Eric Clapton
The Twelfth Night

Yes, it's true this is already my third review of a work by Eric Clapton, and I risk being monotonous and predictable, but I see no alternative when opening DeBaser I find no trace of one of the truly significant works by Eric. Certainly, "Just One Night" is one of the best among Clapton's live albums, but after about a hundred listens to "The Twelfth Night," I realize that's not the case. What I am going to review is undoubtedly among the best live works of Mr. "Slowhand" even though it is "just" a bootleg, and to be honest, in my opinion, the best.

Perhaps not everyone will agree with me, but the world is beautiful because it's diverse, and this is one of the albums where one can best savor Eric's virtuosic adventures on guitar. In fact, I only advise against listening if you don't like virtuosity and maybe appreciate subtlety more, like a well-crafted arpeggio or a refined and not too long riff, which nonetheless is not lacking in this double CD as we are still talking about one of the best living guitarists. Much can be said about Eric, from being one of the biggest addicts of the '70s to becoming a too "trendy" star over time, but when it comes to guitar, my friends, there's little to say. He is clearly among the best in the world, and while not an innovator like Hendrix, it can be said that he was one of the inspirations for the latter. Moreover, let's remember that together with the other two members of Cream, he was among the founding fathers of rock, and I don't think anyone can contest that.

Having finished this verbose and subjective introduction, let's move on to talk about the live performance, held in 1989 in London. The live begins as Clapton's concerts often do, that is, with "Crossroads", and if you remember the raw rock version of Cream, erase it from your memory because here it is totally different. Here Eric delights us right away with an introduction worthy of a royal concert, then continues throughout the 8.50 minutes of the piece with three more breathtaking solos. It continues with "White Room," another standout piece by Cream where the meticulous care with which every single guitar note is executed is remarkable, especially in the solo which I would also call sublime! The third piece is none other than "I Shot the Sheriff", the much-discussed Bob Marley cover. It’s discussed because it became a great success for Eric, despite not being his piece, as was also the case for "Cocaine" by J.J. Cale and others, but if he reinterprets them all like this, I would allow him to redo whatever he wants since I consider it one of the best pieces ever. "I Shot the Sheriff" begins with a slow instrumental intro, then makes room for Eric's voice, never too technical, but always gritty and incisive. You must wait for about half the song to reach yet another heavenly solo, a solo that starts slow and does not allow you to lose focus for a moment; every note is in the right place, every bending is blessed, every slide hits with the perfect timing! The fourth, fifth, and sixth tracks are in order: "Bell Bottom Blues," "Lay Down Sally," and "Wonderful Tonight," which are always nice to listen to, despite not bringing significant changes. Let's say that after the first three tracks, these are noticed a little less. With track 7 comes "Wanna Make Love to You," a piece that inexplicably is not always part of his concert setlists being simply magnificent here: cadenced rhythms, sultry voice, perfect riffs but even here the solo is something non-human, I leave it to you to judge as I can't find an adjective that does justice to this guitar piece from the anthology. Also, "After Midnight," "Can't Find My Way Home," and "Forever Man" I think are fantastic but the same as many other lives.
The second disc begins with "Same Old Blues" in collaboration with another six-string genius, Mark Knopfler. As the title suggests, this is a very bluesy piece that drags us for 17:35 minutes into a vortex of sounds, switching between guitar and drums up until Nathan East’s beautiful "monologue" of bass and voice. This second disc features two tracks from the album "August", that is, "Tearing Us Apart" and "Behind the Mask," which are much better compared to the studio version, not because he improvises or does something special, but simply because live one loses a bit of that horrible (in my opinion) 80s sound that had developed in the studio with the advent of the drummer Phil Collins who wanted to reproduce some of the sound that characterized his records.

Of course, the two biggest hits could not be missing, namely, "Cocaine" and "Layla" where the first is very similar to all other times it’s been performed, while the second is characterized by a nice instrumental intro. The whole thing ends with "Sunshine of Your Love," another standout piece of his former band. Over 15 minutes of dear old Cream-style rock with a drum solo that, although not performed by the monster Ginger Baker, is equally beautiful and engaging.

In summary, I believe it is a must this live, even if it may be difficult to find being an unofficial live, but in case you find it, do not hesitate to buy it.