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Cream Album: “Fresh Cream [Japan]”
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Fresh Cream [Japan] |
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Release Date:2002-01-01
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Type:Unknown
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Genre:Blues, Classic Rock, Hard Rock
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Label:Polydor
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Explicit Lyrics:Yes
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UPC:4988005288837
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Review - :
{^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, All Music Guide
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![Cream Album: “Fresh Cream [Japan]”](http://www.poprockbands.com/covers_yaC/cream/2002_170_168_Fresh%2520Cream%2520%255BJapan%255D.jpg "Cream Album: “Fresh Cream [Japan]”")
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