http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... 66mpm39foo
Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs had been a vexation since the dawn of the CD era, its first issue marred by harsh textures and lots of noise, a result of the multiple overdubs on the original album.
While the recording itself isn't an audiophile masterpiece*, the original CD actually sounds pretty good. I'd go as far as saying *really* good.
Then Polygram issued the Eric Clapton box Crossroads in 1988, which included a new remastering of "Layla" and the handful of other songs from the album
Er...the title track was the *only* track included, and it was remixed, not remastered.
This set isn't the ultimate, enveloping experience of the Layla album that it could have been — a couple of years later, Mobile Fidelity released a CD that captured the majesty of the original album much better, and at the end of the 1990s Polygram followed suit as part of the "Clapton Remasters" series
I still haven't heard the MoFi, but in comparison to the various remastered tracks, the original CD holds up very well - I'll even say I prefer some of the tracks from the original CD.
Interesting that this is a fairly recent review - in particular it mentions the "late" Tom Dowd, who died a year ago. Also, I remember the old review saying *much* less about the various issues and instead focusing on how all the bonus material just took away from the original album.
*For all the bashing it gets, I actually think the mix/recording is pretty good. Sure, it's moderately hissy, and there are some board clicks in places, but other than that, I think it's a great natural sounding recording. But what do I know?