Cream – Fresh Cream – 50th Anniversary (2016) [Blu-Ray Pure Audio Disc]

Artist: Cream
Title: Fresh Cream – 50th Anniversary
Genre: Rock, Blues Rock, Electric Blues, British Blues, British Psychedelia, Hard Rock
Label: © Polydor Records | Universal Music Enterprises
Release Date: 1966/2017
Quality: Blu-ray Audio
Duration: 00:46:22 + 00:46:20
Video: MPEG-4 AVC 19451 kbps / 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 / 96 kHz / 4608 kbps / 24-bit
Size: 16,8 GB

A three-CD + Blu-ray Audio package that comprises the UK mono album plus outtakes, mono singles on mono EPs on the first disc, the UK stereo album plus stereo outtakes and stereo remixes on the second disc, early versions, demos and BBC recordings on the third CD and a 24/96 hi-res version of US mono & stereo albums and bonus tracks on the fourth and final disc which is a Blu-ray Audio.

Fresh Cream represents so many different firsts, it’s difficult to keep count. Cream, of course, was the first supergroup, but their first album not only gave birth to the power trio, it also was instrumental in the birth of heavy metal and the birth of jam rock. That’s a lot of weight for one record and, like a lot of pioneering records, Fresh Cream doesn’t seem quite as mighty as what would come later, both from the group and its acolytes. In retrospect, the moments on the LP that are a bit unformed — in particular, the halting waltz of “Dreaming” never achieves the sweet ethereal atmosphere it aspires to — stand out more than the innovations, which have been so thoroughly assimilated into the vocabulary of rock & roll, but Fresh Cream was a remarkable shift forward in rock upon its 1966 release and it remains quite potent. Certainly at this early stage the trio was still grounded heavily in blues, only fitting given guitarist Eric Clapton’s stint in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, which is where he first played with bassist Jack Bruce, but Cream never had the purist bent of Mayall, and not just because they dabbled heavily in psychedelia. The rhythm section of Bruce and Ginger Baker had a distinct jazzy bent to their beat; this isn’t hard and pure, it’s spongy and elastic, giving the musicians plenty of room to roam. This fluidity is most apparent on the blues covers that take up nearly half the record, especially on “Spoonful,” where the swirling instrumental interplay, echo, fuzz tones, and overwhelming volume constitute true psychedelic music, and also points strongly toward the guitar worship of heavy metal. Almost all the second side of Fresh Cream is devoted to this, closing with Baker’s showcase “Toad,” but for as hard and restless as this half of the album is, there is some lightness on the first portion of the record where Bruce reveals himself as an inventive psychedelic pop songwriter with the tense, colorful “N.S.U.” and the hook- and harmony-laden “I Feel Free.” Cream shows as much force and mastery on these tighter, poppier tunes as they do on the free-flowing jams, yet they show a clear bias toward the long-form blues numbers, which makes sense: they formed to be able to pursue this freedom, which they do so without restraint. If at times that does make the album indulgent or lopsided, this is nevertheless where Cream was feeling their way forward, creating their heavy psychedelic jazz-blues and, in the process, opening the door to all kinds of serious rock music that may have happened without Fresh Cream, but it just would not have happened in the same fashion as it did with this record as precedent. —AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tracklist:
US Stereo Album in 24/96 Hi Resolution Audio:
1 I Feel Free
2 N.S.U.
3 Sleepy Time Time
4 Dreaming
5 Sweet Wine
6 Cat’s Squirrel
7 Four Until Late
8 Rollin’ And Tumblin’
9 I’m So Glad
10 Toad

Stereo Bonus Tracks:
11 Spoonful
12 Wrapping Paper
13 The Coffee Song

US Mono Album In 24/96 Hi Resolution Audio:
14 I Feel Free
15 N.S.U.
16 Sleepy Time Time
17 Dreaming
18 Sweet Wine
19 Cat’s Squirrel
20 Four Until Late
21 Rollin’ And Tumblin’
22 I’m So Glad
23 Toad

Mono Bonus Tracks:
24 Spoonful
25 Wrapping Paper
26 The Coffee Song

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     Cream.Fresh Cream.2017.BDA1080p
Disc Size:      18 036 821 507 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        No
BDInfo:         0.5.8

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00000.MPLS
Length:                 0:46:22.613 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   8 794 881 600 bytes
Total Bitrate:          25,29 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description
-----                   -------             -----------
MPEG-4 AVC Video        19451 kbps          1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description
-----                           --------        -------         -----------
LPCM Audio                      English         4608 kbps       2.0 / 96 kHz / 4608 kbps / 24-bit

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------
00000.M2TS      0:00:00.000     0:46:22.613     8 794 881 600   25 285

Blu-Ray Audio Disc

Cream.Fresh.Cream.2017.BDA1080p.part01.rev
Cream.Fresh.Cream.2017.BDA1080p.part02.rev

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