One More Car, One More Rider

Disc 1
1	Key to the Highway 3:41
2	Reptile 5:59
3	Got You on My Mind 3:51
4	Tears in Heaven 4:34
5	Bell Bottom Blues 5:02
6	Change the World 6:16
7	My Father's Eyes 8:34
8	River of Tears 8:59
9	Goin' Down Slow 5:34
10	She's Gone 6:58
Disc 2
1	I Want a Little Girl 4:38
2	Badge 6:02
3	(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man 4:30
4	Have You Ever Loved a Woman 7:53
5	Cocaine 4:20
6	Wonderful Tonight 6:42
7	Layla 9:16
8	Sunshine of Your Love 7:11
9	Over the Rainbow 6:33

Barnes & Noble

Culled from the tour that's strongly been touted as Slowhand's last stand, this two-disc effort -- which takes its name from the original working title for 1986's August -- is a measured retrospective that seems designed to give a little taste of each one of the flavors in Clapton's musical kitchen. As he's done often at recent shows, he spends plenty of time revisiting his blues roots, peppering songs like "Hoochie Koochie Man" and "Cocaine" with his trademark blend of slurry indulgence and crisp riffing. Those won over by that aspect of Clapton's personality -- as well as the no-nonsense rock element that surges forth during renditions of Cream classics such as "Sunshine of Your Love" and "Badge" -- might be a bit taken aback by the degree to which he concentrates on his latter-day adult pop. Both "My Father's Eyes" and "River of Tears" push the nine-minute mark (an expansion that suits, say, the rendition of "Layla" presented here but not these comparatively trifling tunes), while songs from Reptile take up a bit too much space. There are enough solo excursions to satisfy the "Clapton is God" brigade, and the backing band, rounded out by keyboardists Billy Preston and David Sancious, does a fine job fleshing out the quavering "Bell Bottom Blues" and a nice-and-nasty "Going Down Slow." As the final notes of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (yes, that one) fade into the ether, an odd sense of wistfulness emerges -- but there's always that replay button. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Eric Clapton had a fierce testimonial to the blues with From the Cradle, but One More Car, One More Rider arrives nearly a decade later, and the difference is stunning. Though he goes through the motions of playing the blues -- a cutting version of the perennial "Key to the Highway," "Hoochie Coochie Man," "Goin' Down Slow," among others here -- the heart of this album is closer to the NPR instrumental jam of "Reptile" than blues. This is mannered, "classy" playing, and the song selection favors either warhorses or recent hits. Stephen Thomas Erlewine