By 1985, Eric Clapton's storied career seemed to be flaming out. The Rock God status he'd attained in the 60s with The Yardbirds and Cream and maintained as a solo artist in the 70s had started to wane thanks to inconsistent records, drugs and alcohol. His previous record, Money and Cigarettes, lacked hits and failed to go gold - his first for Warner Brothers. Needing a success in the days of MTV and synthesizers, he turned to Phil Collins who had the magic touch at this time (listen to UAWIL 220 on No Jacket Required). And though they had fun in Montserrat recording the album, all was not well.

Eric was slowly but surely breaking up with Pattie Hanson - his wife, the inspiration for Layla and former wife of George Harrison. You can hear his lament on songs like Just Like A Prisoner and the title track. Despite the emotion he may have put into the tracks, Warner Bros weren't happy. So they teamed him up with one of their songwriters, Jerry Lynn Williams, and Van Halen producer Ted Templeman to craft a couple of hits in LA. The single Forever Man did top the mainstream rock charts in the US and helped the album go platinum. But Clapton seems uneasy with some of the synthesizer work and the songs written by others. Nonetheless, this record did bring him some needed success and attention which would lead to bigger achievements in the late 80s, the early 90s and beyond. Released March 11, 1985, we thought this one is an interesting inflection point in Clapton's catalog and worthy of a look as it turns 40.

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