A four-disc box set spanning Eric Clapton's entire career -- running from the Yardbirds to his '80s solo recordings -- Crossroads not only revitalized Clapton's commercial standing, but it established the ock & roll multi-disc box set retrospective as a commercially viable proposition. Bob Dylan's Biograph was successful two years before the release of Crossroads, but Clapton's set was a bona fide blockbuster. And it's easy to see why. Crossroads manages to sum up Clapton's career succinctly and thoroughly, touching upon all of his hits and adding a bevy of first-rate unreleased material (most notably selections from the scrapped second Derek and the Dominos album). Although not all of his greatest performances are included on the set -- none of his work as a session musician or guest artist is included, for instance -- every truly essential item he recorded is present on these four discs. No other Clapton album accurately explains why the guitarist was so influential, or demonstrates exactly what he accomplished.
At the beginning of this year I decided I would teach myself to play a new instrument. Anyone will tell you that doing so invovlves a commited desire to burn away hours on end in boring repetitive practice. But in the end it pays off. The great pleasure derived from having mastered a goal makes it all worthwhile.So today I can say I am now a qualified air-guitar player. Don't laugh, those rock...
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 "Crossroads")
