Eric Lefkosky

One of the most respected and praised guitarists in modern music returns with a monster new album featuring 12 powerhouse blues rock masterpieces! Known for his upside-down left-handed playing as well as his deeply expressive, soulful vocals, Gales draws comparisons to both Jimi Hendrix and blues legend Albert King! Guest appearances by renegade Zakk Wylde (of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society) and master of the Strat, Eric Johnson, make this album Gales most rock oriented release to date!

Clapton Chronicles ignores Eric Clapton's 1983 Reprise debut, Money and Cigarettes (which sounded more like an RSO album, anyway), starting with the pair of Phil Collins-produced mid-'80s albums, Behind the Sun and August. Though these had a pop sheen, they were album rock holdovers. Clapton didn't get the balance between hard rock and commercial gloss right until 1989's Journeyman, whose featured songs – "Before You Accuse Me," "Bad Love," and "Pretending" – form the heart of this compilation. Journeyman was overshadowed by the phenomenal success of "Tears in Heaven" and 1992's Unplugged. Not only did Unplugged go platinum ten times, it established a new public image – classy, stylish, and substantial. That's the image that prevails on Clapton Chronicles. His triple-platinum blues album From the Cradle is written out of the picture, with songs from movie soundtracks taking its place.

The 2003 Japanese collection Ballads offers exactly what the title promises: 13 ballads from Clapton, most dating from the '70s, '80s and '90s, and most of them hits like "Tears in Heaven," "Change the World," "Wonderful Tonight," and the acoustic "Layla." Of these 13 tracks, only one doesn't quite seem to fit – the psychedelia of "Badge" sticks out like a sore thumb – but the whole disc maintains a nice mellow vibe and it's worthwhile for casual Clapton fans looking for some nice mood music.

Clapton Chronicles ignores Eric Clapton's 1983 Reprise debut, Money and Cigarettes (which sounded more like an RSO album, anyway), starting with the pair of Phil Collins-produced mid-'80s albums, Behind the Sun and August. Though these had a pop sheen, they were album rock holdovers. Clapton didn't get the balance between hard rock and commercial gloss right until 1989's Journeyman, whose featured songs – "Before You Accuse Me," "Bad Love," and "Pretending" – form the heart of this compilation. Journeyman was overshadowed by the phenomenal success of "Tears in Heaven" and 1992's Unplugged.

The funny thing about tributes to Eric Clapton is that Clapton has done them himself, and he would be the first to tell you that his career has been built on his attempts to emulate his own blues heroes, and that would be true to a point, but Clapton was wise enough, or maybe, at times, just lucky enough, to show how those players he loved could be translated into the electric age of rock, and he did it with a tremendous amount of raw elegance and style more often than not. This tribute set doesn't stretch things too far, and while cuts here like James Ryan's version of "Badge" and Brian Tarquin's version of "Sunshine of Your Love" are big, boisterous, and fun to hear, they work largely because of the original and defining riffs that Clapton devised to carry these songs in the first place. The real gem of the disc is a live, horn-filled take on "How Blue Can You Get" (listed as one of two "bonus" tracks here) by B.B. King. One imagines it would be the track Clapton would go to first, next, and last. King makes the song his. No one else here does that.

This is a reissue of the Time Pieces comp, a good single-disc collection of Eric Clapton's solo hits – including "I Shot the Sheriff," "After Midnight," "Wonderful Tonight," Derek and the Dominos' "Layla," and "Cocaine" – that has since been supplanted by the more thorough The Cream of Eric Clapton, which combines his solo work with selections of his Cream and Blind Faith work. Nevertheless, the compilation still provides a good introduction for neophyte Clapton fans, especially those who just want copies of his '70s hits.

Eric Clapton adopted a new, tougher, hard R&B approach on August, employing a stripped-down band featuring keyboard player Greg Phillinganes, bassist Nathan East, and drummer/producer Phil Collins, plus, on several tracks, a horn section and, on a couple of tracks, backup vocals by Tina Turner, and performing songs written by old Motown hand Lamont Dozier, among others…