Disraeli Gears

I am 17 year old and i'm a massive fan of heavy metal, I love most types of music from Heavy Metal to Blues to abit of Indie to Instrumental rock and all types of rock from 60s 70s and 80s. 2 of my friends who have similar taste in music as me really like Eric Clapton so I checked his greatest hits and that was brilliant. Then I decided to start my Cream selection and bought this and i love it.

This awesome rock/blues album was made famous by the song Sunshine Of Your Love, which is a brilliant song but there is more to this album then that song. The best song for me here is World Of Pain it's amazing and the vocals on this album are brilliant. In conclusion, this album is brilliant and should any music lovers collection whatever music you like buy it.

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

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

Hasn't anyone who has reviewed this apart from 'Top Cat' noticed how unnatural and lightweight the drums sound on many of these tracks when heard in stereo. But it does sound a lot more satisfactory on systems with fairly thudding, heavy but tight bass; that does go a long way towards binding it all together

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

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