"24 Nights"

Eric Clapton
1991
If you're not a Clapton fan, if you've never been one, if you've always appreciated and respected him but have never been drawn in...
This is the one bit of music you must listen to. If this doesn't make you a fan, nothing will, and you can go merrily about your claptonless way. Perhaps your indifference has been justified. Perhaps for as brilliantly talented as Eric is, he's just a very celebrated example of the derivative music that began pouring out of England in the sixties, as snot-nosed white kids did their best impersonations of Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf. Perhaps you've even liked Clapton, but have always been a little uncomfortable with the idea of a blues legend who became a millionaire in his twenties. Perhaps you were turned off by the more pop-y stuff he's cranked out.
Yes yes yes yes yes...
I'm not saying this concert set will make you a slavering fan. Even the most ardent fan would be hard-pressed to argue that his lyrics are distinctive, either as poetry or point of view.
But...
Listen with an open mind, and you might be swept away.
Recorded over 24 nights at the Albert Hall in 1990 and 1991, it's broken down into four lineups. A 4-piece band, a blues band (Robert Cray, Johnnie Johnson, Richard Cousins, Jamie Oldaker, and Buddy effing Guy!), a 9-piece band, and finally, the fullest sound of all as the National Philharmonic Orchestra joins the previous lineup. The choice of songs is almost perfect (of the fifteen, the only one that feels even a little tedious or toothless is "Pretending"). The greatest cut of all is an original song, "Edge of Darkness", an orchestra piece co-written by the conductor, Michael Kamen. It's a hurricane of a song...it makes you feel like you're listening to the greatest guitar player in the world standing on top of a mountain as an angry storm levels everything around him.