Clapton Chronicles
The Best Of

If this were your first exposure to Eric Clapton, a bit of bewilderment would be in order. This is the legendary guitar icon? This is (as his early apostles once proclaimed) God? Ranging from the mid-'80s through the late '90s, The Clapton Chronicles owes less to the groundbreaking blues-rock of Clapton's '60s and '70s classics than to the polished-to-a-glare pop of Phil Collins , who produced one of the tracks included in this 14-song anthology. His reinterpretation of his greatest recording --the once-gripping, now-placid "Layla"--perhaps best illustrates Clapton at middle-age: Who wants to bask in his darkest period? Not Clapton, who converts his surging, purging charge into a soothing stroll. And perhaps not fans of such docile MOR fare as "My Father's Eyes," "Tears in Heaven," and the two new tracks, "Blue Eyes Blue" and "Get Lost.

1. Blue Eyes Blue
2. Change The World
3. My Father's Eyes
4. Tears In Heaven
5. Layla
6. Pretending
7. Bad Love
8. Before You Accuse Me (Take A Look At Yourself)
9. It's In The Way That You Use It
10. Forever Man
11. Running On Faith
12. She's Waiting
13. River Of Tears
14. (I) Get Lost