Forever Man (album)

Forever Man
Compilation album by Eric Clapton
Released 28 April 2015
Genre Rock, pop, blues
Length 224:59; 145:09; 77:28
Label Reprise
Eric Clapton chronology

Give Me Strength – The ’74/’75 Recordings
(2013)		 Forever Man
(2015)		 —

Forever Man is a compilation album by the British rock musician Eric Clapton and was released through Reprise Records on 28 April 2015 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.[1] On 8 May 2015 the album was released in Germany;[2] on 11 May 2015 for the rest of the world.[3]

Background

The compilation features songs that Eric Clapton released for the past 30 years through the record label Reprise Records. For the double album and the digital download version, studio and blues recordings were released. The three-CD set consists of a additional live release. The Grammy Award winning singles such as "Tears in Heaven", "Change the World" and "Bad Love" alongside classic recordings from "Unplugged" and "From the Cradle" are part of the compilation.[1] The albums liner notes come from rock journalist Malcolm Dome.[4] By pre-ordering the three CD- and LP-Version a t-shirt, cup and lithograph featuring the albums cover was send as a bonus.[1] The cover shows Clapton in a forest with a signatur Eric Clapton Martin 000-28EC Brazilian Rosewood acoustic guitar. A simliar photograph was used in 2007 for Claptons official autobiography "My life". Christopher Simon Sykes took the picture.[5] Chalk artist Chris Carlson did a version of the album cover for commercial purposes.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [7]

German music expert Günter Schneidewind recalls the compilation as "abundant piece of work" and thinks that the album shows "Claptons life-long work pretty well".[8] Allmusic critics call this Clapton compilation the "by far the most extensive". They critique the track listings of the album saying they "make sense on paper but they're a little odd in practice, with the Studio selections hopscotching between eras and the live heavy on new millennial selections". Going on by recalling it "hardly a botched collection", they round their review up positively recalling the album "delivers a lot of bang for the buck".[7]

Commercial performance

On the first day of the album announcement more than 37.000 copies were pre-ordered in the United States alone.[9] With the total pre-order sales being added up, "Forever Man" reached position ten in the american pre-order chart.[9] To the actual release of the album on 28 April 2015, the compilation was pre-ordered more than 151,000 times in the US.[9]

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

(Chart 2015) Peak
position
Argentina (Top 100 Music Albums)[10] 57
US (Pre-Order Chart)[9] 10

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United States (RIAA)[9] 151,000[9]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "New Album – Forever Man // Pre-Order Now". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "Eric Clapton: Forever Man (2 CDs)". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Eric Clapton Timeline". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Musik News: Eric Clapton: Ewiger Gitarrengott" (in German). Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Clapton, Eric: My Life, 2007, Cologne, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, p. 338. ISBN 978-3-462-03934-4.
  6. ↑ "Eric Clapton Forever Man 3D Chalk Art". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Forever Men - Eric Clapton". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  8. ↑ "Eric Clapton – Kaffee oder Tee – SWR". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 "Upcoming Releases". Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Argentina Top 100 Music Albums". Retrieved 1 May 2015.