This album nearly never was made. The band was a supergroup idea after Cream fell apart. It consisted of Traffic’s Steve Winwood (keyboards and vocals), Eric Clapton of Cream (guitars and vocals), Ric Grech of Family (bass guitar and vocals) and Ginger Baker of Cream (drums and percussion). This group did a short tour of Europe in between the recording of this album and as a result, although this album charted at #1 in the USA, Canada and the UK, its overall legacy afterwards has been mixed by critics and listeners alike. Still, this is an essential listening experience, given the backdrop of the supergroup and the fact that this is a one-off. Produced by The Rolling Stones producer of the time, Jimmy Miller and released on Polydor Records on 9 August 1969 in the USA and 22 August 1969 in the UK. The cover art is rather distasteful, being a topless photo of an 11-year-old Mariora Goschen, which was not on the USA release due to the record company intervening. Let’s take a listen to this album and we shall hope it is at least an interesting music experience.

1. Had To Cry Today is a nine-minute long piece that begins with some awesome multitracked guitar riffs and powerful drums to boot. This quickly launches into a fantastic song with some soulful vocals that sound really excellent. Blind Faith is off to a good running start on this album. The chorus is magnificent and sounds absolutely awesome and amazing throughout. A sweet, sensual and cool listen. The guitar riff throughout this tune is memorable, fun and amazing. This is a wonderful and unique song to listen to, just sounding really cool and excellent and fresh, too, even for something recorded way back in 1969. A top-notch listen, although some may find this tune a little repetitive throughout. It launches into a jam section with some sweetly multitracked guitars and overall sounds like a real winner musically. Eric Clapton could certainly play a mean guitar, and this is very noticeable at this point in time. A cool and powerful tune, the guitar amplifier is cranked up so loud that you can hear some fuzz on the guitar during the solo section. A really wonderful and joyful listen, this music sounds absolutely awesome. This is merely vocals, drums and guitars, but it sounds brilliant from start to finish. The chorus and singing return in the second half to take you away nicely. The second half of the song emerges into an alternation between singing and guitar work that sounds superb. A really monumental tune that sounds like a real joy, this is better than expected. A wonderful song that no doubt many of Blind Faith’s contemporaries likely paid attention to. As this tune gradually begins to wrap up, it has some treated guitars in a very Jimi Hendrix-styled way, before launching into a great and amazing guitar solo section that sounds really cool. This and pounding drums by Ginger Baker sound absolutely cool. The solo section wraps up an excellent tune to hear and sounds very lively and interesting. A genuinely cool tune, this has elements of proto-Black Sabbath on this song. Very nice, and the tune wraps up with the main instrumental surrounding the guitar riff. Sweet.

2. Can’t Find My Way Home is a shorter three-minute piece with some neat acoustic guitar arpeggios to begin with. This sounds super pleasant and sweet to listen to. Some falsetto vocals emerge that sound really excellent and super sweet throughout. A really cool and admirable song about trying to get back home when being drunk/high, this is a smooth and mellow listening experience throughout. A real joy musically to hear, this sounds very fantastic. This is one of the better representations of the music from the late 1960s. It sounds fresh, simple and pure with sweet acoustic guitar playing, brushed percussion and falsetto vocals. Minimal, but excellent for what this is. Very cool, and a flashback to a simpler and (some might say) better time in human history in relation to music. Very simple and beautiful.

3. Well All Right is another shortish piece at four and a half minutes long. This has some electric guitars, drums and piano to begin with, sounding very soulful and passionate. This quickly enters into a song that sounds awesome and reassuring throughout. A really clean, clear and awesome song to listen to, this music is sensationally good to hear. Better than what the critics of the time had to say about this album, Eric Clapton plays a mean Fender Telecaster with a Fender Stratocaster neck and alternate pickup wiring on this album. In any case, this is a winner of an album. An extremely cool and sweet tune, this sounds nothing but sensational throughout. The singing is a little shrill here, admittedly. Then again, worse singing can be heard by artists today, even with autotune. The piano returns in the instrumental break in the second half, alongside some interesting guitar to listen to. A cool tune to listen to, this sounds supremely amazing to listen to. This is simply good for what it is. A winner of a tune that has an extended jam at the end of it, before gradually fading out.

4. Presence Of The Lord is another fairly short tune with some organ, melodic guitars and timely drums. This has some sweet singing throughout about exploring faith and what it means to be a believer. A natural and awesome listen, this sounds absolutely marvellous. You don’t have to be religious to accept this song, it just makes sense on a musical level. The music here is sweet, and enjoyable and flows very well in a musical sense. A terrific musical listen that has ingenious artistry, playing and performing on this song. It sounds very Beatlesque, likely due to Eric Clapton’s influences. It breaks down into a watery wah-wah guitar jam, rolling drums and a guitar solo section that sounds absolutely sweet to listen to. A very cool and memorable listen, this should make you bop along and smile, too. Soon enough, it returns to the verses of the song. An exceptionally interesting tune, which is memorable. You don’t need to be Christian, Jewish or Muslim to appreciate this song. A fantastic listen. It wraps up with some heavy hi-hats and a gentle conclusion. Great.

5. Sea Of Joy begins with some crunchy guitars and organs, sounding really fresh and different. Drumrolls enter nicely, followed by some interesting acoustic guitars to match. This song enters with some sweet vocals that sound extremely cool and great throughout, and the whole tune sounds like proto-Eric Clapton’s solo career music. In any case, this is a very sweet, passionate and cool listen. It seems that Blind Faith understood their craft, even if they were a very short-lived act. The singing present is proto-Ozzy Osbourne in a way but retains the originality and consistency of Blind Faith. Some neat neck pickup playing is on this song, and the music throughout is unbelievably good. In the second half is a violin part that sounds really sweet and refreshing. This is a good example of an album from 1969 that you can play while doing your household chores. An exceptionally cool and amazing listen, the violin solo section is very sweet. Eventually some singing returns. It builds up into a fantastic climax, before wrapping up very nicely to conclude with. A great listen from start to finish. It fades out nicely at the end, with the violin playing being prominent.

6. Do What You Like is a 15-minute long extended jam session. It begins with some excellent vocals, organ and clean electric guitars to match. It has some interesting sounds and playing, from the start. Some warped instrumentation emerges that sounds absolutely fantastic and awesome to listen to. A very different-sounding and interesting musical experience. A good song that is decent with a sweet section of music to match. Really very cool and interesting, this music is a winner. It quickly launches into a keyboard/organ solo section with the rest of the band, which sounds quite good to hear. This music continues to grab your attention throughout. The keyboard drives along this one, and it sounds absolutely awesome. A very cool listen, this sounds extraordinarily good to hear. The soloing sounds really good, whilst the song title is chanting in the very distant background. A very interesting listen. A trippy and different-sounding guitar solo emerges in the background, sounding absolutely awesome. Clapton is a Music God, it seems. The jam session continues very nicely. A very interesting and worthwhile listening experience that sounds powerful and joyous, this is a real winner. A top-notch and detailed guitar solo section is present on this song, even if Eric Clapton was fighting to be heard here on this record. This jam session continues for quite some section, and the chanting becomes more prominent. It goes into a subtle, bass guitar-led section that is extremely cool to hear. The bass guitar sounds excellent, and the rest of the band surround it quietly. Very sweet to hear, this is an awesome and thrilling listening experience. A really top-notch tune full of twists, turns and suspense. The drumming brings this back into a good focus, gradually becoming more noticeable over time. This has some awesome and different musicianship throughout the song. Sure, this isn’t as memorable as the Jimi Hendrix 1968 album Electric Ladyland, but it still works very well. A very cool and varied listen throughout, this is more of a winner than you’d expect. The second half continues the subtlety of the music at hand before Ginger Baker gets into drum solo mode. This is very welcome on this album, and the fact that each band member has a solo musical section on this tune is terrific. It builds up gradually into a good and steady drum section with some nice drum rolls that sound absolutely awesome. A sensational listen of drumming by Ginger Baker, this showcases how much of an excellent and talented man he was as a drummer. This goes on very nicely, with the murmured chanting continuing in the background. Extremely cool, this is a winner. It sounds like this album and Blind Faith could have done much more, but did not do so. A very great listen throughout, with hi-hats and sharp drum rolls becoming more noticeable as we gradually reach the end of this song. Very interesting to listen to. This continues on for some time, becoming much more intense and powerful by Ginger Baker and this reaches an awesome and interesting climax, with the chanting becoming much more prominent right near the end. The band then resumes into the song section at hand. The song then enters into this extended jam piece, which is really cool. This music is much better and more worthwhile hearing than what one would expect. It falls apart rather badly at the end, however. It eventually fades out, and has some bizarre sounds to conclude with. A very odd conclusion to an epic piece, which was likely drug-influenced. Different.

This is not the greatest album of all time. However, it is a much more interesting and better listening experience than anyone gives it credit for, including Eric Clapton. Due to interband tensions, Blind Faith quickly split after the release of this album and in particular, Clapton went on to bigger and better things. Should you listen to this album? If you love anything from the late 1960s, give it a try. However, no doubt Punk musicians will hate this one.

Better than expected.

8/10