Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005

Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 is a live album by the British rock band Cream, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in 2005 during the band's reunion tour. As the title implies, the recording includes songs from their four reunion shows on 2, 3, 5, and 6 May 2005.

Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005
Live album by Cream
Released	4 October 2005 (2005-10-04)
Recorded	May 2–3, 5–6, 2005
Venue	Royal Albert Hall, London, England
Genre	Blues-rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock
Length	115:35
Label	Reprise
Producer	Simon Climie
Cream chronology
Cream Gold (2005) Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005 (2005)

Within five months of these performances, this collection of recordings was released as separate double Compact Disc and double DVD sets. Two months later in December, a triple LP set was also released,^[1] containing tracks identical to the CD set. A Blu-ray version also exists.^[2]

The album reached No. 59 on the Billboard 200 album chart on 22 October 2005.^[3]

Reception

Critical

In his retrospective review for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that the shows at the Royal Albert Hall did not live up to Cream's concerts in the past, including their 1993 induction performance for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, not necessarily all because of their age, but primarily having not played together for quite some time.^[4] J. D. Considine spoke much more highly of the shows because Cream were not as fixated with psychedelic jam sessions and sounded better than before.^[5]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[4]
Blender	[5]

Compact Disc track listing

Disc one

1. "I'm So Glad" (Skip James)  – 6:18
2. "Spoonful" (Willie Dixon)  – 7:29
3. "Outside Woman Blues" (Blind Joe Reynolds, arr. Clapton)  – 4:33
4. "Pressed Rat and Warthog" (Ginger Baker, Mike Taylor)  – 3:21
5. "Sleepy Time Time" ¹ (Jack Bruce, Janet Godfrey)  – 6:08
6. "N.S.U." (Bruce)  – 6:02
7. "Badge" ¹ (Eric Clapton, George Harrison)  – 3:59
8. "Politician" (Bruce, Pete Brown)  – 5:08
9. "Sweet Wine" (Baker, Godfrey)  – 6:28
10. "Rollin' and Tumblin'" (Hambone Willie Newbern)  – 5:02
11. "Stormy Monday" ² (T-Bone Walker)  – 8:09
12. "Deserted Cities of the Heart" (Bruce, Brown)  – 3:56

Disc two

1. "Born Under a Bad Sign" (William Bell, Booker T. Jones)  – 5:31
2. "We're Going Wrong" (Bruce)  – 8:26
3. "Crossroads" (Robert Johnson, arr. Clapton)  – 4:25
4. "White Room" ¹ (Bruce, Brown)  – 5:39
5. "Toad" (drum solo) ² (Baker)  – 10:07
6. "Sunshine of Your Love" ¹ (Bruce, Clapton, Brown)  – 8:46
7. "Sleepy Time Time" ¹ (Alternate) (Bruce, Godfrey)  – 6:07

DVD track listing

Disc one

1. "I'm So Glad" (James)
2. "Spoonful" (Dixon)
3. "Outside Woman Blues" (Reynolds; arr. Clapton)
4. "Pressed Rat and Warthog" (Baker, Taylor)
5. "Sleepy Time Time" ¹ (Bruce, Godfrey)
6. "N.S.U." (Bruce)
7. "Badge" ¹ (Clapton, Harrison)
8. "Politician" (Bruce, Brown)
9. "Sweet Wine" (Baker, Godfrey)
10. "Rollin' and Tumblin'" (Newbern)
11. "Stormy Monday" ² (Walker)
12. "Deserted Cities of the Heart" ¹ (Bruce, Brown)
13. "Born Under a Bad Sign" (Bell, Jones)
14. "We're Going Wrong" (Bruce)

• "Sleepy Time Time" (Alternate Take) (Bruce, Godfrey) (Extra feature)
• "We're Going Wrong" (Alternate Take) ¹ (Bruce) (Extra feature)

Disc two

15. "Crossroads" (Johnson; arr. Clapton)
16. "Sitting on Top of the World" (Walter Vinson, Lonnie Chatmon; arr. Chester Burnett)
17. "White Room" ¹ (Bruce, Brown)
18. "Toad" ² (Baker)
19. "Sunshine of Your Love" ¹ (Bruce, Clapton, Brown)

• "Sunshine of Your Love" (Alternate Take) (Bruce, Clapton, Brown) (Extra feature)
• Interviews with Baker, Bruce and Clapton (Extra feature)

Notes

• Although the title mentions all four dates Cream played in May 2005, these releases contain no performances recorded 2 May. However, there is a brief clip shown on the DVD of Clapton speaking to the crowd recorded on the first night.
• ^1 These tracks recorded 3 May.
• ^2 These tracks recorded 5 May.
• All other tracks recorded 6 May.

The recording of "Sitting on Top of the World", the alternate takes of "We're Going Wrong" and "Sunshine of Your Love" and the interviews are exclusive to the DVD set. All other tracks are identical to the CD release.

Credits

Cream

• Jack Bruce – vocals, bass guitar, harmonica
• Eric Clapton – guitar, vocals
• Ginger Baker – drums, cowbells, vocals

Production

• Simon Climie – audio production
• Mick Guzauski – audio mixer
• Alan Douglas – Recording Engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2005–2006)	Peak position
Australian Music DVD (ARIA)[6]	3
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[7]	51
Austrian Music DVD (Ö3 Austria)[8]	1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[9]	77
Belgian Music DVD (Ultratop Flanders)[10]	10
Belgian Music DVD (Ultratop Wallonia)[11]	7
Danish Music DVD (Hitlisten)[12]	5
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13]	81
Dutch Music DVD (MegaCharts)[14]	6
Finnish Music DVD (Suomen virallinen lista)[15]	2
French Albums (SNEP)[16]	59
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17]	11
Hungarian Music DVD (MAHASZ)[18]	4
Italian Albums (FIMI)[19]	52
Italian Music DVD (FIMI)[20]	3
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[21]	23
Japanese Music DVD (Oricon)[22]	8
New Zealand Music DVD (Recorded Music NZ)[23]	1
Norwegian Music DVD (VG-lista)[24]	3
Spanish Music DVD (PROMUSICAE)[25]	10
Swedish Music DVD (Sverigetopplistan)[26]	1
UK Albums (OCC)[27]	61
UK Music Videos (OCC)[28]	2
US Billboard 200[29]	59
US Music Videos (Billboard)[30]	1

Certifications

Album

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[31]	Gold	100,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Video

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[32]	Platinum	15,000^
France (SNEP)[33]	Gold	10,000*
Germany (BVMI)[34]	Gold	25,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[23]	Platinum	5,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[35]	Platinum	50,000*
United States (RIAA)[36]	5× Platinum	500,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Cream: Live At The Royal Albert Hall 2005". Amazon.com. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
2. "Cream - Royal Albert Hall - London May 2-3-5-6 2005". Amazon.com. 4 October 2005. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
3. "Cream Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. United States. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
4. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Royal Albert Hall: London May 2-3-5-6 > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
5. J.D. Considine (10 April 2010). "Live at Royal Albert Hall". blender.com. Alpha Media Group Inc.^{[permanent dead link]}
6. "The ARIA Report – 817" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Pandora Archive. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
7. "Austriancharts.at – Cream – Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
8. "Austria Top 40 – Musik-DVD: 16-10-2005" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
9. "Ultratop.be – Cream – Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
10. "Cream – Reunion [DVD]" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
11. "Cream – Reunion [DVD]" (in French). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
12. "Musik DVD Top-10: Uge 42 – 2005". Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Cream – Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
14. "Cream – Royal Albert Hall [DVD]" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
15. "43/2005 – Suomen virallinen lista". Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
16. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste – Institut français d'opinion publique". Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
17. "Offiziellecharts.de – Cream – Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
18. "Archivum: DVD Top 20 – DVD 2005 – 41". Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
19. "Italiancharts.com – Cream – Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
20. "Archivio: DVD Musicali: Settimana 42, 2005". Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
21. "Cream – Artist Ranking Album". Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
22. "Cream – Artist Ranking DVD". Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
23. Scapolo, Dean (2007). The Complete New Zealand Music Charts: 1966–2006. Maurienne House. ISBN 978-1-877443-00-8.
24. "Topp 10 DVD Audio: 2005 – Uke 43". Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
25. "Top 20 DVD Musical: Semana 40, 2005" (PDF). Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
26. "Veckolista DVD Album – Vecka 41, 2005" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
27. "Cream | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
28. "Official Music Video Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
29. "Cream Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
30. "Music Video: Top Music Videos". Billboard. Vol. 117, no. 43. 22 October 2005. p. 93. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
31. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Cream; 'Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6 2005')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
32. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2005 DVDs" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
33. "French video certifications – Cream – Royal Albert London May 2-3-5-6" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
34. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Cream; 'Royal Albert Hall London')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
35. "British video certifications – Cream – Royal Albert Hall". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
36. "American video certifications – Cream – Royal Albert Hall: London May 2-3-5-6 2005". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 15 October 2020.

External links

• Official site – Cream2005.com (broken link)