Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

music sucks but he fucked george harrison's wife. 4 stars

there was an hour and a quarter of this shit. we know Clapton is a massive bell end but that is some serious self love to release over an hour of you wanking off on your guitar just to get all the middle aged white blokes in stonewashed jeans to get a moist crotch from feeling like they know 'the blues'. it takes a cunt of claptons proportions to take the blues and switch it from heartfelt songs of woe and turn it into an excuse to make everyone look at how good you are on the guitar. that bit form goodfellas is good though.

Oh the irony of someone that is openly racist building a career on piss poor blues rip-offs. Fuck racist, rapist, anti-vax Clapton.

If someone asked me for the most generic piece of classic rock music I could think of, I now know where to point them to.

Uninspired trash over basic blues backing. If I wanted to listen to this, I can go to a local dive bar on a Tuesday evening show with a bunch of aging rockers who believe in conservative fiscal policy.

“Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” by Derek and the Dominos (1970) It will be hard to focus on this as an album, since it contains one of the best rock songs of all time, “Layla”. Another thing that makes this a challenge is that it features two of the top rock/blues guitarists of all time, Eric Clapton and Duane Allman (d. 1971). Indeed, the music of this album is best heard as an electric guitar duet between these two. The serious listener may thus be distracted by the temptation to spend too much attention to distinguishing their contributions on each song. And rock aficionados may be surprised that many of the dominant guitar lines are performed not by Clapton (right channel dominant, with heavy fretted bends) but by Allman (usually hanging out on the left channel, and recognized by ultra high slide). Also, on “Keep On Growing” and “Thorn Tree in the Garden”, the lead vocal is not Clapton, but Bobby Whitlock. The lyrics are beautiful expressions of love, found (“Keep on Growing”), lost (“I Looked Away”), requited (“Little Wing”) or not (“Layla”). Love, longing, pain, passion. No politics. No philosophy. No pretense. Musically, the compositions are exquisite, experimental (This is 1970), and performed with technical excellence and soul. A classic fusion of rock and blues, with the most fitting acoustic final track ever. Clapton’s dominant voice (admittedly strained) is helped by quality backing vocals. Solid rhythm section, but listen, listen, listen to the guitars. This a great album. No argument. 5/5

My two year old son died in the same way Eric Clapton's son died. For inspiration.

I get the feeling that the only reason this is on this list is because of the hit song Layla.

A classic, but some of these songs go on a bit long. I like Clapton but there's a bit too much noodling for me at certain points

A few decent songs. Plenty of bland twaddle. And Clapton is a racist piece of shit, so I won't listen again

I need a slowed-down, soul-free version of Little Wing like I need another hole in my head. Diet blues.

The title sums this album up perfectly. Competent music, but for a collection of love songs it feels cold and perfunctory. Perhaps Clapton would have been better suited to a collection of assorted hate songs? 2/5

I'll be honest, I find Clapton's solo stuff massively overrated, but I often like him when he's constrained by a band around him, so curious to see how this lands. The first song is actually alright. And Bell Bottom Blues is good too. I'm gonna credit Duane Allman. Kind of gets a bit boring for a while after that....Yeah, okay this has fallen off into the worst of Clapton-y endless blues noodling. Even the version of Little Wing, a usually amazing song, isn't totally doing it for me. Okay, but Layla is a banger, no denying Kinda digging One More Chance

I deeply hate Eric Clapton, both as a person and as a musician. I did not want to listen to this album. However, l decided that I should at least give it a go considering that I still hold a lot of Kanye West's music very close to my heart and I should probably extend the same courtesy that I expect from some of the more Kanye-averse users on this site giving his music a fair shot to Clapton. That being said, this album was pretty dull, but of course Layla is an unimpeachable track.

My first ever one star for this overrated, racist old bore. Pedestrian songs and one hour 16 minutes. He can shove his dominos up his arse.

What a great sound, fast paced songs and howling guitars, every song has class - what's not to like?

Look. You know why this album is on the list, I know why the album is on the list. Just give it a 3 and move on

The cover of Little Wing is unlistenable, especially the grating refrain they added. I never want to hear this album again.

The blues numbers are great, but I can't ignore his many flaws as a human being (a racist anti-vaxxer) so won't listen to his music any more.

Eric Clapton absolutely sucks

bleck

Slow hand does not disappoint. I had forgotten how much more than Layla they were. Great stuff

There's a lot of foreplay, some pleasurable some not, before Layla opens her legs for the good stuff. Oh, and Clapton is a cunt.

Back when there were musicians.

I hate myself for giving this one 5 stars… Clapton is a huge wanker but man this is a good record… anything Duane Allman touched was gold I guess

Wow! This is one great guitar album! I thought “Layla” was the only song I knew from this. When “Bell Bottom Blues” came on I had a shock of recognition… I loved this song once long, long ago in a forgotten past… Hearing it now was quite startling. “Layla” is a masterpiece and it is not surprising this song is embedded into the vernacular of rock. But the rest is very, very strong and worthy of accompanying such a legendary song. I almost feel embarrassed that I have never listened to this before. Eric Clapton as a person provokes mixed emotions in me today. Still, I find it difficult to imagine how one might dismiss the quality of the playing on this album if listened to with any objectivity at all. This album is packed with incredible guitar work. Phenomenal!

One of the greatest albums ever created, Eric Clapton at his absolute best. Leaving behind the psychedelia of Cream and the 60’s, Clapton puts together a blues rock masterpiece. The guitar playing on this album is mind blowing, with Clapton’s legendary guitar playing aided by the signature slide licks of Duane Allman. Everyone knows about Layla, one of the greatest rock and roll masterpieces ever composed, but every song on the album is a classic. “It’s too late” may be my favorite song of all time, and this may be my favorite album of all time. It’s that good.

I've been really looking forward to this one since I first saw it on the History list a week ago (I'm a bit behind, OK?). Layla is a guitar classic masterpiece and I've had other songs off this album popping up on my Spotify playlists now and then. Eric Clapton's guitar-playing is at its absolute best on this album, with the backing band providing a great framework for it. Clapton's vocals could certainly be improved on, but that's not what we came here for. In the end it's all about the impeccable guitars. Admittedly, the album is on the long side and there is certainly some filler on here. It would be tighter and better as a whole by dropping the snoozers I Am Yours and It's Not Too Late and maybe 1 or 2 more as well as by shortening Key To The Highway, which seems to ramble. Nonetheless, most of the album is of such high quality, that its length and the few sleepy parts can be forgiven. Highlights: Layla, Little Wing

That was really really good. I’m surprised. I mean, Layla is a banger but there was so much good stuff on this album!

No review of Eric Clapton is complete without a reminder that he is a horrible racist. That being said, good album.

This has a couple of favs and a classic 70s sound. Bell Bottom Blues❤️

Layla song is a straight ten out of ten. The complexity of these songs is great and I find it brings me happiness listening to this

It's just alright until you hit Layla then it becomes amazing for a bit then goes back to just alright.

Goes on too long. First concert I went to was Clapton in the Albert Hall, as my dad is a fan back from the Yardbirds’s day. I might’ve only been 10, and was impressed as I was meant to be, but I remember feeling impatient for the big riffs, which seemed rare. My favourite song was “Sunshine of Your Love”, and I probably wondered why he didn’t play more of stuff that sounded like that, rather than the plod plod woo-hoo-yeah material that I let my legs dangle back and forth to. Later, the album “Journeyman” came out, which my dad got on tape, and I remember him rushing into a bedroom we kids had congregated in to play a segment of the song “No Alibis”, specifically a two second segment of a solo, which he happily described as classic Clapton. Even then, I felt this was poignant. Two seconds out of a 57 minute album! On heroin addiction, William Burroughs wrote that the addict could spend a whole day staring at the corner of his shoe. He might have added “or inconclusively guitar solo to “Key To The Highway”. Everything is clear and glints, all the many elements painstakingly balanced against each other. The back and forth between guitarists is evident, even if the subject of the conversation is mundane. How many of these songs are about nicking George’s wife? “Layla etc” is “No Alibi”’s dad, a shiny artifact that’s more soft than rock, but the rock that’s there is worth a linger if you like truck stops. But it is so long that a second listen through almost took me to the office sick bay for a lie-down during “Tell the Truth”. It has been a long year. (I ended up just sitting on the couch outside it, writing some of this review.) “Layla” is often said to be Clapton’s best song, but the riff is Duane Allman’s invention and the piano part is, allegedly, Rita Coolidge’s, pinched by her abusive drummer boyfriend Jim Gordon (he’d later murder his mum and spend most of his life in jail before his death this year). What I am getting to is that back then Clapton still had some good compositional taste! Far too long. Just now, I took out a headphone bud with an audible gasp of Jesus Christ. I am giving this 3, as it is an archetype, the platonic ideal of a kind of music that I find irredeemably lame, but with which I am sentimentally entangled. Having not heard it in decades, the intro to their cover of “Little Wing” stilled me. I prefer it to the original. Super epic. Followed by the dishwater blues of “It’s too late”. Can’t believe I’ve listened to this twice today. Am betting my partner in this endeavour will remedy this review with two lines and a score perhaps half that number. What was that song you taught me back in labs? “My old man said be an Arsenal fan…”

Title track is a masterpiece, fiery guitar riffs galore and a young Eric singing his goddamn heart out for his mate's missus. He had a turn later, and found out the grass ain't that much greener. Still, prior to that sad domestic disillusion, he was drinkin' and smokin' and cokin' himself right silly, and he had the forethought to get that shit down on tape. Lo and behold, this album. Bell Bottom Blues is another great track, and his crack at Little Wing is alright too (no outdoing Sir Jimi though). Years later, Stevie Ray would demonstrate what a cover of Little Wing could be. I've listened to this album of bunch of times before - last time was about 3 weeks ago while grocery shopping. I forgot I was even listening to the music until it reached the title track and my ears zoomed back in on the sound coming through my headphones. This may be a sign that, while I appreciate the album's status as a classic, it's not some kind of Top Ten (hell, Top 100) album for me.

the soundtrack to a mid life crisis, I want to go out and buy a motorbike and have an affair* *not actually have an affair in case my lovely wife reads this.

Great material for one of those blues dad cover bands that meet up once a week to drink mediocre beer and ward off their incoming midlife crises. The music is well played, but it’s not really my thing and it doesn’t convince me to explore it further. However, it still has a certain vibe. Most tracks are very forgettable, and the album lacks cohesion. Notable tracks: "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" "Little Wing" "Layla" Favorite track: "Little Wing"

In the spirit of “separating the art from the artist”, I’d just like to say that this is decent record by a talented band that happened to be fronted by a massive douchebag. (Seriously, do yourself a favor and google “Eric Clapton $11 Lawsuit”)

You know, when I first listened to this album I thought, "Guitar, guitar guitar guitarguitar, but guitar with guitar is guitartar." Then after a while, I found myself really soaking in and saying, "Guitarguitar on gui- guitar is guitar tar tar tar gui targuitar guitar!" And now after having heard it all the way through, I can confidently say, "Layla."

Not even the slide-god Duane Allman can rescue Eric Clapton from his native bland blues-dad territory. Layla is a good song I never need to hear again, but otherwise the best tracks on here are like filler on an 80s ABB album - big broad major-key southern rock chord progressions, mildly funky basslines, and mostly aimless noodle. The best bits are the harmonized gual guitar leads and Duane's slide solos/fills. Clapton's vocals are flat and soulless and, Cream aside, I've never understood the hype around him as a guitar legend - he's just a technically proficient but very mechanical Buddy Guy/BB King impersonator with nothing special about his phrasing, tone, or anything. There are so many licks on here some are bound to be good, so every couple songs there's something ear-catching like a cool descending run, a minor pentatonic->mixolydian transition, or a big melodic line. It's all very mid, but hey, there's a lot of it - real discount bin stuff...

"Layla" the most known and best song on the album. Bluesy/Eric Clapton type music. 5/10.

Tedious blues rock wankery. Some songs are tolerable, helped by the raw sound, others are precisely the chugging shit I've grown to hate. Fuck "Layla". And Derek's a turd. 𝘋𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, it's time for: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "New Rule! Every time one of these 1001 supposedly world's greatest albums turns out to be just another minute variation on [or channeling] USUK '65-'80s rock the generator has served me many dozens of times before, I will give you a different album you could be listening to today. For instance:" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ☞ Blumfeld - L’Etat Et Moi (1994) ☜ An absolute landmark of German rock music. No, not like Rammstein, you numpty. Jesus Christ. No. Blumfeld have rather been likened to Pavement, who they had a joint tour with. Not so sure about that comparison; underneath the angular noise, Blumfeld lean much more into singer/songwriter territory but it's an alright genre descriptor, I guess. To me, THE best album written in my mother tongue ever. Go listen.

Uggghhhh, starting my morning by rolling Clapton on this one is not how I want to enter the day. Let's try to stay unbiased, despite my long running opinion of "fuck that guy". Jesus, this album is over an hour long? Cocaine really does make folks think ALL of their ideas are great ones, doesn't it? OK OK, hitting play... I feel like there has to be a correlation between the popularity of this album and the amount of lead paint in homes in America at the time. What an absolutely boring turd of a record. If this is one of the 1001 records I need to hear before I die, now that I've slogged through this I welcome the cold embrace of death. (Fine, credit where due, the song "Layla" is a ripper, albeit one that could've been edited down by like a full two minutes)

A great accompaniment to this hot weather. Really wore me out

boring boomer music

Fuck Eric "Keep Britain white" Clapton.

The racist wanker ruins this for me. No thank you.

Christ, this was shit. Any hope I had faded when I saw the running time of 1 hour and 16 minutes. How many Atlantic soul singles could I fit into this timeframe? ALL winners, unlike the crap from the silly old racist doing his guitar shite on this album. I know, I'll wait until Layla, I thought. I could probably just about stomach this in a non-ironic Partridge strumming style. But it was the penultimate track. Even the Spotify ads for CEX were better than this shit. Bailed three songs in. Ahh - here comes Wilson Pickett. That's better.

Clapton is such an emotionally expressive soloist, but often the songs that are bolted onto them just aren't entertaining or original enough all the way through. It was only during the course of listening to this album that I discovered he was a racist and an Enoch Powell supporter. So fuck this guy. I can't listen to a double album through twice without that in the back of my mind all the time.

This is so boring. This album has no right being over an hour long. There's so much pointless noodling it makes me want to bash my head against a wall. The vocals are bad too. Why Does Love Gotta Be So Sad is a pretty good song though. I think if the songs ended sooner it would be a much better album.

Boring blues-rock that I've heard a million times by now. While Clapton is clearly talented, I can't stand this type of music. I understand he was a pioneer in his field, but even then, these songs were old by the time he stole them. 'Layla' has also aged terribly, dude's simping over someone else's wife. I guess Clapton could never be original in any facet in his life.

Fuck Eric Clapton.

The best album by one of the best tock guitarists the world has ever known.

Great musicianship, great songs, basically an hour of Guitar soloing and a couple of words. Just the guitar players to pull it off.

oh, yeah. God damn, this is such a fantastic album.

Fantastic album!

Clapton and co are legends. Incredible from start to finish.

Love it love it love it

This was really good and I’m looking forward to returning to this. My favorites from my first listen were “Bell Bottom Blues” and “Layla”

One of my favorite albums of all time.

++*: Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad? ++: Bell Bottom Blues, Keep on Growing, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, Anyway, Key to the Highway, Tell the Truth, Have You Ever Loved a Woman?, Little Wing, It's Too Late, Layla, Thorn Tree in the Garden +: I Looked Away, I Am Yours 9,7/10

What an album from start to finish, you can really just feel the music all the way through and I know that sounds wanky. Stand out tracks: - I looked away - Bell bottom blues - Keep on growing - Nobody knows you when you're down and out - Anyday - Key to the highway - Why does love got to be so sad - Have you ever loved a woman - Layla

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Really fucking good album. Didn’t realise how good some of the songs were. Classic blues undertones with amazing guitar solos/riffs. Also made me realise that I’m looking for good albums and that 5 stars isn’t necessarily the perfect album.

Great record that stands the test of time.

Landmark album. Clapton spurred on by Allman to create something magnificent. The biggest highlight post Cream for Eric.

*****

Dawg how have I not found this gem earlier. This is the progenitor to some AMAZING music following this. Not to discount the talent on the record itself, Clapton really came into his own on this record. Somehow 6-9 minute songs just glide by and I wouldn't be mad at the 12 minute mark on some of these. Truly lost to modern music history but definitely worth going back and spinning through a couple of times.

Great Blues tunes. Awesome album

This album is just good. It’s one I listened to a lot when I was first really discovering and falling in love with music, and the blues in particular. So, many of these songs are very nostalgic to me, but it’s been quite some time since I’ve listened to this album straight through. It feels like coming home. Some albums with a runtime over an hour suffer because of it, but that’s not the case here. There’s so much to enjoy but it never feels like it drags. — 5/5 Highlights: Bell Bottom Blues Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out Key To The Highway Layla

Yeah, this. Had it for donkey's years. Fantastic. 5/5.

One of the greatest rock albums of all times. They travel through all genres of music with the heavy rock sounds of the 70s. Eric Clapton's best album.

12345

Such a raw, bluesy collection of songs, original and covered. Sound production is pretty organic and captures the emotion of Clapton and Whitlock so well. Fantastic songs; probably only a couple I wouldn't have on my playlist.

Timeless.

This album really broke up a stretch of meh. This teeters on a 5, but since it was so much better than what I've had recently, I have to bump it up. On another topic, I get why people love this album so much and say, "Derek & The Dominos" is Eric Clapton's best work. The guitar solos alone put this album into classic territory. On top of that, the subject matter of the songs shows humor and raw emotion. Really solid album. Layla is obviously the most famous song, but the rest of the album is still stacked. Best Songs: I Looked Away, Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out, Have You Ever Loved A Woman, Layla Worst Songs: NA

1. She ran away from me, I’m such a lonely man 2. If I could choose a place to die it would be in your arms 3. Our love’s gonna keep on glowing 4. Nobody knows you when you’re down and out 5. I am yours, however distant you may be 6. Break the glass and twist the knife into yourself 7. When the moon peeks over the mountains I’ll be on my way 8. Open your eyes and look into your heart 9. Show me a place where I can hide my lonely face 10. You tremble in pain 11. With a circus mind that’s running ‘round 12. Wish I had told her she was my only one 13. Won’t you ease my worried mind? 14. Who’ll be the one to answer why?

Clapton and allman are sick together

Eric Clapton + Duane Allman, what can go wrong?... Absolutely nothing! There's never a dull moment or a wasted note. This entire album is a flawless 1:16 journey through the vast landscapes of love and relationships. 💯 Timeless classic

Legendary

Classic rock vibes, steady flow of sound and vibration - the first 5 star!

Of the 60's-70's guitar gods, I'm probably the most lukewarm on Clapton. I mean, I'm good with his hits and all -- but he always seemed better to me as a complementary player than the star of the show. And then he descended into farting through blues standards, After Midnight for beer commercials, and Tears in Heaven -- which is a song I personally cannot stand. So this comes up. I know Layla and Bell Bottom Blues, of course -- but the rest was a mystery. Glad that I looked into it. He sounds like a completely different guitarist here. There's so much joy in his playing that just vanished later in his career. (Heroin will do that to you, I guess.) Hearing him trading licks with Duane Allman is magical. Allman died a few months after this was recorded. There's just so much phat in the boogie they lay down here. Absolutely essential rock & blues. Unexpected bangers: Key To The Highway, Tell the Truth, It's Too Late.

Epic album. I had never actually listened, but very glad I did. Note: "Layla" is not Eric Clapton's greatest accomplishment. Not really his accomplishment at all. Duane Allman wrote the riff, and the riff makes the song. Duane >> Eric, but still, this album is 5 stars... maybe because Duane played on all but two tracks??

Banger

Loved it

What an album ❤️❤️❤️

I liked it

I loved the album and the first long version of the famous song "Layla". This album definitely is a must listen to. Epic guitar sound and amazing solos with great voices and heart broken lyrics. What do you want more of a blues rock album?

Liebesbeweise für Pattie Boyd

This is the best example of classic dad rock played on classic rock stations. Each song has the beats and blueprint you'd expect, and some decent guitar.

Every song is epic !

4.8 - Never heard of the band, but it sounded pretty familiar and thought it was really good. Then looked and saw it was claption and duane allman really surprised with me as I just never knew they had a band together. Just such a perfect collaboration and brings the best out of both of them. Only thing is it's a bit too long, but such a great album. I also think allman makes clapton less wanky

Pretty much the perfect proper rock album. Great songs, great musicians. And great stories behind the making of the album and the musicians lives since.

Classic album - one of the greats

I knew the singles on this album, but I’ve never listened to the whole thing. It’s absolutely perfect.. finally, a British blues album on this list that doesn’t suck

Truly a great double-album. Aside from the obvious Layla, other great tracks include Bell Bottom Blues, Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?, Have You Ever Loved a Woman?, and Little Wing. I also regularly listen to the "Jams" portion of the "Layla Sessions" boxed set, which has 5 extended tracks of purely instrumental jam sessions.

An essential blues rock album with both Eric Clapton AND Duane Allman (no Derek, as I learned). I like that they didn't bother coming up with an album name; they knew which song people would be looking for when buying the record. The slide guitar is on point, and it's really cool that the name "Layla" is inspired by a book.

Day212 - judging by the music this is a five star album i try not to judge artists personal lifes but it’s crazy what the last four years did to clapton’s reputation

5.0 definitely an all time great album. Two of the greatest guitarists ever.

Top Ten album. An all time fave.