461 Ocean Boulevard

For ‘God’ this is very average.

Super chill. Didn't expect to like this one!

Album was very pleasant to listen to, but at the same time quite forgettable. Great uninspired background music.

Eh. 55/112

Eclectic. Classic.

Didn't realise Eric Clapton is still a thing. Putting racism and general asshole-ness aside for a minute and looking at the music alone (assuming that's even possible), I'd say this album might have been nice, once upon a time, but is now past it. But, yeah, this would be a better place without Clapton in it.

I have listened to other work from Eric Clapton and various bands he has played in. Most of 461 Ocean Boulevard was new to me. Clapton includes some elements of Southern Rock, blues, and even a little nod to the hippie era ("Let it Grow") on this album. There are some songs that I could skip because the music (like Clapton) have taken on extra baggage over ther years (e.g. "Willie and the Hand Jive", "I Shot the Sheriff"). Some of that baggage is just me being too familiar with the music from other sources. I didn't dislike any tracks and I marked several tracks for the personal playlist ("Motherless Children", "Steady Rollin' Man", "I Can't Hold Out", "Mainline Florida" and "Let it Grow"). Overall, this album acheives an "okay".

eh. extremely mid, some song sound just like previous

Okay album. Not great though.

It’s Clapton

It was alright, not a huge fan but i see the appeal

ничего я не запомнила и после Википедии не была склонна...

Kinda solid kinda boring

I've never been particularly taken in by Clapton's works and I wasn't on this album either. I find the songwriting a little bit middle of the road. The guitar work and tones are great though, as you'd expect from Clapton. Not for me but I can see why someone might really like this album, I didn't have an unpleasant time listening to it. But I cant see a situation where I'll ever think "I could really go for an Eric Clapton album right now"

kitaratyöskentely... on se hienoa EI OLE. toistan EI OLE, yliarvostettu kitaristi. bing big ding kitara laulaa ei mitään ego SOITTOA. vaan pidättyväistä, mutta tarkkaa, ääni ei ole kaakossa täällä, ei aina tarvitse olla.... sen takia voi osittain olla tylsäkin monelle,,,on kelpo soolo albumi kuuluisalta anti vaksaajalta. let it grow saatanan KAUNIS biisi,,,, i shot the sheriff hyvä poppi jynkytys...

Ehh it's fine. Clapton has better songs but these were just fine middle of the road old British blues.

Good

Solid

9/14/2022

It was fine.

A random bunch of tunes performed well. Don't get the classic status.

Better than I was expecting, pretty strong as a complete album. Pity he’s an arsehole!

Clapton has better albums IMHO.

Some really good stuff but just not consistent. The guitars sound so clean and crisp and perfect. Favorite was probably Mainline Florida.

A good bit of classic rock. There really wasn't anything that stood out though.

Listenable but nothing really stood out to me. Favorite: Motherless Children

Nothing memorable other than I Shot The Sherriff.

Not bad. Never been a big fan of Eric Clapton, but not the worst

It was better than I thought it would be.

Mid

Hoeft niet herhaald te worden ofzo

Good songs, but the mix is not the best. Vocals are very low.

There is better Eric Clapton music. The album was alright. A couple of songs were recognizable. I don't think I will listen to it again. I will round up to a three.

Okay

Never been much a Clapton fan - just not my style of music though I can see why people appreciate it. Great cover of I Shot the Sheriff though. 6/10.

5/10. Not bad, not great.

Clapton the goat

3.8 - I much prefer this more laid back Eric Clapton to his earlier coked out “guitar god” projects. Some nice sunny day driving songs. Standouts: “Let it Grow”, “Motherless Children.”

3.5/5

Was very entertaining but not my cup of tea. Probably won’t be relistening anytime soon.

Good but not great.

Estuvo ok, supongo, pero no es la época de Eric Clapton que más recuerdo. “Había que estar ahí “ parece. En todo caso, después de una segunda escucha el disco va creciendo.

Nokkuð skemmtilegt

It was soft and ok. It didn't seem to hold me and I had to go back and restart from different places.

Good album that gives the feeling of the album title and cover. A nice rock album that sounds like a Florida day. A few standouts but mostly a standard listening experience. Motherless children - 3 Give me strength - 3 Willie - 3 Get ready - 3 I shot the sheriff - 4 I can’t hold out - 3 Please be with me - 4 Let it grow - 4 Steady rollin man - 3 Mainline Florida - 3 33/50 3/5

Nice one by EC. Legendarisk actually..

let it grow - genious

Clapton is cancelled. I’m going to use this space to bemoan the lack of Shania Twain on this list. Best selling country artist ever, radio staples that have somehow got better with age and a career arc for the ages. Show some god damn respect.

motherless children

Sick guitar licks and it had become easy to ignore how talented Clapton was in the 70s on how ridiculous his personal life is now.

It's fine. Let It Grow is good.

I love Eric Clapton but this album wasn’t as good as I’d come to expect from him.

It was OK, fairly bog standard bluesy rock.

Given the context I guess it's good to see a rising star on the rebound. Nothing really struck me on this album but my fave track would be Mainline Florida.

Eh, inoffensive enough, I suppose. Didn't really grab me. The "I Shot the Sheriff" cover seems pretty appropriative... Fave track - "Better Make It Through Today" had some atmospheric noodlings - two listens through and not many of the tracks stuck...

-I really like the drum groove carrying "Motherless Children." Overall it's guy a great riff that mixes between drums, guitar, and piano -"Get Ready" and "Willie And The Hand Jive" were interesting enough -"I Shot The Sheriff" is the best track in the album, although a lot of that is probably due to familiarity. But I like the multi-singer setup and just great riffs and catchiness overall. -Rest of the album is kind of boring blues-rock. Really "I Shit The Sheriff" stands out as great, "Motherless Children" is pretty good, and the rest is meh. I think it is getting 3 stars, surprisingly enough

Le mood est l’fun. C’est relaxe comme album dans l’ensemble. Ça groove aussi, et ce n’est pas un album de guitare (pas un trip d’égo). Autrement, ce n’est pas non-plus du jamais vu.

2e écoute de cet album pour moi dans le cadre de ce projet. Mon premier album d'Eric Clapton écouté au complet. Je ne suis habituellement pas un grand fan de blues rock, mais c'est quand même diversifié comme album. Ça groove pas mal au début. C'est l'album qui contient sa fameuse reprise de I Shot The Sheriff. Je vais me contredire ici puisqu'habituellement je dis que je préfère quand les reprises s'éloignent de la version originale pour être réappropriée dans le style de l'artiste. C'est en partie vrai ici puisque j'ai l'impression d'écouter une chanson d'Eric Clapton mais on reste proche de l'originale. Ça fonctionne et elle est somme toute agréable à écouter. Le drum sonne super bien sur cette pièce. J'aime bien aussi la pièce Let It Grow qui est très différente du reste de l'album. Je ne sais pas si c'est voulu ou un clin d'oeil, mais la mélodie de la fin de cette pièce est très proche de la mélodie de Stairway To Heaven. Une écoute somme toute agréable.

Enjoyed the blues like album. Many songs I hadn't heard before. Certainly featured some Clapton greats, but not too many.

kind of bluesy, kind of a country funk, Grateful Dead sound on some of it. Not bad but it wasn't earth shattering

I don't know anything about Eric Clapton nor this album other than the main popular song being used for an EPMD song. After giving it a spin and a cursory read, I can understand seeing this as a great comeback record after battling a heroin addiction. It's some mellow and sunny blues, rocking the simplicity of his lyricism and songwriting. Unfortunately even with that context I don't find myself returning to this than for the singles. It's not my thing but I won't complain if I heard songs from this album.

3.5/5 i'll have to relisten

Well I’ve herd cream but never his solo stuff… The album starts with motherless children which contains a lot of really good guitar work, Clapton’s singing is nice but he’s never been my favourite vocalist and the lyrics aren’t too great. Give me strength is nice good change in pace I like that it’s pretty short as well as it sounds like it could’ve easily dragged. Willie and the hand jive has good but slow kinda funky guitars, the lyrics really seem there just to fill up space but it’s still good. Get ready feels sonically like a part 2 to the last song and like that one the guitars are so nice, again the lyrics aren’t great and I’am not sure about the female voice on the song but it’s nice. I shot the sheriff is one of those songs everyone knows. I mean I know this version for sure but it’s apparently bob Marley’s song, which makes sense for the better lyrics. Also I remember marge Simpson singing it so that kinda worsened my view on the song. Starting off side b is I can’t hold out, it’s nice enough just a slow rock track to be fair nice but not a favourite. Then comes please be with me it’s really soft, the backing vocals work much nicer than on other songs. So yeah I like it. Let it grow is one of only two songs ( the other being give me strength) that Clapton actually fully wrote and it’s a shame there aren’t more originals because this is my favourite so far. Just a nice slow acoustic song with good lyrics! Then the penultimate track steady rollin’ man, I don’t mind it but it does go back to the nice everything but not great lyrics. Then now we’re at mainline Florida, the final track, it’s got nice guitars all through and the lyrics are good. Yeah this is really strong! There’s two flaws to the album and that’s: The fact he didn’t write most of the songs. And while I didn’t mention it on the review side two’s sequencing is a bit odd. Still nice overall!

Amazing !

After a multi-year heroin binge, Clapton weined off the drug and created a surprisingly life-affirming record. I picked up this years ago on vinyl (second-hand, don't worry) and thought it was an ok bluesy album, but one I never revisited, but after listening for this project I think I'll be going back to it much more often. Christgau spoke of the first half positively, but said that the second half slips slightly and I definitely agree with that - the first half is brilliant, relaxing and incredibly fun. I'm not sure what emotion I expected to have listening to this album, but relaxation and fun weren't two that instantly came to mind, yet those were the main two I felt listening to it. I've definitely come to appreciate this album more with age as a solid bluesy album that I will likely revisit as a late-night relaxation album - I just won't think about Clapton's views on black people or scientific virus curtailing measures.

3/5 25/04/22 Was a chill album, enjoyed listening to while doing some work and playing some games, i liked it

One to revisit I think. Enjoyable but it's not stuck with me.

3.25

Our first Clapton solo album, but to me the worst album with Clapton on it. His singing has improved, but more importantly, the songwriting is lukewarm and his guitar-tracks are not nearly as good/interesting here as they were with Derek & The Dominoes, John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers or with Cream. That's a sort of recurring theme of the album. It's all ok, but just not nearly as good as it could/should be. The songs seem sort of half-baked and simply aren't interesting, despite the band's obvious potential. The album gets better during the second half. Let It Grow and Steady Rollin' Man for example are quite good. But as a whole, the album is still rather disappointing. Also: I Shot The Sheriff is a super annoying song.

Solid deeper cut Clapton

Decent blues rock. "I Shot The Sheriff" cover is great.

I like Clapton as an artist (not so much as a person), but this was pretty mid. I think that he needs a strong co-leader to really bring his best ability out, because a lot of this is basic white guy blues. There’s still some shredding, and a couple of solid songs. I’d still rather listen to Cream instead, though. C

Feels sort of bland and tired. “Sheriff,” “Please Be With Me,” and “Let It Grow’ are all good. Other tracks are mellow and inoffensive, generic and background-y. Clapton is not a very good singer. 3.3 for 3.

A few really great songs, and a few too many languid bluesy type songs imo. Even though the album has a lethargic chill feel, it's extremely solid, and produced perfectly. I enjoyed it throughout. Not a bad moment. Favorite song was easily "Let it Grow". Also liked the last song, the first song and I Shot The Sheriff. And the vocals in "Please Be With Me" had that perfect 70s harmony feel Clapton's guitar mastery is indisputable, but I feel like there's only so much original songwriting you can do within the framework of slow blues rock. I'll be sure to return to this album my next lazy beach day.

Ma première écoute d'un album complet d'Eric Clapton. Je ne suis habituellement pas un grand fan de blues rock, mais c'est quand même diversifié comme album. Ça groove pas mal au début. C'est l'album qui contient sa fameuse reprise de I Shot The Sheriff. Je vais me contredire ici puisqu'habituellement je dis que je préfère quand les reprises s'éloignent de la version originale pour être réappropriée dans le style de l'artiste. C'est en partie vrai ici puisque j'ai l'impression d'écouter une chanson d'Eric Clapton mais on reste proche de l'originale. Ça fonctionne et elle est somme toute agréable à écouter. J'aime bien la pièce Let It Grow qui est très différente du reste de l'album. Je ne sais pas si c'est voulu ou un clin d'oeil, mais la mélodie de la fin de cette pièce est très proche de la mélodie de Stairway To Heaven. Une écoute somme toute agréable.

Great guitar but it feels he’s still trying to find wings as a songwriter. Blues motifs are strong but album feels uneven compared to contemporaries.

A cool mix of blues and reggae sounds. Clapton is one of the greats in rock n roll guitar history, but it’s cool to hear him with other genre sounds. Pretty easy listen!

When a white man touches the islands, he comes back a changed man. Sometimes the change is good, sometimes it's bad. In this case it's good, even if Clapton should leave Marley's work alone.

Solid, great guitars

Decent blues album but got into jam territory a bit too much

I've never been a big fan of Eric Clapton outside of about 1966-71, and while this album is an easy listen and breezes by smoothly enough, it didn't change my mind. The greatest hits compilation "Timepieces", which I've known for some years, had warded me off this album slightly as it features multiple cuts from "461" which I've never really cared for. I mean, nobody really needs to hear Clapton covering Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" (particularly, of course, when he would endorse Enoch Powell's racist policies on stage a couple of years later). "Willie And The Hand Jive" is fine, but just crawlingly insubstantial. "Let It Grow" (one of only two songs here Clapton wrote alone) might have a lovely melody, but it's always struck me as a knock-off "Stairway to Heaven", with corny lyrics plucked from a dying greetings card. As an opening track, then, "Motherless Children" caught me off-guard. A cover of Blind Willie Johnson's blues standard, it's lively, has some bite to it and showcases Clapton's brand of brittle, bluesy guitar-playing at its best. Clapton has nothing to prove as a guitarist by this point, which is maybe why there's surprisingly little blistering solo work. Instead, his playing takes a bit of a backseat in favour of the easy breezy vocals and songwriting. Normally that would be a great thing, but the issue is that these songs (or rather, Clapton's take on them) isn't particularly interesting. "Give Me Strength" and "I Can't Hold Out" are both plodding, staid blues numbers, complete with hammy organ. "Mainline Florida" is the very essence of washed-out, blue jeans dad rock. I do have to admit a liking to "Please Be With Me": it has a nice stripped back arrangement, foregrounding acoustic guitar and a lovely chorus of backing singers harmonising with Clapton's simple, unaffected vocal. "461 Ocean Boulevard" is a fine listen, but it's very tame. Clapton is in conservative mode here: he already sounds like an assured elder statesman of rock in the slow lane, even though it's 1974 and the glory days of Cream were just 4 years behind him. "Slowhand" would cement this reputation, but it's creeping in here. It says a lot when the heaviest, most head-bopping track has a name like "Steady Rollin' Man"... steady indeed.

Surfside beach blues tunes. The thing about Clapton is these songs are not locked to a blues traditionalist pattern and the ornamentation is more thoughtful. Still, the songs are that consistent mid tempo dad rock that is very mood dependent for me. I Shot The Sheriff is a great tune. the back side of this record is pretty dull.

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

Ngl a bit bland which I wasn’t really expecting Outside of I shot the sheriff I can’t really remember much 2

I gave this album a low rating because Clapton just isn't that amazing of an artist when he's not backed by a great band like Cream or the Yardbirds. He’s a technically talented guitarist, but this is mostly an assemblage of warmed over covers. Also, Eric Clapton has shown himself to be a garbage human being over the years. 2.5⭐️

nah, no thanks

Other than ISTS, this is a fairly boring blues cover album

It's a pretty boring album by an excellent guitar player. And mostly covers, including the arguably most recognisable song, I Shot the Sheriff.

i really enjoyed Eric Clapton's version if "I Shot The Sheriff". overall, the album didn't really click with me. i'm not even sure what was missing. it didn't seem to head somewhere, meandering around...

I've arguably gotten more Eric Clapton lately than one normally needs. This was Clapton's post-heroin album, so was he able to conjure up some inspiration after the recent sobriety? Tough to say honestly. "I Shot the Sheriff" is the highlight here, but even then it's still a bit of a hollow cover of the famous Bob Marley song. In fact, 70% of this album is full of these covers. Just wasn't super entertained I guess.

OK deep breath. Clearly Clapton is an incredible guitarist, and many people I know regard him as a godlike genius. But I can't feel it. His songs and delivery leave me cold. There, I said it.

I'm sorry, but Eric Clapton is taking up way too much space on his list. I'm not reviewing this. I'm going to review my favourite album, Man Alive by Everything Everything. Man Alive is a 2010 album by Everything Everything, a Manchester-based band that Wikipedia describes as "art rock" but are honestly genreless. You only need to listen to this short roll of songs to experience the sheer diversity and range that they can pack into a single punch while simultaneously holding a unique sound across the board. And this is their DEBUT! While the influence of radiohead is detectable, these guys smash through and past known genres to deliver an intensely complex and original mixture of calculated sounds from the slow introspective nasa is on your side all the way to the overwhelming but perfectly executed chaos of come alive Diana and qwerty finger. It's hard to tell what the songs are about, but that's part of the fun: it's been over 15 years and I still don't know if the singles are delivering themes on vapid aesthetic culture, jealousy, environment, celebrity, the mulling of death, all or none of the above.. Also in case not clear, every song slaps. 5/5 And the 2 is for Eric Clapton.

Po vale tio yo que se. No se me ha hecho pesado pero tampoco me ha dicho nada.

Eric Clapton is a pretty good guitar player and can do the blues well. Unfortunately this album doesn’t lean into any of his strengths and has way too many slower songs that don’t really work for him

Bored with this one. Nothing exciting.

dull and boring

I have no idea how this album made this list. Clapton is a great guitar player but this album has almost nothing I feel is a must listen. Also, a racist covering Bob Marley, ha.

This sounds rather toothless in 2026.

I understand Eric Clapton is an icon and generational talent. It's just that his talent has almost zero effect on me. It never has and, judging by my reaction to 461 Ocean Boulevard, it likely never will.

Surprisingly soulless and kind of boring but pleasant nonetheless. Add in a few bland covers and you’ve got yourself a 2. He’s one hell of a guitar player though.

"Eric Clapton"? More like "Is it crap, son?" og ja, det er det. Kan ikke døje den mand. Jeg har dog stadig så svært ved den 1-stjerne, så min nådige sjæl kommer igen til udtryk her 1.8

I get he was getting clean but damn this was pretty boring.

Surely Clapton has better albums? Generic rock and blues without soul. Not an album to go to, to witness some of the best guitar playing ever. Chalk this up as a surprise that this is an influential record.

Eh, nothing

I'm just gonna go ahead and say it. Clapton is overrated and this album is kind of boring. I don't care for his vocals and the way he records his voice either. Good backup band I guess.

Clapton fell off hard after Derek and the dominoes. This record is mostly boring to me and I really have a hard time taking Clapton seriously now that I know about his drunken bigoted stage rant around this time.

Boring

unc slop with boring ass cover songs plus Eric Clapton sux 4/10

erm.. muziek lowkey goed maar like ik kan de muziek niet van de artiest separaten..

I didn't realize that Eric Clapton has always sucked

i do not like this, but there is a version of this i like, where it is made by someone else and sounds different

Clapton is kind of frustrating to me because he had potential and just never really pushed the envelope enough to develop a truly distinct style. You maybe can’t map this 1:1 to his worldview, but I do think the two are related. As for this album, there are some odd choices- the hand jive being one of them- but that’s where like 90% of what’s interesting here comes from. Also you can’t be talking like that white baby.

A set of songs that were so quiet I had trouble hearing a bunch of them. Seriously, I felt like I could never get the volume right. Most of this album is just worse covers of Blues/R&B/Reggae songs done better by the original artists. There are only three songs that were actually by Clapton, and they're not really that interesting. I don't understand why cover albums show up on this list if they're not going to do anything interesting.

Clapton’s so-called comeback album. Really overrated. A lot of covers on the album. New musical style. Soft rock. Soft blues. Songs like Give me strength and get ready I shot the sheriff. Best song. Not as good as original. Pales in comparison to Layla and other love songs. Not a very good album. Two stars.

Motherless Children is a great opener, but rapidly downhill after that.

Sounds like he did heroin for 3 years before recording it...

El que menos me ha gustado de Clapton. Vaya, sabemos que aquí habrá guitarras geniales, pero esta vez las canciones me dieron un poco igual. Disfruté muchísimo más el Bluesbrakers, también dentro de esta lista.

Thank god this is the last Clapton album on the list.

More like Childless Mothers, gottem. A middle-of-the-road blues rock album that really does not need to be here, and not just because I fucking hate Eric Clapton (I can at least cede the fact that Cream records + Layla should be in the book). A 6.5-7/10 on a good day, but docking it down to 4/10 because of my Clapton hatred. Also, this made the cut but not fucking Stevie Ray Vaughn?

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.

Putting aside his garbage fire of a personality, Slowhand was well past his peak by this point. The album just feels overall dull. Whoever told him he should cover Bob Marley was clearly trying to sabotage his career, luckily for them he did that himself.

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.

The address of Len Houmous’ famous acid parties. 2.2 10/10 Mainline Florida

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.