One of my favorite guitar players is also one of the best guitar players; Eric "Slowhand" Clapton. I've been lucky enough to see him in concert a few times, twice doing his own show, and once as guitarist for Roger Waters. Perhaps one of his most famous albums for even those who aren't too familiar with Clapton, is the 1977 release Slowhand. It does contain two of his biggest hits Cocaine and Wonderful Tonight. It also contains some great blues and rock. I had this album ages ago on LP record. Even my son, who has watched a few of his concert DVDs with me, wanted to play like Clapton and wanted me to buy him a Fender Strat. (I did get him an entry level Fender Stratocaster - the Squire in classic black with the white pick guard, but we will have to see how that goes). So, when I saw Eric Clapton Slowhand on SACD with a stereo track and a surround track, did I buy it? Of course I did! It is also a hybrid disc, so I didn't need to buy a separate CD to rip to my computer harddrive either. (Hybrid SACDs have an SACD layer playable only on SACD players and a CD layer playable on any CD player).
How did it sound in Surround?
Although even the stereo tracks in SACD are superb and superior to the regular CD, I really enjoy the surround mixes on many of my favorite classic albums. It gives the album a whole new perspective, and way of listening, and Slowhand was no exception. The surround mix was done well, if fairly conservatively. Only backing vocals and the occasional instrument are placed in the surrounds, most of the music is presented in the front sound stage (left, center and right channels). This is one of Clapton's mellower albums so don't expect your subwoofer to get a work out here.
Cocaine Well, aside from having to explain to my 11 year old son why this guitar god I admire so much also had a major cocaine problem back in the 70s, this is a great song opening the album. The familiar guitar chords and drum beat pour from the front right and left channels, then Clapton sings from the center channel if you wanna hang out, you've got to take her out COCAINE, if you want to get down, down on the ground, COCAINE, she don't mind, she don't mind, she don't mind COCAINE. The sound is very clean, you can clearly hear Clapton's Fender strat twanging out the familiar notes.
Wonderful Tonight Another fan favorite, this begins with that very familiar twangy guitar introduction it's late in the evening, she's wondering what clothes to wear, she puts on her makeup and brushes her long blonde, and then she asks me, do I look all right, and I say yes, you look wonderful tonight The backing female vocals in this song are placed in the surround sound channels with some of the keyboards giving this song a full sound. Clapton's voice is center channel, although his guitar is coming from the right and left. Although this is an overplayed radio staple, it still sounds great here.
Lay Down Sally This song begins with that very controlled chord playing that probably earned Clapton the nickname "Slowhand". It's perfectly tempoed, bluesy with that fat strat sound. Again, the surround sound arrangement is vocals center channel, guitar and bass, front left and right, backing vocals surrounds.
Next Time You See Her Here, we finally hear Clapton's guitar right in the center channel with the rhythm guitars and bass in the left and right channels. This gave me more of the sense that EC was sitting there playing with his band to his sides. For those who never owned the album, this is a quiet bluesy song. I really liked hearing Clapton's guitar in the center channel too.
We're all the Way Another quite slow song. The surround formula is the same with Clapton singing in the center, guitars and other instruments left and right, with backing vocals and ambient sounds in the surrounds.
The Core speeds things up again, with some quick guitar strumming, and Marcy Levy and Clapton singing a duet on this one. Again vocals are center stage, with Marcy slightly to the right of Clapton and the instruments to the sides with some reverb in the surround channels. This song also features some nice saxaphone and guitars in the interlude in this song. You may have also heard this song on the radio, the vocal and acoustic guitar harmonies make it one of the better songs on the album.
May You Never Another quiet reflective song with acoustic guitars playing in harmony while Clapton sings center channel.
Mean Old Frisco A long bluesy guitar solo starts this song off with long drawn out notes. I could just picture Eric's fingers pushing the strings up as he plucked out the notes. well my mama she done told me, and my papa he told me too. Piano trills from the right to join the thick bluesy guitar playing in the left. This song is a great song on the album that doesn't get airplay. (and it should!) You can hear Clapton's love of Robert Johnson in this song.
Peaches and Diesel The album closes with this song that features some great guitar playing. It's an instrumental.
In other words, there is not a bad song on this album, just some that are better than others. My personal favorite is the blues tune Mean Old Frisco if only for the fact that it's a great song that you have to listen to the album to hear, and its not typically included in concerts or greatest hits packages, like the much more familiar Cocaine or even Lay Down Sally. The SACD surround mix does justice to the songs, even if it doesn't get very fancy.
Stereo Mix The stereo mix still does an excellent job presenting a sound stage, and creating a center channel. The vocals and keyboards that were in the surrounds on the 5.1 mix are back in the right and left channels.
Overall thoughts on SACD quality This is a well mixed, engineered album. It sounds better than the CD, although the CD master (also on this album, remember its a hybrid) is quite good. I didn't hear any subtle hiss, which exists on some SACDs. Slowhand on SACD is an especially fun album to turn up loud!
Overall thoughs on the Album For those of you who don't already own Slowhand and know it by heart, except for Cocaine, this is a slow bluesy album. Slowhand is a good name to it, because all the songs have a slow tempo to them, although all feature great guitar playing. It is actually a relaxing blues album to listen to.
The Musicians on Slowhand
Eric Clapton - Guitar and vocals
Dick Sims- keyboards
Marcy Levy - Vocals
Carle Radle - bass guitar
Yvonne Elliman - Vocals (you may remember her from Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack If I Can't Have You)
George Terry - guitar
Jamie Oldaker - Drums and percussion
Mel Collins - Saxaphone
Test equipment I wrote this review while listening on a Pioneer Elite 45A DVD-Audio/SACD player, Denon AVR 1905 Surround Sound Reciever, and Cambridge Soundworks speakers. (M-60s Front Left /Right and rear surrounds MC 400 center and Basscube 8S subwoofer).
Summary If you want to hear the slow side of Eric Clapton in perfect sonic clarity, along with classic song Cocaine, this is a great SACD to get. Since it also includes the CD on the CD layer, its a good value as well, you can listen to the high resolution layers on your SACD player, and the CD on everything else. It's one of Clapton's best known albums, and the SACD really makes it shine. Although it's not one of the best examples of SACD, it is a solid four star SACD.
Recommend this product?
