Often I would watch the film then run out and by the soundtrack. This time, it was the reverse. I was waiting for the soundtrack album because – at the time – I was a massive Eric Clapton fan. I had collected up everything he’d done (on tape) and I had seen him live and I was a massive fan. So the idea he was doing a soundtrack was a novelty that I was into. The film was good too. I loved it. And I’ve watched it a few times. Great cast, and the music works really well. But I was sold on the concept based on the score. Nowadays I will be keen on the score because of the film if anything.

But 1991 was the peak of my Clapton fandom.

And then I started to fade. Well, I probably had close to a decade more to go of being a fan, collecting up a lot of the stuff on CD – and then picking up many of the older albums on vinyl.

Now I own almost nothing by Clapton.

And this soundtrack has been and gone from my collection. And now it’s back again.

So first, I had it on tape – then CD. Then I really was excited to hear it was on vinyl but couldn’t commit to it. Eventually I did. And then a year or so ago I got rid of it.

Okay, so I realised a while back that Clapton had done nothing I was interested in for about 30 years. Close to meaningless. He doesn’t get a free pass. Fuck that guy. He’s taking the piss – some white, entitled, suited saviour of the blues. Fuck him.

So, I started shrinking the amount of Clapton that was allowed in the house. And if I ever listened to him it was usually his Derek & The Dominos masterpiece. Or some Cream (hardly ever though) or a bit of Bluesbreakers, etc. Never any of the solo albums. They’re awful!

Well, in the lockdown, out of nowhere, I fell in love with his 461 Ocean Blvd. A record I’d never ever given a shit about.

But just as quickly, it was easy to fall completely out of love with Clapton altogether. Anti-vax clown. Silly old boomer. Etc.

So, that’s that.

Until…just recently, I start buying up soundtrack on CD. They’re cheaper. And easier to find. And many of the soundtracks – particularly from the 90s and 00s – never made it to vinyl. So I see Rush and decided I want it. Again! This is at least the fourth time I’ve bought it. Lol.

But this music – and the film – is very special to me. Side one is all instrumental score. And I love the moods Clapton conjures. His band from that time was shit-hot eh. And he was newly re-energised for the first time in about a decade and a half.

The songs on side two are a bit weak all up and I have never cared for Tears in Heaven, not least because there’s a marketing trick tying a song for a movie to the real life trauma of his son dying. Check it out, no joke, the song was fully formed and ready for a throwaway scene in the film before the death of his child. That death is super sad of course. Harrowing. Heartbreaking. But capitalising on it to sell albums…that’s pretty sad and a little sick also.

Anyway, all up, I love this score. It didn’t feel right to have it on vinyl. And I can’t even actually explain it. It seems correct to own it on CD. And so now I do once again.

My final favourite Clapton album. And the only one I own. For now.
What A Good Score is a new series here at Off The Tracks – looking at movie soundtracks, the good, the band and the astounding…