Cream – Live Cream Volume II (1972/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:15 minutes | 1,68 GB | Genre: Blues Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Polydor

Live Cream Volume II is a compilation disc comprised of various live performances by the English rock band Cream between the dates of March 9th and October 4th, 1968. The six track recording includes “Sunshine of Your Love”, “Steppin’ Out” and “White Room”.

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Cream – Live Cream (1970/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:58 minutes | 1,82 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | ©

Live Cream is a live compilation album by Cream, originally released in 1970. It was recorded at shows in San Francisco and New York City, as well as in studio. The album was well-received, peaking at #15 on theBillboard200. Rolling Stone called Live Cream “an excellent album … well-recorded, controlled, and tense; the timing of the band can capture the listener with an excitement that has nothing to do with nostalgia” (Rolling Stone, 1970).

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Cream – Goodbye (1969/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 30:43 minutes | 1,30 GB | Genre: Rock, Classic Rock, Blues Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Polydor Records

After less than 3 years in existence, and some 15 million albums sold, „Goodbye“ was Cream’s farewell release. Baker, Bruce and Clapton indicated at the time that they were burned out on the concept, the touring, the improvisational ‘battles,’ and each other. The live cuts (‘I’m So Glad,’ ‘Politician’ and ‘Sitting On Top Of The World’) are indicative of how the band’s concert chemistry had evolved from earlier live recordings (such as those on „Wheels Of Fire“ and Live Cream Vol. 1 & 2). But what’s most striking about „Goodbye“ is the charm and craftsmanship of their last studio tracks, indicating that Cream was far from played out creatively, and illustrating how strong their songwriting skills really were.

The Beatles’ influence is readily apparent on each studio track, the most famous being Clapton’s ‘Badge,’ featuring George Harrison. Bruce’s ‘Doin’ The Scrapyard Thing,’ with its mixture of funk and the English music hall, points to the directions he would pursue on „Songs For A Tailor“ and his other underrated solo albums, while Baker’s use of odd meters on ‘What A Bringdown’ anticipates ‘Do What You Like’ on Blind Faith.

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Cream – Fresh Cream (1966/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:07 minutes | 1,67 GB | Genre: Classic Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Polydor Records

Fresh Cream represents so many different firsts, it’s difficult to keep count. Cream, of course, was the first supergroup, but their first album not only gave birth to the power trio, it also was instrumental in the birth of heavy metal and the birth of jam rock. That’s a lot of weight for one record and, like a lot of pioneering records, Fresh Cream doesn’t seem quite as mighty as what would come later, both from the group and its acolytes. In retrospect, the moments on the LP that are a bit unformed — in particular, the halting waltz of “Dreaming” never achieves the sweet ethereal atmosphere it aspires to — stand out more than the innovations, which have been so thoroughly assimilated into the vocabulary of rock & roll, but Fresh Cream was a remarkable shift forward in rock upon its 1966 release and it remains quite potent. Certainly at this early stage the trio was still grounded heavily in blues, only fitting given guitarist Eric Clapton’s stint in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, which is where he first played with bassist Jack Bruce, but Cream never had the purist bent of Mayall, and not just because they dabbled heavily in psychedelia. The rhythm section of Bruce and Ginger Baker had a distinct jazzy bent to their beat; this isn’t hard and pure, it’s spongy and elastic, giving the musicians plenty of room to roam. This fluidity is most apparent on the blues covers that take up nearly half the record, especially on “Spoonful,” where the swirling instrumental interplay, echo, fuzz tones, and overwhelming volume constitute true psychedelic music, and also points strongly toward the guitar worship of heavy metal. Almost all the second side of Fresh Cream is devoted to this, closing with Baker’s showcase “Toad,” but for as hard and restless as this half of the album is, there is some lightness on the first portion of the record where Bruce reveals himself as an inventive psychedelic pop songwriter with the tense, colorful “N.S.U.” and the hook- and harmony-laden “I Feel Free.” Cream shows as much force and mastery on these tighter, poppier tunes as they do on the free-flowing jams, yet they show a clear bias toward the long-form blues numbers, which makes sense: they formed to be able to pursue this freedom, which they do so without restraint. If at times that does make the album indulgent or lopsided, this is nevertheless where Cream was feeling their way forward, creating their heavy psychedelic jazz-blues and, in the process, opening the door to all kinds of serious rock music that may have happened without Fresh Cream, but it just would not have happened in the same fashion as it did with this record as precedent. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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Cream – Disraeli Gears (1967/2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:35 minutes | 1,52 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Polydor Records

Disraeli Gears was originally released on November 10, 1967 and was supergroup Cream’s second album. It was a huge success, becoming their American breakthrough album and peaking at #4 on the American charts. The album hit #1 on the Australian albums chart and #5 in the UK. Featuring the classic hits “Strange Brew” and “Sunshine of Your Love”, Disraeli Gears has become an iconic album in rock history.

In 1999, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2003 it was ranked #114 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was certified Gold in 1968 and Platinum in 1993 by the RIAA.

Recorded in May 1967 at Atlantic Studios, New York City.

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