Bob Marley and several American bluesmen such as Willie Dixon and Robert Johnson, and contributes his own bluesy originals (a genre that was created primarily by black Americans by the way). Even putting this extraordinary double-think aside, this is an album of perfectly competent but utterly unremarkable stuff. It’s a far cry from the blistering fire of Derek and the Dominos’ ‘Layla’, which I begrudgingly do love. And Bob Marley’s original version of ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ is much better.

Surprised how underwhelmed I felt by this album. For someone who's reputation precedes them like Clapton, I expected a lot more than fairly derivative/easy listening blues rock. Certainly has its catchy moments, but that's not enough for me to want to come back for more. Top tracks: I Can't Hold Out, Please Be With Me

I ought to like this, I'm typically into this moderately chill blues vibe that puts guitar at the front. But it alternately bored me and annoyed me. All the covers are derivative. Why listen to Eric Clapton's "I Shot the Sherriff" instead of Bob Marley's? All these interpretations of songs and styles are ultimately pretty dull. I didn't hate it, but I couldn't enjoy it. 2/5. I don't see why it would be important to hear this album when it's all so derivative. And there's better Eric Clapton albums, right? I dunno, I'm asking.

Ahh fine.

The album has "Let it Grow" on there. Didn't know Eric Clapped-out did the music for The Lorax. This was rather uninteresting music apart from I Shot The Sheriff, which I knew to be a cover. Looked this up on Wikipedia and they're mostly covers! What is the point of this. It's not awful, but not good enough to pass.

I found this dull and uninspiring

On the one hand, some of this is listenable, on the other, it’s really quite boring. And on the other, he’s a racist and not very nice.

Exprectations are low, and rightfully so. 70s blues rock, clean dull, white. Clapton sounds like a Muppet on some of these. 1.5 rounded up Heard before? Some Owned: No 65/260 (25%) Will I get: No

For the boring covers of songs you'd be better off finding as originals. I'm growing a deep seeded dislike for Clapton from this list. Can I shake it for musical objectivity? Cultural appropriation from a vocal racist is a bitter pill to swallow, however I've ignored others sins in the 1001 process. Hmmmm introspection needed... All in all, still not a great album. Had it's moments.

With the exception of the opening track, this is a remarkably soporific album.

Not my thing, I would have been happy never hearing I Shot the Sherriff ever again.

2.5

Not a big Clapton fan

This didn't capture me at all. Obviously talented but no song stood out as strong in its field.

Really don’t like Eric Clapton as a person plus lots of covers. Warrants a 3 ,,, scores a 2

Motherless Children is the high watermark on what I think is ultimately an overrated covers album. It’s remarkable that in 1974 a talented guitarist could cover some songs they love and arrive at such critical acclaim. An equivalent album today would be buried under the weight of endless content competing for attention. A 2026 Clapton would need to be bringing more authorship to the table to make the same kind of mark on the culture. Given he had such a compelling life story at the time (a commendable recovery from heroin addiction) I think he could have put more of his own story into this. Instead he is singing I Shot the Sheriff, which feels totally detached from his own personal perspective.

There’s no denying that Eric Clapton is an amazing guitarist. There’s also a lot that he’s not a great person in general. This album combines his guitar skills and a genre that doesn’t necessarily see him. And there is potentially something to be said about the white washing in this album with the reggae undertones overall, I think it’s an OK album, Eric Clapton isn’t the best person in the world/she’s kind of not a great person, and it just doesn’t seem to be the best Work.

It was fine I guess. Definitely an album I could have never listened to. Fuck Eric Clapton.

I don't know, it's just kinda boring. Clapton has always been a favorite of "guitar nerds" (and moms, for some reason), but I'm not part of that crowd. The guitar playing is good, sure, but the songwriting is simply bland and uninteresting. Key tracks: Let It Grow

I just dont care about clapton. The dude is a legend. I get it. Hes a part of alot of cool stuff. But is he the main draw for me? Never. He plays his guitar well. I'll give him that. Hes a master in that regard. But everything else is just sub par. His voice is ok I guess. The part that really get me is the songwriting. None of it has any punch. Nothing for me to latch on to. Its just mellow and boring till its over. I couldnt sing anything from this sans the bob Marley cover but thats not Claptons song. His version is kinda annoying. He tries to do the bob vocal things but it just comes off as very inauthentic. It stinks. Motherless children was the only highlight for me and even then when it finished up I had to think hard if it was worth the save or not. If you love him then good for you but I do not and this just solidified that position for me

We don't need to get into the complications of Clapton as a person. This album is basically all covers with a few select songs by Clapton, and those are definitely the worst songs on the album. He's technically a great guitar player, but he's a below average vocalist. He also performs like it's his job. This album has all the passion of someone filing paperwork.

The more Eric Clapton I listen, the more hollow it sounds. And the fact that this is mostly cover songs also really rubs me the wrong way.

Someone saw me with my headphones in as I was listening to Steady Rollin' Man and said "He's listening to some good music right now", and I had to stifle my reaction so as to stay professional. When I told Seth that this was today's album, he warned me I was in for 39 minutes of Eric Clapton guitar solos; aside from being only two minutes off the runtime, he nailed it. Much of this album is Clapton noodling on his guitar in ways that are technically skilled but ultimately uninteresting to me. I want to say for the record that I do enjoy some cover songs, and am not entirely opposed to the idea of an album being filled with a lot of covers so long as they are performed in a way which shows artistic intent and authorial voice on the part of the coverer; however, this is now the third or fourth time where I've come away from an album on this list disconnected from the songs, only to find out after the fact that it was mostly covers. Why was this what music was like in this era? Nowadays, to refer to something as a covers album is to denote it as lesser than a standard album, but that was just the way the music industry worked back then. The instances on this list so far, I I have found frankly toothless more often than not. I try to avoid reading a lot of other reviews of these albums before I write my own, so I can write about my own thoughts as much as possible without borrowing the thoughts of others: this album is exactly an example of why, because ever since reading some of the blurbs about it, I can't help but borrow the word "sleepy" as one of the most apt descriptions I could give. Clapton is renowned primarily as a guitarist, and I can fully acknowledge that his work there is incredibly solid and impressive; I just wished that led to some more interesting songs. Highlights: Motherless Children, I Shot The Sheriff, I Can't Hold Out

Okay

rockzinho normal, genérico e inofensivo. eric clapton vai tomar no cy.

Never listened to Eric Clapton before (know the famous ones). All a bit meh

Motherless Children - 3/5 Give Me Strength - 2.5/5 Willie and the Hand Jive - 2.5/5 Get Ready - 2/5 I Shot the Sheriff - 3/5 I Can't Hold Out - 2.5/5 Please Be With Me - 2.5/5 Let it Grow - 2/5 Steady Rollin' Man - 3/5 Mainline Florida - 3/5 I'll echo what the top review of this album said in that this is probably a 3 but because Clapton is the way he is this is realistically a 2. He somehow managed to whitewash blues and make it boring. I knew he was a dick before listening to this, but now I just think he's overrated as a guitarist. IT was a easy listening but it's just music to have on in the background while you do other things, not worthy of one of the best albums of all time. Overall: 2/5 Favorites: Motherless Children, I Shot the Sheriff, Steady Rollin' Man

I rate it a 4/10. I didn’t like it that much. The most memorable song was I shot the sheriff, but it was not my favorite.

Clapton is lucky he’s good at the guitar cause he’s not a good songwriter. He can’t even make a good song when he’s covering other artists. These songs were all so uninspired and boring, he sounds so soulless like he’s doing this out of obligation.

Easy to dislike this one. The dude is talented but it's not his best work and of course is tainted by his more recent decline.

I dont give a fuck about claptons stupid ass

Y'know, there are a lot of good reasons to dislike Eric Clapton — chief among them, of course, being his racism and anti-vaxx nonsense. For most people, those alone are enough to disqualify him and his music from any kind of consideration. And that's fair: if you're really that abhorred by an artist's views and beliefs, you should have to engage with their art. No one should force you to. But as for myself ... I'unno. I can't just leave it at that. After all, as I've said many times before before now, I don't review people; I review music. And a lot of times, bad people have made great music. It's an unfortunate fact of life. And there's a number of things Clapton's had a hand in that I just can't easily toss away. The guitar solo in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"? Phenomonal. "Sunshine Of Your Love"? A classic. "Layla"? Oh, that's the best gawdamm song he's ever made, and I wouldn't give it up for anything. But I've got to realize, with all of that stuff, he's been surrounded by others. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a Beatles song that George Harrison wrote. "Sunshine Of Your Love" is a Cream song, and Clapton didn't even compose its most iconic part, the bass lick. And while I love all of "Layla", Clapton isn't even responsible for the coda, which is by far my favorite part. Frankly, when I consider Clapton on his own, either as the only notable member of 'Bluesbreakers' or on a lot of 'Layla''s other songs ... he kind of comes across to me as very self-satisfied with his guitar playing. "Oh, lookit me — I can play the blues **so good**. Look at **how well** I can play the blues! Aren't you **impressed* by how good I am?" And, no, Mr. Clapton. I'm not. I'm especially not impressed with this album of yours, the only one in this book that's credited solely to you. And, y'know, although you don't deserve it, I'll try to be somewhat fair. It's not **entirely** bad. There's a couple of songs on here where I can nod and go, "Yeah, that's a nice sound." There are songs that are **good**, honestly. I'll grant you that much. But then, that's the problem. It's a nice sound for those few songs. It's not a nice sound for **this entire album**. This is an incredibly same-y record. Nearly every song on here is performed in a similar, sleepy, soft blues rock manner, and although this thing is only 40 minutes, it gets old quick. There were moments where I legit didn't know where I was on this album because it all sounded so alike. Hell, when it ended I was caught entirely off-guard, 'coz it sure as hell didn't **sound like** it should be the ending. I can't even pick out a song to narrow in on as a specific example. Well, except for the most obvious one: the cover of "I Shot The Sheriff". And this is it? This is Eric Clapton's famous Bob Marley cover? This was a big deal? Surprisingly, Eric Clapton doesn't do reggae that well — and it's actually surprising to know that Clapton himself would agree with me, but Marley wouldn't. Bob, man, I love you, but seriously, why would anyone pick this over the original? It tries to rock harder, but somehow ends up sounding limp. I don't know how they managed that! I'unno, I guess if you can dig the vibe, it's not that bad. But then it happens that the vibe ends up being an afternoon fast asleep on a lawn chair after getting blitzed on cheap margaritas, and I don't think it's one I gel with. At least I can respect country music's "an evening on the front porch with a cold beer." And I can respect it a lot more than I can Eric Clapton, that's for sure. It turns out that even when you strip away his racism and anti-vaxx shit, there's still not a lot there for me to enjoy. I'll happy listen to "Layla" again, but otherwise, take your dusty ol' blues licks and go home, man.

Legendaarinen kepittäjä, mutta itse biisit on niin pliisuja, että ei jaksa kuunnella. Ei auta sheriffitkään.

chill, cozy, mas não é algo q brilhou meus olhos

The I shot the sheriff cover should be a crime, the rest of the album is okay, it feels like it's missing some soul, though it's pretty boring in parts

Please Be With Me is a nice song, and the only one so far I'd revisit. For somebody who is so famous for playing electric guitar and was so influential in the development of hard rock and psychedelic rock, he seems completely allergic to the idea of making anything remotely interesting in his solo career. For every 'Layla', 'Sunshine of your Love', or 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' his discography has hundreds of forgettable blues tracks that all sound practically identical, many of them are on this album. If Eric Clapton had stuck to playing in other people's bands, like he did in Cream, he would be in the same league as his contemporaries like Hendrix and Page. But I just don't think he likes making interesting music or doesn't have any interesting ideas of his own.

Aside from the fact that rock and roll already was appropriated, Eric Claptons credibility as a blues singer is weak. He didn’t write most of this material and use of first-person in a blues song pretends credibility. I hate this dude because of his choices.amazing guitarist though.

It’s like listening to a cover band at a margaritaville. The songs are fine, the arrangements do absolutely nothing, and it’s vaguely island themed while still being rock. Boring!

Meh

I’ve been thinking a lot about this album since I listened to it two days ago. While I recognize the artistic expression and acknowledge Eric Clapton’s legacy and importance, I feel quite confident in saying that I didn’t really enjoy 461 Ocean Boulevard. I found it boring, and I honestly think Clapton has stronger albums than this one. That said, I respect his artistic vision and his place in music history. He’s undeniably an important artist. But this particular album simply didn’t click with me. Whenever I listen to an album, I usually try to pick songs I like to add to my playlist—tracks I might want to revisit during the day and live with for a while. With this record, I struggled to do that. Out of the twelve songs, I saved only three, and even those weren’t songs I loved; they were just tracks I found okay and thought might grow on me later. Overall, it was a lukewarm to cold experience. But that’s part of listening to music—you can’t love every album you encounter. And I’m sure that if I dive deeper into Clapton’s discography, I’ll find other records I’ll connect with much more. So this isn’t really about Eric Clapton as an artist, but about how I personally felt about this particular album.

When I read about Eric Clapton's Birmingham concert when he urged support for Enoch Powell, I nearly puked. What's going on, Eric? You've got a touch of brain damage. So you're going to stand for MP and you think we're being colonised by black people. Come on... you've been taking too much of that Daily Express stuff, you know you can't handle it. Own up. Half your music is black. You're rock music's biggest colonist. You're a good musician but where would you be without the blues and R&B? You've got to fight the racist poison, otherwise you degenerate into the sewer with the rats and all the money men who ripped off rock culture with their chequebooks and plastic crap. Rock was and still can be a real progressive culture, not a package mail-order stick-on nightmare of mediocre garbage. Keep the faith, black and white unite and fight. We want to organise a rank-and-file movement against the racist poison in rock music – we urge support – all those interested please write to: ROCK AGAINST RACISM, Box M, 8 Cotton Gardens, London E2 8DN P. S. "Who shot the Sheriff", Eric? It sure as hell wasn't you!

🎧I was going to give this a 3 but then found out the whole album is covers, and also Clapton is kind of a piece of shit. My favorite track is Please Be With Me, but again, found out it’s a cover so went and listened to the original by Cowboy. It features Duane Allman and is way better than Clapton’s take.

There's something uniquely awful about hearing Eric Clapton sing "I Shot the Sherriff". Nobody tried to stop that?

How are you so out of touch with music that you take the fun from a song like Willie and the Hand Jive. Most of the covers are lifeless. I have refused to listen to Eric Clapton because he is a racist. This album is not good. He is a great guitar player just not on this album. His singing is not good either.

I’ve never liked Eric Clapton songs whenever they’ve popped up on the radio. Furthermore, I’ve always hated every version of I Shot The Sheriff. So, I didn’t have high hopes going into this album. The first track proved me wrong, as it was a poppy and energetic track. The next one was okay. Then my fears were proven right. The next 8 tracks compete in being the most obnoxious or most boring song, with an exception in tracks 7 and 8 which have nice harmonies

Middle of the road and largely dull - loses points for I Shot the Sheriff

I rather listen to the original artists.

technically impressive. emotionally vapid and void. doesn't help that he's racist.

The music is okay but Clapton is not. A racist playing Blues? Very strange.

Very bluesy, which I like. Interesting, because the album is mostly covers and not originals. Classic Clapton album.

It was okay. Not bad but not great. I did like the song Please be with me and motherless child.

no idea what to expect but liked some of it. a 2.8

Bluesy and funky, but not my thing. 4/10

I hate Eric Clapton. A masterful guitar player, a music snob, and a big mouth.

Derivative

Yes, he is talented. He's also vile. His entire career has been ripping off black artists, so of course he's a disgusting racist. There are better things to listen to. This album is one giant yawn.

There’s some cool gospel-choir style backing vocals throughout this album which I did quite enjoy. And a couple of song highlights such as Mainline Florida and Please Be With Me. There’s also a completely unnecessary cover of Bob Marley. 2.0/5.0 Best Song: Please Be With Me

He’s at his best when he sound like JJ Cale, so this isn’t Claptons worst, but it’s still Clapton so it’s not good

I enjoy Clapton when he is doing what he does best, just play that guitar man! He was best when with other bands, like the Bluesbreakers, and Cream. But this is basically an album of covers, he is credited for two songs, and a co-writer of one other. Also I cant believe the lack of guitar on this album.

Eewww. I'm so sick of these repeat artists! Give me someone new! I'd rather listen to Yellowcard, and I hated Yellowcard!! Anyway, an address is a fine album title. But I must be missing something with Eric Clapton. This isn't loud or painful or anything, but it's sooo boring. Like Steely Dan level. Zzz.

Clapton released this after going without heroin for 3 1/2 years. That also made him far more boring.

Despite all of his great characteristics his music is whatever

Hope I never have to listen to it again.

I found this album to be a bit boring, at least until a few songs at the end. Clapton is a great guitarist with a ton of excellent music. And I liked I Shot The Sheriff, Mainine Florida, and Steady Rolling Man on this. But much of the rest of it was pretty slow and, in my opinion, uninspired. Expected more and got less. 2 stars.

Pretty mediocre all up...

This was fairly dull. I love the bluesy stuff Clapton did with the blues breakers and the yardbirds and cream, but his slow solo stuff is pretty meh. I shot the sheriff is the only one I knew and I've never really liked it. Blah.

bizarre on every front

Breaking: racist old cunt get 2 stars

blue eyed soul again. lol at the i shot the sheriff cover.

Putting aside Clapton's idiotic world views for the moment, this is a decent album of covers with 2 songs out of the 60's to round it out. When you hear Eric Clapton you think of some really solid blues guitar work with tight rhythms and good solos, but I don't really get too much of that here. Aside from the fact that the better songs are covers, none of his actual technical mastery of the instrument is on display here. The solos could have come from any competent blues guitarist and the on the songs that aren't blues, the guitar isn't particularly standout. The melodies in Let It Grow and Get Ready are nice enough but again, there's no real noteworthy guitar playing in my opinion. This is a pretty standard pop-rock album with a highlight being I Shot The Sheriff, which of course he didn't even write and apparently didn't even want to put on the album. And finally he's a huge piece of shit.

I liked the bits when he wasn't singing. An upbeat Motherless Children is an odd choice. Otherwise dull.

2.5 Why does Clapton always sound in pain when he sings

aighht

There's definitely stuff to enjoy in here but Clapton gives me the ick. Probably the racism and the anti-vax. Saved a song: N RYM: N

In which famed racist Clapton discovers reggae, will all the horrors that entails. Funk with no funk. A rich pompous man invents yacht rock and rips off stairway in the process. I can't bring myself to give this a 1 because its not even offensive, just utterly dull. The kind of guitar playing that brings the sentence "Never mind the notes, just listen to the tone!". A waste of space on this list. Who is really begging for this? Also, to reach this before Marley himself is a tragedy.

I didnt like this. It sounded like your dads creepy mate who thinks he is worldly but seems shallow and arrogant. This sounds like i expect Margaret Thatcher smelled. Points for instrument mastery

soo nach dem fantastische ihstig, wie rassistisch de lipton ice tea isch, luegemer mal was er so z büte het motherless children kenni s riff iwie? isch easy aber jz nöd meh I shot the sheriff kenntmer mega oder isches es cover vom marley? confusioñ LOGISCH MARLEY BLÖD okok please be with me findi no en schöne, reduzierte song sini stimm falltmer jz s erst mal positiv uuf, vorher isch sie eifach z ruhig gsi und jz passts halt iwie? let it grow het na schön ahgfange und denn...passiert eifach nüt meh ok me chanem nöd vorwerfe, es z langs album gmacht z haa ja di 2. hälfti hetmer chli besser gfalle aber allgemein findis eifach langwilig? ab und zue hets vlt mal en refrain oder en gitarrepart wommer gfallt aber im grosse und ganze chli zum ihdöse

Clapton recorded this after coming out of a heroin addiction. Curiously, after that experience, he managed to produce an album devoid of any kind of grit. It's the epitome of faceless corporate rock, soulless covers included. Expertly played, though. 1.5/5 really, but I'm feeling generous today.

It's Clapton, which is bad enough. Then, 7 of the 10 tracks are cover versions. Why is this album on this list?

idk how much i'm influenced by now knowing about this guy's racism but this sucked

Only 4 original tracks on this album was a surprise. A mix of rock, pop,blues and even a bit of country/r&b. Very middle of the road and his solo output doesn't match his band work. OK-ish.

Hell of a guitarist …. Boring and bland voice. Just meh

sounds like a 60's rock radio station

I think I’d have good things to say about this album if Clapton wasn’t such a dick. Guitar and vocals were very Peter Green, which is high praise from me.

Appreciate he’s held up as one of the true guitar greats, but as a writer I’ve never heard anything from Clapton that has piqued my interest. And this albums does little to change that. It all just feels like very standard 70s rock numbers. Overall, not very memorable.

whatever, man. 2.5 stars.

I'm all for separating artist from art. It gets markedly harder when overt bluesman is also overt racist but, then, I also don't really care for Clapton.

👎👎👎

Can confess I did not approach this with an open mind, as Eric Clapton is not a nice man. His music sounds pleasingly like Harry Nilsson, but with more blues rock and less interesting songwriting. Going with a reluctant two.

Low 2 Ive never liked eric clapton and i dont know why. Theres not even any interesting guitar work on this album. Tbf ive never heard a solo from him thats interested me in any way. Give me george harrison any day

Thanks to all the other comments for informing me that Eric Clapton sucks as a person

Soulless album with the best songs being basic Clapton covering more skilled song writers. The guy was a great technical guitarist but he lacks depth and emotion.

A few nice songs, but most of these are covers which don't add anything to the original, and as a whole this was pretty dull. 3/10

kinda just went by Will I listen to again: 0%

Not for me

I’m familiar with this album, heard it many times and am usually underwhelmed. This is a laid back, whitewashed blues cover album. As uninspiring as this album is, it has its moments: Motherless Child, Get Ready, Let It Grow are all tolerable. Not a fan of the I Shot the Sheriff cover, seemed random and out of place. If you want blues, there’s better out there. If you want Clapton, there’s better out there. If you want cover music, there’s better out there. This is ehh, a 2.

Lame racist boomer plays music written by better musicians. Okay, it’s well produced.

Didn’t to much a little disappointing, felt abit bluegrass not my tempo

Separating the art from the artist because he is a ignorant asshole with shit values. Just because music is written by a human does not make it human so it should get a chance to be critiqued by it self. Lyrics can be hateful but melodies are just sounds and don't have values or opinions. Probably why I often don't listen to lyrics. Kinda like, don't judge a kid by it's shit parents. Maybe it's because I always liked music more than people Rant over, so how does the music hold up? It's fine, I always thought he was overrated. not really an amazing guitarist so I'm not really sure why he is praised for his guitar skills. The best track is I shot the sheriff but why not just listen to the original instead. The other tracks are fine, nothing revolutionary. mostly mediocre blues and some forgettable ballads.

My previous review of Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs (1970) was less than generous, and this one won't be much different. I always thought I respected Eric Clapton as a musician, but I'm learning that maybe isn't true (even without considering the personal/political reasons he's fallen out of popular favor in recent years). When we last left off, Eric (Derek), wrote a whole album about how much he loved his best friend's wife and really made things weird for himself. After that didn't go exactly as he'd hoped, he decided to love heroine instead and disappeared to explore that relationship for ~3 years. His emergence in 1974 might be one of the great heist stories of our time... He recorded this album of cover songs, and he finally started living with Pattie Boyd (the Chekhov's Best-Friend's-Wife we met in Act 1). I guess he had to get sober on his own, but he probably would have stolen that too if he could have. This album (again, of mostly cover songs) really shows Clapton struggling to figure out who he is and experimenting with different musical styles. He still manages to keep things pretty middle-of-the-road, with no ambitious swings and no virtuoso guitar soloing. He did write two songs for this album: "Get Ready" with guest vocalist Yvonne Elliman, and "Let It Grow" which he later admitted is basically a rip-off of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven". The former is a highpoint of the album, and the latter could be a good song as well if it wasn't for the stolen valor of it all. The big hit from this record, a cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot The Sheriff", was a track that Clapton apparently didn't even want to record or put on the album. It's certainly a standout track and, in my opinion, marks a turning point in the album. Whereas the songs before ISTS feel lively, sometimes almost jam band-y, the back-end of the album feels a little darker/muddier. For the sake of my Spotify algorithm, I refuse to listen to this album a 3rd time to validate that opinion, but that was my impression on the 2nd listen. Sometimes I listen to these albums and then explore the rest of the artist's catalogue, but today I put on Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive (1976) as a palate cleanser. It is a good match to the tone of the first 1/2 of 461 Ocean Boulevard, and somehow Frampton's guitar playing succeeds in sounding more like Clapton than Clapton's does on this record.

A bit zzz. And I am over Eric C.

Typical Clapton - lazy and uninspiring. After Cream, he basically phoned in the rest of his career. He's got skill, but no soul.

Where did the whole Clapton thing come from? It's really hard for me to find anything remarkable here. I'm glad he kicked heroin, though disappointed he turned out to be such a dick.

Boring

Couple of good songs, but his voice - just couldn’t get used to it.

Cream were a pretty good band. Layla has a great riff. I don't need any other Clapton in my life, though, thanks all the same. Yes, he knows his way around a guitar. But he rarely brings a spark to anything he performs here, and besides, he's a massive plonker.

The perfect album to accompany a mid afternoon search for a soup recipe. If you stop paying attention to the music because your eyes were enticed by the addition of serrano chiles to a soup, it's okay you didn't miss much. 2.5

Dull

I’ve never really understood the Clapton hype, still don’t. Yes, he is admittedly a great guitar player, but nothing I've heard has stood out to me as particularly extraordinary. On this album, I enjoyed his riffs on several tunes, but it was never enough to make me think that I was hearing anything essential or particulalry impactful to music. Almost all of the songs on the album are covers and among the two originals, “Let it Grow” largely reworks “Stairway to Heaven”, so no song writing cred for Clapton. His singing is mediocre, at best. I always try to give the albums here an initial listen prior to doing any research. Sometimes learning more about the artist/album makes me appreciate it more, more rarely the opposite happens but that was the case here. I don’t pay attention to celebrity gossip, especially when it is associated with someone who I’m not interested in. As a result, I had no idea that Clapton was such a horrible human (I’m being generous with the human part). Holy shit! This dude is a waste of carbon. “Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. Get the foreigners out,” exclaimed Clapton to his captive audience. “Get the wogs out. Get the coons out. Keep Britain white." No, this was not an isolated incident and it is made worse coming from a white dude covering blues songs. Plus, his more recent anti-vax conspiratorial BS. As someone on Twitter said, "Kid Rock with slightly better guitar skills". Putting the asshole aside, I just didn’t find anything particularly special. A decent rock/blues album, but there is much better. Based on music alone, I would have probably given the album 2.5*, but fuck this guy. And no, one should not separate the artist from the art, particularly when they use their wealth and influence to spread hate and intolerance. I see no reason to explore Clapton’s solo work further. In writing this, I’ve given him way more time than he deserves.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about Eric Clapton: as the host of 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦 he left a positive impression, but his careless political remarks do the opposite. Musically, he’s often hailed by magazines (and even casual listeners — someone once coined the phrase “Clapton is God”) as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Yet what he really delivers is safe, academic blues. If you wanted to learn the basics of blues guitar, Clapton could teach you a few solid lessons — but that doesn’t make him a visionary songwriter. 𝟦𝟨𝟣 𝘖𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘥 proves the point: aside from a couple of originals, it’s mostly covers, played with competence but little spark. His laid-back approach is pleasant enough, yet the album feels more like a collection of interpretations than a true artistic statement.

For anyone who thinks - as I do - that Eric Clapton is an absolute dangerous walloper, I would heartily recommend this phenomenal character assassination by Andrew Male 😅: https://youtu.be/QFiYTs7EWsU?si=bvXxrJd_eOLvD4Rp As for the album itself? In the better moments, hints of Ry Cooder or JJ Cale. Even some moments of genuine, soaring beauty. Also a lot of boringly competent midrange playing and, at his worst, plenty of pale-imitation, faux-blues and cod-reggae crap. Should probably really merit another star but ultimately marked down for EC being such a massive tit.

I only gave it it two stars because there were two songs I kind of liked. I am not a fan of solo Eric Clapton.

I liked Motherless Children but overall it's pretty mediocre album. 2/5

DNF

clapton guitar good but do nothing else good better music plz

Eric definetly deserves flowers for his guitar playing and his work with cream but bruh this album is so boring 6/10 Favourite: Motherless Children Least Favourite: Get Ready

4 Blah blah beyow weeyow

White cokehead anti-vaxxer does Reggae. No way this ends poorly. 3/10

Otro disco que hacía mucho que no reescuchaba. Este tampoco me gustaba mucho pero, en este caso, mi memoria no me traicionaba. No entiendo mucho su importancia histórica ni porque merece estar en esta lista. ¿Por un éxito meramente comercial? ¿Por haberle introducido el reggae a cabezas blancas y angloparlantes? ¿Por ser el regreso triunfante de un Clapton acosado por sus demonios, años después de que otros músicos como Jimi Hendrix hubieran muerto? No lo sé, pero no me interesa para nada. Dicho esto, el segundo lado del álbum es MUY superior al primero. El primero es una porquería, tenés al clásico tradicional de blues Motherless Children, canción super lúgubre, hecha medio poppy y upbeat. Daría a entender que Clapton no entiende la letra. Después tenés un tema de blues de Clapton que en mi humilde opinión no aporta nada, y no uno, ni dos, sino TRES canciones de reggae (incluyendo I Shot the Sheriff, la más conocida del disco y la única que me parece algo interesante, aunque sea por ganchos y por nostalgias). El segundo lado es mejor. Por un lado tiene a la que es lejos, lejos, lejos, lejos, lejos la mejor canción del disco y una de las mejores canciones de Clapton. Este disco tiene 2 estrellas y una es por ella. La mejor, la soñada, la indiscutible Let It Grow. Además hay un tema de blues de Willie Dixon que está bien, Please with be me y Mainline Florida, que son las otras dos canciones del disco que están buenas, y un tema más de blues medio genérico. En suma, en este disco tenés tres canciones buenas (superlativas), un cover que está bien, y lo demás es medio pelo. Si vamos, por otro lado, a considerar originales, Clapton compuso solo tres canciones en este disco (una en coautoría): una es la mejor del disco; las otras dos pertenecen al lado uno, el lado de la muerte. En fin, peor disco (por ahora) que veo en los 1001 discos: 2 estrellas.

My first Clapton album. I wasn't bad, I shot the Sheriff is great, other then that, not a whole lot to take away from. Easy listening, but nothing stood out that strongly for me. Good campfire music, that's about it.

Please be with me was a good song but really nothing else. Who shot the sheriff was good, but I liked Bob's version better. Nothing too exciting for me here.

He sounds like Brian’s Kermit the Frog imitation.

(51/100)

Min enda erfarenhet av Clapton sedan tidigare är Layla, Tears in heaven och trötta bluessolon. När första låten rullar igång här känns det betydligt piggare. Men så är Clapton ingen sångare av rang och det är det stora problemet med den här skivan. Det är 10 habilt framförda låtar, men också rätt identitetslöst.

Det är snyggt, fina musiker, välproducerat och ack så tråkigt. Slowhand maler på utan att något sticker ut. Clapton är kanske bäst när han arrangerar bluesfestivaler.

Слабо Клептън, слабо

it's fine. But he sucks.

I’m surprised this album came out in 1974 when the album cover and title are some of the most stereotypically 2000s things ever. I guess time really is a flat circle. I’m not familiar with Eric Clapton’s music, but I swear I’ve heard his name somewhere before. I’ve no clue what to expect going into this. Hard rock? Singer/songwriter? Anyone’s guess, really. Oh, blues rock. I never would have gleamed that. I’ve been given a few of these albums lately. The style isn’t for me and there isn't too much going on in this album, but I’m never above a little unpretentious fun. There are some good guitar performances here and I enjoy Clapton’s vocal style, but ask me to name one of these songs and I’d be sweating bullets. Anyways, onto the music. “Willie and the Hand Jive” is the first stand-out track of the album. The plucky guitar performance is the obvious highlight, though I also jive with the vocal performance. “Get Ready” is a good follow-up. I quite like the subdued sound and cool guitars, and the vocal melody is pretty catchy. “I Shot the Sherrif” isn’t half bad. It has a little bit of a Motown influence, which is a surprising pivot for the album. The groovy guitars and pianos are also neat. “Let It Grow” is an interesting late-album track. The sound errs between being optimistic and pensive, which is an interesting approach. The guitarwork is solid, and I like the vocal melody around the chorus. Reminds me a little of “Don’t Pass Me By” by the Beatles. Checking the book. Clapton was with Derek and the Dominos, which makes a great deal of sense now that I think about it. “I Shot the Sherif” was a chart-topper in the US. Hmm. I’m not sold on this yet – checking Wikipedia. It was critically acclaimed and topped many charts, but there isn’t much else in there of note. Clapton himself seems to be pretty esteemed and influential, though I’m split down the middle on this inclusion. Uhhh, I think it could do with a trim. In place of this album, I humbly submit Paddy McAloon’s “I Trawl the Megahertz” for inclusion on the list.

Okay album. I found it kind of boring for the most part. "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Motherless Children" were the highlights. He may be a great guitarist but it ends there. His vocals detract.

I’m very disappointed by this album, which is of course pleasant but lacks interest and didn’t really catch my attention… Favorites: - Motherless children (the best song of the album, very fun jazz) - I shot the sheriff (the classic!)

idk sounds pretty boring tbh

this whole thing is just a bunch of half baked covers. growing up I always hated his version of I shot the sheriff, but somehow that's one of the best things on here? there's not excitement here. vibes of a knock off juke joint.

The guy is clearly talented but this just wasn't my glass of vimto

Fine enough, doesn't really do anything special but sounds okay.

A terrible cover of Hand Jive, it's insane. A bunch of covers. Strong musicianship.and production. This has a certain cringeyness vibe overall.

it's a Clapton album nothing wowing

Yawn

Kedeligt

Not really for me, its fine and pretty here and there but mostly comes across as horny boomer music.

Eric Clapton is a superb player, and for the most part, this is a decent-enough-but-leaning-heavily-towards-boring record. It's pretty standard 12-bar blues type stuff, though it's largely executed well technically. I don't know that I'll ever revisit 461 Ocean Blvd again; while the musicianship is technically done well enough, nothing really grabs my attention in a meaningful way. Even Clapton's playing, as technically gifted a player as he is, just lacks any sort of excitement or passion or dynamic shift on this record. It has also not gone unnoticed that about half of this record is cover songs, and those covers largely feel lifeless and dull (I'm probably deducting a full point here; who records half an album of originals and fills up the space with uninspired covers successfully? I can tell you who doesn't: Eric Clapton). I'll be honest, I know Clapton is a guitar hero, but I have always struggled to find his work interesting. This record is not the exception. 2.4/5 Non-offensive but kinda boring blues rock from one of the masters.

He shouldn't have stopped using heroin

The whitest dude to ever do blues. For someone who's name is often dropped as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, the man's solo career is simply pathetic. 461 Ocean Boulevard sounds like it was made by an old whiny grandpa, who listened to some blues records and tried to imitate it. I always get a little sad when listening to his solo stuff, because 'Layla', 'Sunshine of your love' and 'While my guitar gently weeps' are some of my favourite songs of all time. His bland sound on these tracks almost undermines his genius interplays on those previous tunes. The hit cover of 'I Shot The Sherrif' is just not that good and fails the original, but still managed to be the best song on this thing. Eric Clapton's solo Boulevard is too unimaginative to enjoy.

I think this album was a mixture of really good and horribly bad. When Eric Clapton tried to sing more bluesy songs he just ended up sounding milquetoast and soulless. Songs like Please Be With Me and Let It Grow however were fantastic. The guitar parts were absolutely beautiful. But oh my gosh, I Shot The Sheriff…I just can’t with that one. Horrible.

o sea entiendo la vibra, simplemente no es mi vibra. la guitarra genial evidentemente pero las letras no m transmitieron aboslutamente nada y m embole un poco, no pude conectar

Clapton is arguably one of the more important guitarists of all time. A lot of what we got after him only happened because of him. I want to separate the art from the artist though because a 50 year old album at least deserves an honest review. Now, with all that out of the way, this album is pretty bland. The only real standout track is the Bob Marley cover. There's some great guitar work on the album over all, but that doesn't really do much to make up for the subpar song writing.

Most of these are covers of other artists’ songs. At least he introduced the world to Bob Marley…

Difficult to look past his racist rants from this era, especially for blues this mid.

Pretty boring album

Not great for the most part, couple of good covers and Eric's own let it grow are the best parts.

3eme album avec Clapton après un de Cream puis un de Derek & the Dominos, tous deux peu appréciés (2/5). Celui-ci est plus récent, mais est beaucoup plus Blues que Rock ... Les morceaux ne sont pas très dynamiques, pas désagréables (+1) mais peu intéressants. Rien de remarquable donc, je ne l'écouterais pas une seconde fois. =>2/5

I liked a few songs and really didn’t like the others

For someone named Clapton his music sure made me hold my applause 😆 I could smell this guy from 3 albums away 🤢

You know i really dgaf

High points: Motherless Child, Please Be With Me (reminds me a bit of CSN), Let It Grow Meh point: Willie and the Hand Jive, Get Ready Notes: Great live feel to the production. Overall a pretty boring and slow album with a couple good tracks.

There's obviously some great guitar playing here. Let It Grow is a real stinker. I get that he stole from black musicians. And is a racist. And a dumbass anti-vaxxer. I think when we hit the 70s we're going to find a lot of musicians we problematic. All that being said, not really music Id choose to listen to.

ligegyldig, men gør ingen skade

This is pretty uninspiring stuff. One of the weaker albums I've heard on this journey. The vocals are not convincing, and Clapton's guitar is super understated.

Nothing wrong with it but just not for me

Mostly weightless.

It’s not unlistenable or anything, but I would describe it as ‘remarkably unremarkable’. What on earth did the record-buying public (and Grammy Hall of Fame committee…!) think Clapton’s version of I Shot the Sheriff excelled at that the original did not??

Dull music, expertly played, is still dull music.

2/5. This feels like a bootleg copy of unreleased songs found on an anniversary album 25 years later. It's not necessarily bad but I was kind of hoping for the actual album at some point. Just listening to the guitar is fun because Eric has not found his front man voice yet. Honestly just having guest singers would have been a better choice. It's an okay album, just not something I'm listening to again really. Best Song: I Shot The Sheriff, Motherless Children, Steady Rollin' Man

Decent and enjoyed it enough but probably won’t revisit. Few great tracks, others were just fine.

Judging from Wikipedia it seems like this was quite a popular album. I fail a bit to see its greatness actually. Most songs seems to be covers or written by other artists. ’Let it grow’ is the best song, and seems to be almost the only one written by Clapton himself. Overall I found this quite bland, nothing really stood out. Not sure why it’s on the list honestly.

Generic dad-rock. The most memorable song is "I shot the Sherrif" which is just a subpar cover. Very inspired by rhythm and blues but instead a white guy singing. Not sure why this was popular (actually, i know why, racism). Probably a weak 3 but going for a 2.

I was like... oh actually this is alright. And then I realised its almost entirely covers. Everytime I hear it start to get interesting I go and check the credits and lo and behold its not a Clapton song. Its not bad. Its well produced. I don't feel like I needed to hear it before I died. Put it in the 'albums that you could take off the list without anyone noticing'. I suppose you could give it a three but he butchers the groove on I Shot the Sheriff which is unforgiveable.

Wow. You can hear the cocaine right off the bat here. I’m not going to act like he’s not talented. Some of this is sort of okay. I can see why it appeals to certain audiences. But it just sounds like a bunch of cheap covers.

I don’t typically read the reviews before I listen to the album, I don’t want my analysis to be clouded by others opinions. But I was curious before hand because I am not much of a Clapton fan and wanted to see how the world viewed him. Well, all the top reviews talked about him as a POS human being (not gonna argue that, I try to just listen to the music tho, particularly for this list) and how middling this album is. Well I couldn’t disagree more. Middling is such a, well, middling term. This album isn’t in the middle of anything, except for maybe the middle of a sea of shitty uninspired music. This album isn’t even plain vanilla, vanilla is a good and usual flavor. This is old wilted iceberg lettuce, flavorless and lacking any snap. He covers some great songs with the enthusiasm of a middle school child going to help his distance relative paint their garage. I have heard Clapton’s version of I Shot the Sheriff more times than I need to. I was about 8 the first time I heard it and growing up in a Bob Marley house, I almost puked then and nothing has changed in 30+ years. He takes a song with so much meaning, depth, and passion and turns it into over cooked instant oatmeal. I said I wouldn’t skip any tracks on any album on this list, that was the toughest one. Can Clapton play a good blues guitar, sure. And there are a few Cream and other Clapton songs that I don’t mind, not putting them on any of my playlists, but when they pop up somewhere, I can dig them. This album doesn’t have that at all. I’ve heard worse albums, but not yet on this list. Giving it a one seems too tough, but grading on the 1001 scale it might be fair. But there are some redeeming guitar rifts that can’t allow me to give it the lowest possible score. 3.5/10 ⭐️ #25/1001

Plodding. The only song of interest here is one that wasn't even written by Clapton.

I briefly confused Eric Clapton with Neil Young. Real middle-of-the-road music, best track is the I Shot the Sheriff cover. Surprises me we've only had one Cream album too. Just really middling. Not even going to give a bad boy bonus for having some strong opinions - too middling.

Never listened to an Eric Clapton album before, but this is pretty much as I expected. Fairly middle of the road soft rock. He can clearly play guitar, but he's also clearly a huge cunt and I can't really get away from that. I'd forgotten about reading about his speech at one of his gigs in the 70s until this album came up Probably worth more than a 2 but he's annoyed me

Guitar is cool. Shot sheriff is classic

So bland, not what I'd expect

Thoughts before listening: While I appreciate Eric Clapton's guitar playing talent, I have never had much interest in his solo music. Cream was great and Derek & the Dominoes is a good album, but I typically find his solo albums to be boring. That being said, I know this album is highly regarded so I look forward to listening. Review: I mean this isn't necessarily "bad" but it is pretty bland. While I do like a couple of these songs like "Motherless Children" and "Let it Grow", this album is full of mostly boring, watered down blues rock. 2-stars

2.5

It’s ok

I’ve said before that Clapton is a better side man than a front man. This album is a perfect example of why. It does almost nothing to showcase his ample ability, and just sounds generic. Putting aside how horrible he is as a person, Eric Clapton is undeniably talented. An album by someone with his skills shouldn’t be this boring.

Nothing I say about Clapton hasn’t been said before, but I’m just not in the mood for this ’70s blues facade where technical skill is valorized over feeling. There’s no sloppiness, no danger—just Clapton’s effortless confidence and clarity. His pristine tone is the sound of a man playing everything right but never raising the stakes. It’s all so polished, so assured, so tasteful. Cranking the volume doesn’t reveal any hidden fire, it just reveals that everything is perfectly in place. When has perfection ever been good for rock music? Steely Dan would like a word with me, as would Genesis, Dire Straits and Fleetwood Mac—all masters of the pursuit of flawlessness. But at least they aimed high. Clapton is in an even more unenviable place: too safe to be ambitious. All perfection, no pain or pathos.

Some of the guitar work was good, but the best song on here is a cover. Also none of his best songs are on here, and he's not a good dude