Eric Clapton seems to be caught in something of a career dilemma at present. Unsure of whether to go back to the blues - as he did on last year's 'Riding With The King' album with BB King - or to stick to the commercial sounds of his last solo LP, 'Pilgrim'.
What he presents here straddles both territories, although that isn't immediately apparent from the opening title track - which instead is a jazzy, Latin-influenced instrumental. And despite sounding like someone's had a word in Slowhand's ear saying, "What we need is a bit of 'Buena Vista Social Club'", 'Reptile' is a reasonably pleasant diversion.
Then it's down to real business with 'Got You On My Mind', a slow bluesy number that suits Clapton and friends just fine, allowing him to indulge in some acoustic flourishes. By contrast, the likes of 'Believe In Life' and 'Broken Down' are pretty forgettable.
It's the covers and the presence of Curtis Mayfield's former vocal group The Impressions that really give this album any spleen. JJ Cale's 'Travelin Light' zips along on the good side of the AOR highway, while Ray Charles' 'Come Back Baby' is given some power by the presence of the backing harmonies.
It's Stevie Wonder's 'Ain't Gonna Stand For It', though, that provides the album's real highlight, with a powerful performance from EC on both vocals and guitar, The Impressions helping out with aplomb on the call-and-response chorus. Another instrumental, the acoustic 'Son & Sylvia', closes proceedings.
There's nothing intrinsically wrong with this album - just the airbrushed production of tracks like James Taylor's 'Don't Let Me Be Lonely' robs them of any true grit and soul they might have had. And that, in a nutshell, is the problem afflicting Clapton at the moment, making for yet another average album to add to the list.
