Eric Clapton
's 2004 installment in
Universal
's never-ending
20th Century Masters -- The Millennium Collection
is an excellent distillation of his signature songs of the '70s. While it focuses on his solo recordings, it's not limited to them, throwing in two cuts from
Derek and the Dominos
--
"Layla,"
of course, plus
"Bell Bottom Blues"
-- which help complete the portrait of
Clapton
in the '70s. While there's a hit or two missing, they're not ones that will be missed and what is here is the cream of the crop of the first decade of
's solo career. It's both thorough and enjoyable, rivaling 1982's
Time Pieces: Best of Eric Clapton
as the best summary of this part of his career. In fact,
20th Century Masters
is essentially a revised
Time Pieces
, both running 11 tracks, nine of which are shared between the two records. Furthermore, the track sequence is identical with the exception of those two different songs -- and even then, those songs are in the same place in the running order, with
taking
"Willie & the Hand Jive"
's place and
"Let It Rain"
replacing
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,"
two substitutions that strengthen the compilation, giving it the edge over the predecessor that it so strongly resembles. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine