Pilgrim (Eric Clapton album)
| Pilgrim | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Eric Clapton | ||||
| Released | March 10, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1996–1997 | |||
| Studio | Ocean Way · Olympic Studios | |||
| Genre | Blues · pop · rock · soft rock | |||
| Length | 1:15:33 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Producer | Eric Clapton · Simon Climie | |||
| Eric Clapton chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Singles from Pilgrim | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| Robert Christgau | C+ |
| Sputnikmusic | 2.0 |
| Entertainment Weekly | B- |
Pilgrim is the thirteenth studio album by the British rock musician Eric Clapton, released on March 10, 1998 for Reprise Records. The album features all-new studio-recorded material since Clapton's 1989 hit album Journeyman and was nominated for several music awards. Although most of the critics responded negatively to the 1998 studio effort, it was one of Clapton's most commercially successful albums, reaching the Top 10 in twenty-two countries, selling more than 4,500,000 copies worldwide.
The album was recorded from 1996 to 1997 in both Ocean Way and the Olympic Studios. The release of Pilgrim marked Clapton's first album of all-new original studio material since 1989's Journeyman album. When being interviewed by Larry King in February 1998, Clapton explained how the album title came to be: "Well, it's kind of – I suppose – there's a track on the album called 'Pilgrim' which came first. And when I came to title the album I used that track as a key point to go from, because I thought it was a good way of actually following the thread from Journeyman which was the same kind of meaning, really. Just looking at my life as a musician and a lot of other respects. It is autobiographical. And I see myself as kind of being like a lone guy on a quest". The album cover and packaging for Pilgrim was originally conceived by Eric Clapton himself. However, when Japanese manga and anime artist Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, who is best known as the character designer for Neon Genesis Evangelion, got to see the work, he executed Clapton's idea and designed the cover and packaging, which was approved by Clapton and used for the final release.
In his 2007 autobiography, Clapton noted, that he asked his drummer Steve Gadd, how he would feel about making the saddest record of all time. Gadd said, he could work on Clapton's idea and the British recording artist chose to start working on the new project, although Clapton felt, it could be a worrying time recording the saddest record, that has ever been made. Because "My Father's Eyes" and "Circus" were the only finished tunes, Clapton had when going into the studio, he wrote several new songs during the following year, stating he worked nearly a whole year every day and night to record good songs with perfect detail. Clapton calls Pilgrim one of his favourite albums, because he put so much passion and hard work into making it. During that time, Clapton parted with his long-time manager Roger Forrester, mainly because Clapton took so long recording the album and paying too much money on the album, renting several studios for nearly a whole year.
...
Wikipedia