''Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by the British rock band

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

, recorded at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in 2005 during the band's reunion tour. As the title implies, the recording includes songs from their four reunion shows on 2, 3, 5, and 6 May 2005. Within five months of these performances, this collection of recordings was released as separate double

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

and double

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

sets. Two months later in December, a triple LP set was also released, containing tracks identical to the CD set. A Blu-ray version also exists. The album reached No. 59 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart on 22 October 2005.

Reception

Critical

In his retrospective review for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

said that the shows at the Royal Albert Hall did not live up to Cream's concerts in the past, including their 1993 induction performance for the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

, not necessarily all because of their age, but primarily having not played together for quite some time. J. D. Considine spoke much more highly of the shows because Cream were not as fixated with psychedelic

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

s and sounded better than before.

Compact Disc track listing

;Disc one #" I'm So Glad" (

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "Coupling an oddball guitar tuning set against eerie, falsetto vocals, James' early recordings ...

) – 6:18 #"

Spoonful "Spoonful" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. Called "a stark and haunting work", it’s one of Dixon's best known and most interpreted songs. Etta James and Harvey Fuqua had a pop and R&B record ...

" (

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

) – 7:29 #" Outside Woman Blues" ( Blind Joe Reynolds, arr. Clapton) – 4:33 #"Pressed Rat and Warthog" (

Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...

, Mike Taylor) – 3:21 #"Sleepy Time Time" ( Jack Bruce, Janet Godfrey) – 6:08 #"N.S.U." (Bruce) – 6:02 #"

Badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fir ...

" (

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

) – 3:59 #"Politician" (Bruce, Pete Brown) – 5:08 #"Sweet Wine" (Baker, Godfrey) – 6:28 #" Rollin' and Tumblin'" ( Hambone Willie Newbern) – 5:02 #" Stormy Monday" ( T-Bone Walker) – 8:09 #"Deserted Cities of the Heart" (Bruce, Brown) – 3:56 ;Disc two #"

Born Under a Bad Sign ''Born Under a Bad Sign'' is the second compilation album by American blues musician Albert King, released in August 1967 by Stax Records. It features eleven electric blues songs that were recorded from March 1966 to June 1967, throughout fiv ...

" ( William Bell, Booker T. Jones) – 5:31 #" We're Going Wrong" (Bruce) – 8:26 #" Crossroads" (

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...

, arr. Clapton) – 4:25 #" White Room" (Bruce, Brown) – 5:39 #"

Toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

" (drum solo) (Baker) – 10:07 #" Sunshine of Your Love" (Bruce, Clapton, Brown) – 8:46 #"Sleepy Time Time" (Alternate) (Bruce, Godfrey) – 6:07

DVD track listing

;Disc one #"I'm So Glad" (James) #"Spoonful" (Dixon) #"Outside Woman Blues" (Reynolds; arr. Clapton) #"Pressed Rat and Warthog" (Baker, Taylor) #"Sleepy Time Time" (Bruce, Godfrey) #"N.S.U." (Bruce) #"Badge" (Clapton, Harrison) #"Politician" (Bruce, Brown) #"Sweet Wine" (Baker, Godfrey) #"Rollin' and Tumblin'" (Newbern) #"Stormy Monday" (Walker) #"Deserted Cities of the Heart" (Bruce, Brown) #"Born Under a Bad Sign" (Bell, Jones) #"We're Going Wrong" (Bruce) *"Sleepy Time Time" (Alternate Take) (Bruce, Godfrey) (Extra feature) *"We're Going Wrong" (Alternate Take) (Bruce) (Extra feature) ;Disc two #

"Crossroads" (Johnson; arr. Clapton) #" Sitting on Top of the World" ( Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon; arr.

Chester Burnett Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

) #"White Room" (Bruce, Brown) #"Toad" (Baker) #"Sunshine of Your Love" (Bruce, Clapton, Brown) *"Sunshine of Your Love" (Alternate Take) (Bruce, Clapton, Brown) (Extra feature) *Interviews with

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...

, Bruce and Clapton (Extra feature)

Notes

*Although the title mentions all four dates Cream played in May 2005, these releases contain no performances recorded 2 May. However, there is a brief clip shown on the DVD of Clapton speaking to the crowd recorded on the first night. * These tracks recorded 3 May. * These tracks recorded 5 May. *All other tracks recorded 6 May. The recording of "Sitting on Top of the World", the alternate takes of "We're Going Wrong" and "Sunshine of Your Love" and the interviews are exclusive to the DVD set. All other tracks are identical to the CD release.

Credits

;Cream * Jack Bruce –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, vocals *

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, cowbells, vocals ;Production * Simon Climie – audio production * Mick Guzauski –

audio mixer A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instr ...

*Alan Douglas – Recording Engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

Album

Video

References

External links

Official site – Cream2005.com
(broken link) {{Authority control Cream (band) live albums Live albums recorded at the Royal Albert Hall 2005 live albums Reprise Records live albums