Reminds me of a funny interview my guy Scott Lucas did with the Onion about a year ago. I think his thoughts are spot-on.
http://www.avclub.com/chicago/articles/scott-lucas-on-going-solo-what-he-learned-from-nic,37842/
Quote: The A.V. Club: Your list of unfortunate solo bids starts off with Eric Clapton.
Scott Lucas: I think the Eric Clapton thing was just—he was in Cream, which was great. The Derek And The Dominos record was terrific. And then pretty much everything he’s done solo has been absolute total shit. It’s pretty embarrassing. I mean there’s the cover of “Cocaine,” which is pretty terrific. That’s about it. I think the worst thing he ever did was that acoustic version of “Layla,” and just gutted it. He’s probably the worst, worst dude that I can think of that’s ever gone solo.
AVC: But a lot of people have made that argument. Have you ever heard of anyone defending Clapton’s solo stuff?
SL: I don’t know. Who could defend it? The '80s stuff is so bad and that seems like what what’s-his-face, Mr. Aniston, seems to really be swinging for all the time. John Mayer! So [Clapton’s] given [Mayer] a template, which is another thing that he’s going to burn in hell for. And that whole “Tears In Heaven” song reminds me of that Mr. Show bit, “Sad Songs Are Nature’s Onions.” Yeah, it’s really bad. Bad career move going solo, which is incredible because he sincerely is one of the best guitar players ever. And I love that Cream stuff so much and there is just no excuse for what happened to him.
AVC: So what do you think happened?
SL: Probably no taste, you know. He’s just not good by himself. He’s not good calling the shots.
AVC: And being unchallenged?
SL: I think he thrives in a band. The last thing he did that was really terrific might have been that first Roger Waters solo record [The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking]. He put him back in a band and he was great. He was on fire. Anything you see him doing where he’s part of a duo or he’s working off of somebody or even if he just shows up and plays one song it’s pretty great. But he loves Phil Collins, and there are just so many things that are bad about him.
AVC: Are you saying there is no such thing as a good Phil Collins song?
SL: You know what? I see this Phil Collins/Genesis resurgence happening lately and I am not with it. I am not down with it and no one will ever change my mind. I remember those solo Phil Collins records and I remember Invisible Touch and I remember all that stuff that came out and there’s no amount of afterglow nostalgia that will make me forget "Land Of Confusion" and how awful it was.
AVC: So, getting back to Clapton. When you make the decision to go solo, are these things in the back of your mind? Are you concerned that you’ll need to be accountable and challenged?
SL: I think with this it wasn’t really thought out. It was like, “Wow, these songs are never going to work as a Local H record.”
AVC: Well, you never intended for these to see the light of day on any record originally.
SL: Yeah, not really. It was the kind of thing where before I even knew what was going on, half the record was written. I didn’t necessarily think that this would be anything that anybody would ever want to hear. So it wasn’t really a conscious decision to go solo. And I think one of the worst things about going solo is, “Well this sounds exactly like the band that they just went solo from.”
AVC: But not as good.
SL: Yeah, that never happens. It’s never as good. Right. But it’s like, what’s the point? What would be the point of even trying something like this if it’s just going to sound like the last record your real band made?
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