Best of Cream

The first of a long line of Cream anthologies, the 1969 Best of Cream (released originally on Atco, since reissued on Polydor) was a ten-track compilation featuring nearly all of Cream's U.K. and U.S. single hits. The exceptions were "Wrapping Paper" and "Anyone for Tennis," which were not much missed, especially when instead you got tracks like "Born Under a Bad Sign" and "Tales of Brave Ulysses." In fact, for a long time Best of Cream served as the best one-record distillation of Cream. It has been superseded, however, by 1995's The Very Best of Cream (Polydor 314523752), which contains all of its selections and ten more. ~ William Ruhlmann