Its gritty riff takes on a different feel with these new lyrics, both paying homage to the blues and also breaking from it to pursue more psychedelic, personal and deeply artistic paths. Perhaps the best song to get across this new direction though is also the band's biggest hit and a track whose riff is a beginning guitarist's staple to this day, “Sunshine of Your Love.”
Certainly that is the band's most famous song, and with good reason. With its fuzzed out progressive guitar licks pulsing behind Bruce's pushed vocals, trading back and forth with Clapton, it's a classic that really set some of the standards for what would evolve into hard rock by 1970. It's a song that has really transcended time, but only part of the complete picture.
“World of Pain” expands in new directions as well with it's darker, almost haunting feel to the verses, but slightly more bluesy choruses with very airy vocals that hang over top of the backing rhythm. “Dance the Night Away” is actually a pretty dark song with its layers of psychedelic and mystic flavors. This song is one of my favorites because it's quite heavy and hits hard rhythmically in the verses, but the lyrics have that haunting floating quality again in their harmonies and the delicacy of the tinkly, even jangly guitar melodies provide a good contrast to the heavier backing parts.
“Blue Condition” feels much more grounded after the two more psychedelic tracks that precede it. It's slow, swaying style is unique and surprisingly complex as are its lyrics. By comparison to its trippy counterparts, it's quite relaxed and tame making for a good break in the action. It's a short break though as a trio of psychedelic masterpieces follow.
“Tales of Brave Ulysses” is an epic wah guitar workout wrapped around a mystic and mythological tale. Another one of those trademark Cream songs, its great musicianship and psychedelic imagery certainly do capture the band's spirit and even more so the spirit of 1967. It's one of those great hard rock songs though, and was influential as a starting point for many of the epic rock anthems of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and others that would follow.
“SWLBR” is also both a psychedelic and hard rock classic. Standing for “She Walks Like a Bearded Rainbow” (I don't know what it means either), it has appropriate cryptic lyrics, complete with multiple references to facial hair, underpinning it's gritty rock and roll riff and screaming lead guitar work. The roots of hard rock and heavy metal are embedded in this song as well and it hits with the force one would expect from such a track.
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