Here are some customer reviews of
Reptile
: Fans who love Clapton for his rock and blues won't find much to like on this release. It's more likely to appeal to an easy listening crowd than to anyone else. True, he does touch on the blues on "Got You on My Mind", the slow, gospelly "Come Back Baby" (with some nice piano & organ), the old-time piano blues "Find Myself", & the brisk blues-rocker with a funky edge, "Traveling Light". The latter is my personal favorite, & sounds like something Mark Knoffler would do. As for the rest of the album, it's dominated by acoustic soft-rock & pop, along with a poor attempt to appeal to the dance crowd with "I Ain't Gonna Stand For It". Several tracks include annoying background vocals and strings. The album is book-ended by a pair of instrumentals; The title track a Spanish-flavored jazzy tune, and the closer a soft acoustic track. For an artist who's been considered a rock guitar legend for decades, your more likely to hear these tunes in an elevator than on rock radio.
This album is an awesome album for Eric Clapton. In this I must say that this album will not yield a lot of hits, if any. This album is meant to just breeze on through your stereo, with the calming and jazzy title track. The album consists mainly of blues and jazz and soul type styles and is such a pleasing change since Pilgrim (1997). I think this album is great because Eric is getting back to his blues roots on this one... worth buying for certain
This is incredible. Eric Clapton seems to get better and better with every album. He is never a disappointment.
For those expecting the rock of "Layla", the variety of "Pilgrim" or the funkiness of "461 Ocean Boulevard", you might be disappointed, but "Reptile" is a masterpiece. All fourteen songs are what you might expect from a personal concert in a small cafe from Eric Clapton. Rythym and Blues are the mainstay here and it shows with classic covers of Ray Charles', "Come Back Baby", James Taylors' "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" and Stevie Wonders', "I Ain't Gonna Stand For It". This collection stands out for consistency and pure love of 'feel good' club music. Granted, Clapton does push more energy on "Superman Inside", almost 'out-blues' himself on "Got You On My Mind" and pulls at your heartstrings with the lovely instrumental, "Son & Sylvia". Each of Clapton's albums vary from time to time and usually for the better. This is a 'low key evening by the fire' collection. It's just one of the things Clapton does the best.
Look at his last five albums - You've got Riding with the King, Pilgrim, From the Cradle, Unplugged, 24 Nights and Journeyman. Every one sounds quite different, and each contains moments of greatness, and yet they don't betray the artist. Reptile is the same way. It's unique in its own way, and yet it brings back images of E.C.'s music from Pilgrim back to 461 Ocean Blvd. That's what is so cool about Eric Clapton. He is obviously comfortable with certain types of music - even in this album there are blues standards, and slow acoustic numbers - yet he manages to not be stale and moldy, so that it doesn't sound like the same old stuff. Although this album isn't as ambitious as Pilgrim's hip hop stylings, or as traditional as From the Cradle or Riding with the King, it's still comfortable and an easy listen. Buy it!
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