Editoral Review

Predictably, given the drug problems which preceded its release, Clapton's second solo album proper seems to come and go in an opium haze of its own making. Oddly though, it suits him. As the history of rock attests, if you're going to get into one hard drug then you may as well make it heroin. Whereas cocaine feeds the ego and destroys judgement, heroin sublimates it and allows the artist to regress into his music. Which pretty much describes where 461 Ocean Boulevard is at. Because tracks like "Steady Rollin' Man" and US chart topper "I Shot The Sheriff" sound like they have all the time in the world, they make light work of putting the listener in a similar frame of mind. Best of all though is "Let It Grow", for many the kind of tender, foetal balladry which finds Clapton at his most quintessential. Inevitably, he cleaned up his act and sporadically attained similar heights. But for sheer mood and sense of moment, 461 Ocean Boulevard remains his masterpiece. --Peter Paphides