Reptile - Clapton, Eric (CD 2001)

I ve been a big Eric Clapton fan since a good friend of mine introduced him to me via the Unplugged album. I ve since played that one to death practically. (Some day I d like to be able to play at least half as good as this guy!)

For this album Eric is backed by a very talented crew, consisting of:

Drums Steve Gadd
Bass Pino Paladino & Nathan East
Guitar Any Fairweather Low & Doyle Bramill II
Piano/Hammond Organ/Keys Billy Preston & Tim Carmon
Fender Rhodes - Joe Sample
Percussion - Paulinho da Costa


The title track, Reptile is total cruising music. When I first heard this track I could envision driving down an open stretch of PCH with out a care in the world, and no one to say slow down . The guitar is totally Clapton, (in other words, perfect!). I first heard this track on the radio and knew it was Clapton even before the DJ announced it. This track is what sold me on the album and made me run out and buy it. That and Napster s demise, but I d a bought the album even if Napster was still working because I love Clapton.

The album is most definitely NOT Pilgrim. It s not as experimental (or sorrowful for that matter). Got You On My Mind is very blues-y and Believe in Life is a very nice R&B piece. His version of Travilin Light is just great, especially if you re say lifting weights to it. It has a very good tempo (but of course!! ^-^).

I really enjoyed his take on Come Back Baby. It s very classic blues.. VERY nice! Ray Charles pieces are both classic and classy! Very good piano performance. They do a great job of harmonizing in this one. Clapton captures classic blues very well.. I mean, hey, what can I say, he is the man.

Track six, Broken Down is one of my favorite tracks, second only to Reptile itself. The lyrics just completely hit a soft spot for me. I totally understand the feeling created by them (not long ago my own world felt broken down too..) I haven t heard the original version of this song, but I must say that I really enjoyed Eric s version. I like this new experiment that Clapton is doing.. keep it up Eric! I love the sound of the back up vocals on this piece. The Impressions were really a nice choice. Classic R&B!

Find Myself... Not one of my favorites. I can t really place it. I just hope that he doesn t play this one at the Staples Center next month. It s okay, but I usually find myself (pun intended!) zoning out during this song, no matter how hard I try not to. Maybe just a little too sleepy sounding for my taste. Give me his Layla any day!

The next track, Ain t Gonna Stand for it Baby is much more lively than the previous two tracks.. I think it was put there to wake you up from the last track, personally. If you play Reptile when you driving, you d probably play this one when you have to do some major cleaning or reorganizing.. or just because... you can really move to it. This one he can play at Staples, I ll let him. ;oD

I Want a Little Girl and Modern Girl are not my favorite tracks. He could have left out Little Girl. Maybe it s just the way he sings this one. I did like the organ in the background though. Nice touch. And Modern Girl has a nice beat to it. But nothing to write home about. The same could be said of Don t Let Me be Lonely Tonight. This sounded like a James Taylor song. I think Clapton does it better.

I didn t like Second Nature at first either, but it s grown on me the more I listen to it. Some of the riffs sound like they came from Broken Down. That s what won me over in the end. And of course, the Impressions do a great job with the back up vocals. Kudos for getting them in this album!

The last two track are fun pieces. Superman Inside is very upbeat and lively. This is just a great song to have playing in the background. Not that I m saying it should be relegated to just background stuff but who has time to just turn on the CD player and do nothing but listen? It s all about multitasking!

The last track Son and Sylvia is a very soothing instrumental piece and the harmonica is a nice touch. It s very calming and sincere. I really like Clapton s instrumentals. I don t think there s been one that I haven t liked. Just like in his Signe, from Unplugged, he had me from the first chord.


There s a nice mix to this album. Clapton has Blues, R&B, even some Jazzy sounding pieces. Very slick, in my opinion. I would definitely recomend this to my friends!