Customer Reviews
Astounding. - By: Steven, 09 Jul 2007 
Despite the usual struggle for Blues at populist award ceremonies this album picked up 2 Grammys when it was first releasedin 1992. And after listening to it, frankly that is no surprise.
You don't even have to be a Blues fan to enjoy this sensational album. It is a must have for everyone. Clapton manages to combine good vocals, excellent guitar playing, raw passion and, not to mention, catchy tunes all into one album.
Others become legends when heard in another perspective. - By: Jay, 13 Mar 2007 One of the best Clapton albums ever. Better known for his guitar riffs & accompaniements; Clapton was musically stripped to the bare essentials &in more senses than one, basically deleivered.
Two of the tracks are now classic folklore namely Tears In Heaven & Layla. What made the latter so memorable was that it previously famed for its guitar riff introduction & background. The Unplugged version added another dimension, the slow tempo coupled with a prominent vocal. Some classics are better left unchanged; others become legends when seen or heardin another perspective.
Sobering and thoughtful - By: , 08 Jan 2006 Everyone knows Eric Clapton can play the blues, but until this album, few believed he really understood the genre. Here, Clapton pulled together a set of covers & originals, which re-established him as the premier guitarist of his generation, particularly on the openers, Signe & Before You Accuse Me. The set also shows him at his most relaxed & confident, (Layla) & laying bare his demons (Tears In Heaven).
Must Have Album - By: , 10 Oct 2004 this album is a must have for any rock or blues fan. The versatility of guitaring shown by Clapton - nylon fingerplucking, steel, resonator, slide, (all finger & plectrum) you name it he did itin this performance. The solos are perfect, the music is sensational & simply THE best unplugged performance that MTV have had. You can never get bored of this album as there are too many great songs on this, MTV can release this album as their "greatest ever MTV Unplugged Performances" as a seperate volume.
This is REAL music - By: Docendo Discimus, 21 Mar 2004 I've had this album since it came outin the early 90s, & it has lost none of its appeal. Sometimes you'll listen an album to death within six months, but I still go back to Eric Clapton's "Unplugged" now & then, & it's as fresh as it was fifteen years ago.
This is Clapton's most succesful album, a multiple grammy winner, & one of his three or four best records (alongside "From The Cradle", "Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs", & "Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert"). Containing some of the finest music Clapton had recorded for many years, the straighforward "Unplugged" session was freed from the slick pop-production of his 80s albums, alternating between electric songs recastin acoustic arrangements, & classic blues songs by the likes of Robert Johnson & Jesse Fuller.
Acoustic music really leaves no place for a mediocre musician to hide, & there were no mediocre musicians accompanying Eric Clapton for his "Unplugged" session...second guitarist Andy Fairweather-Low & former Allman Brothers pianist Chuck Leavell are particularly superb, & then there's Clapton himself, of course. If anyone doubted that he is actually a pretty good guitar player, this album should set them straight...he plays acoustic slide guitar like he'd never done anything else, & the concert goes from highlight to highlight:
"Tears In Heaven" is here, & a jazzy, acoustic "Layla", but most of these tracks are pure blues. Slow, mournful blues like "Malted Milk", swinging, up-tempo numbers, including an irresistable "San Francisco Bay Blues", & tough, mid-tempo grooves like Bo Diddley's "Before You Accuse Me", & a superb "Alberta" (with a magnificent solo by Chuck Leavell).
Clapton's slide playing is particularly good on "Rollin' And Tumblin'", & on a wonderful rendition of "Running On Faith", & I would personally kill (or at least maim)in order to be able to play the piano like Chuck Leavell does on the classic "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out".
The sound is excellent, very clear & realistic, & the separation is great. Sure, some may prefer to hear Robert Johnson playing Robert Johnson, but don't hold that against Eric Clapton. He does very well by Johnson, Big Bill Broonzy, Jimmy Cox, & the rest, & "Unplugged" is a superb hour of real music played on real instruments, & arranged by a great professional.
There is nothing bad to say about this album at all, actually.
How about that, eh?
