Eric Clapton - "Edge of Darkness"

Happy New Year!

In 1985, Eric Clapton released one album, Behind the Sun, and one EP, Edge of Darkness, which was a soundtrack for a British TV series of the same name.

The recording sessions for Behind the Sun included six tracks that weren't on the album. Since the Edge of Darkness EP also included six tracks, it seemed to me that a complete album could have been released if all of the dozen tracks had been collected together.

SIDE A

1. Edge of Darkness

2. Loving Your Lovin'

3. Shoot Out

4. Heaven Is One Step Away

5. Obituary

6. Too Bad

SIDE B

1. Escape from Northmoor

2. Jailbait

3. Oxford Circus

4. You Don't Know Like I Know

5. Northmoor

6. One Jump Ahead of the Storm

There are a few ways you can go when combining the songs. You can have all the tracks from one project on one side of the album, and the rest on the other side. Or you can intermingle them in some way. The tracks from the soundtrack are all instrumentals, and I liked the idea of intermingling them with the songs with vocals. I think it both breaks up the two groups and manages to tie the whole album together.

I opened the album with the title track "Edge of Darkness." It's a very cool, atmospheric track and I think it acts as a nice beginning that also puts the spotlight on Clapton's guitar playing.

The next track is "Loving Your Lovin'," which was featured on the Wayne's World soundtrack. From there, we alternate as stated between instrumentals and the leftover Behind the Sun songs. I think the instrumentals make for interesting, dark interludes. "Heaven is a Step Away" was originally released on the Back to the Future soundtrack and later on Clapton's Crossroads box set. "Too Bad" was also eventually released on Crossroads.

"Jailbait" was a B-side of the "She's Waiting" single. "You Don't Know Like I Know," a Sam & Dave cover, is a duet with Phil Collins and was released as a non-album single in Australia. "One Jump Ahead of the Storm" was a cover of Kiki Dee's hit. Unfortunately, Clapton's version has never been officially released and is therefore very difficult to find. Alternatively, if you discover that this track is impossible to find, you could use "Wanna Make Love to You," a B-side of the "Behind the Mask" single from the following year, and also available on Crossroads.

The rest of the songs, of course, can be found on the Edge of Darkness EP.

For a cover, "edge of darkness" made me think of a lightning storm, and that image of course goes well with the track "One Jump Ahead of the Storm." I found this dramatic lightning photo online and added words.