Disraeli Gears

Opening couple of tracks are great but then it kinda falls off a bit

Favorite track(s): Strange Brew, Sunshine of Your Love, Tales of Brave Ulysses, SWLABR

An epitome of the "singles + bullshit" album archetype, but at least they made the B-sides fire too.

Heard before
Previous rating: 7/10

Very good album. I've always thought this is the best thing Clapton has ever done.

I really enjoy some of the songs: "Strange Brew" (probably my favourite), "Sunshine of Your Love", "Tales of Brave Ulysses", or "SWLABR" (it is not surprising that these were the singles).

Some other tracks are less interesting (and I simply don't like the last track: "Mother's Lament").

Overall, this is at least 4 stars for me (but probably not good enough to reach 5 star status).

This is some of the music that my dad always used to play at the gym, so it's very nostalgic. I like the heavy guitar, but it can get a little boring

I find Cream quite boring for a group with psychedelic leanings. They have a very stately, stilted, mild presence that smatterings of virtuoso guitar do not remedy. They’re fighting a losing battle with me with the blues rock stuff which I don’t like even when it’s done well, but I don’t think Cream does it well. The longest half an hour of my life!

Fire

Never been into Cream. I get why it’s on the list, but their albums always leave me cold. Maybe you had to be there….

2

Perfectly good blues rock, with some incredibly creative guitar playing. Say what I will about Eric Clapton, but the man *can* play. And his work with Cream is probably his best work (in my opinion). Anyways, a lot of these songs are really enjoyable hard rock/proto metal. Sunshine of your love is almost certainly the best song here; just bask in that riff. But this album really isn't slacking overall. It's not one I have a lot to say about, but Disraeli Gears is pretty great.

I expected this to be more prog rock than it actually was. I didn’t love it but I enjoyed quite a few of the tracks. The first two tracks and Outside Women Blues are my three faves.

It has the same sound throughout the entire album and to be honest I already forgot everything on it. 5/10

A band I get really into once a year that put back on the shelf for a while. Love the sound but love other groups it influenced more.

Honestly, this album is more than just a few good tracks, and I’m honestly just glad Clapton wasn’t allowed to completely take over, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker really kept him in check. I’m not a fan of Clapton at all, but I have to give it up for the heavy psych-blues sound they created here. It’s basically the blueprint for the late 60s. Songs like "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Strange Brew" are absolute staples for a reason, and the way Bruce and Baker lock into those grooves is just incredible.

That said, it does start to drag whenever they wander away from that heavy sound. Tracks like "Blue Condition" or that weird "Mother's Lament" song just feel like filler and kill the vibe. It’s definitely a classic record that had a huge impact on rock history, but it’s still got some spots where it’s just a bit too much of a self-indulgent jam session for me.

There are some great songs here, but I can’t help that I hate Clapton.

I understand the influence of this album, but I’ve always thought it was pretty boring outside of Sunshine of Your Love. But apart from Derek and the Dominoes, anything Clapton is apart of just always seems boring.

Some tracks that were borderline unlistenable, and Clapton is here which immediately reduces the score. But mostly ok. 2.3/5 -> 2/5

Cream's Disraeli Gears was a really enjoyable listen. What stood out to me most was its energy—there's a sense of excitement running through the entire album that never really fades. The chemistry between Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker is obvious, and each musician has moments to shine without overpowering the others.
The album blends blues with psychedelic rock in a way that feels natural rather than experimental for its own sake. Clapton's guitar playing is expressive and memorable, Bruce's bass lines and vocals give the songs plenty of character, and Baker's drumming adds power and momentum. Together, they create a sound that is both tight and adventurous.
"Sunshine of Your Love" is an obvious highlight with its iconic riff, but the album offers much more than its biggest hit. Tracks like "Strange Brew," "SWLABR," and "Tales of Brave Ulysses" showcase the band's creativity and willingness to explore different moods while maintaining a strong sense of melody. The psychedelic influences never overwhelm the songs—they enhance them, giving the record a colorful atmosphere that still feels accessible today.
What impressed me most is how fresh the album still sounds despite being released in 1967. Its combination of blues roots, hard rock intensity, and psychedelic textures influenced countless bands that followed. Overall, I found Disraeli Gears to be an energetic, engaging, and highly enjoyable album. It's easy to understand why it's considered one of the defining records of the psychedelic rock era, and it's an album I'll happily return to.

The first two songs (which I had heard before) are really solid, but the rest are just kind of whatever. Minus one star because Eric Clapton.

this was fine but i can never get behind the sunshine of your love obsession i am so entirely ambivalent towards that song no matter how hard i try

When you consider that the album was released in 1967, it’s almost on a par with the era's other masterpieces, such as Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced? or the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Cream evolved the simple blues rock of their debut album into a much groovier form of psychedelic rock. At least, for the most part. This makes the boring or silly tracks all the more painful: 'Blue Condition', written and 'sung' by Ginger Baker, is particularly bad; 'Take it back' is a dull blues rock number; and 'Mother's Lament' is simply silly English humour that belongs on a comedy stage, not on an album. Conversely, tracks such as “Strange Brew”, “Sunshine of Your Love”, “World of Pain”, “Dance the Night Away”, “Tales of Brave Ulysses” and “SWLABR” are genuine psychedelic rock classics. Let' put it like this: This is a strong album, so just ignore the weaker tracks.

well of course spotify I'll take White Room after listening to this album. Doesn't belong to this album but the album itself is good too, but not on white room level.