05 DISRAELI GEARS CREAM (1967)

Disraeligears, Cream’s second album, was the highpoint of their career. Incorporating the prevailing psychedelic sound of 1967, and taking the baton from The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Areyou Experienced and the Beatles’ Sgtpeppers..., they forged a template for the hard rock of the future. Strangebrew, Tales Ofbraveulysses and SWLABR fused blues with acid rock, while Sunshineofyourlove foreshadowed the riff-based hard rock soon to be adopted by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. The album is also a perfect showcase for Eric Clapton’s so-called ‘woman tone’, a warm, mellow sound he achieved using his 1964 ‘Fool’ Gibson SG and his late-50s black Gibson Les Paul Custom, through mid-60s Fender Twin Reverb and Marshall amps.