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Cream / Wheels Of Fire super deluxe edition

5CD set with unreleased rarities

By Jamie Atkins

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Remastered and phase-corrected album • Unreleased mixes • 5CD

Cream’s third album, 1968’s Wheels Of Fire, will be released as an expanded super deluxe edition in June.

Wheels Of Fire was originally released on 14 June 1968 in the US; less than a month later, the three-piece – Ginger Baker (drums, vocals), Jack Bruce (bass, lead vocals) and Eric Clapton (guitar, vocals) – announced that they were going their separate ways…

The 5CD super deluxe edition of features a 2026 remaster and a previously unreleased phase-corrected version of the entire album. The latter version was achieved by using software to reverse the Haeco-CSG effect originally applied to the album. This was a 1960s audio processing technique intended to make stereo recordings compatible with mono turntables but had a side-effect of ‘blurring’ the stereo imaging. The first CD offers the remaster of the original followed by this new version that removes the Haeco-CSG effect.

CD 2 offers Wheels Of Fire stereo and mono reference reels, sourced from producer Felix Pappalardi’s personal collection while discs three and four deliver Live At The Fillmore Auditorium & Winterland Ballroom – tracks from the March 1968 shows used for Live Cream (1970) and Live Cream Volume 2 (1972) with a previously unreleased version of ‘We’re Going Wrong’

The fifth and final CD features 15 remastered rarities, including early versions, alternate mixes, single edits and live recordings (nine previously unreleased tracks).

The first taste of the new set: a previously unreleased early version of ‘White Room’

This is a 10-inch set and comes with a hardcover book with sleeve notes by Jim Farber. The CDs are packaged separately in a gatefold folio and the book and folio slot into the outer rigid slipcase which has a special silver laminated finish.

Meanwhile, the 3LP vinyl set features the new phase-corrected mix of the original album, the mono reference version of the album, and 11 tracks from disc five of the CD set. It’s pressed on 180g black vinyl and presented in a gatefold sleeve, complete with a metallic Pantone finish.

Wheels Of Fire super deluxe edition is out 12 June 2026 on UMR/Polydor.

Tracklisting

Wheels Of Fire Cream /

    • CD One – Wheels Of Fire: In The Studio (2026 Remaster) 1968 Originally Released Csg Encoded Version and Previously Unreleased Phase Corrected (De-Csg’d) Version
      1. White Room (4:59)
      2. Sitting On Top Of The World (4:59)
      3. Passing The Time (4:33)
      4. As You Said (4:22)
      5. Pressed Rat And Warthog (3:15)
      6. Politician (4:14)
      7. Those Were The Days (2:55)
      8. Born Under A Bad Sign (3:11)
      9. Deserted Cities Of The Heart (3:42)
      10. White Room (4:59)
      11. Sitting On Top Of The World (4:59)
      12. Passing The Time (4:32)
      13. As You Said (4:22)
      14. Pressed Rat And Warthog (3:15)
      15. Politician (4:14)
      16. Those Were The Days (2:55)
      17. Born Under A Bad Sign (3:11)
      18. Deserted Cities Of The Heart (3:40)

       

    • CD2: Wheels Of Fire: In The Studio (Stereo and mono Reference Reels)
      1. White Room (4:59) *
      2. Sitting On Top Of The World (4:55) *
      3. Passing The Time (Long Version) (5:50) *
      4. As You Said (4:16) *
      5. Pressed Rat And Warthog (With Spoken Intro) (3:16) *
      6. Politician (4:10) *
      7. Those Were The Days (2:54) *
      8. Born Under A Bad Sign (3:08) *
      9. Deserted Cities Of The Heart (3:36) *
      10. White Room (4:59) +
      11. Sitting On Top Of The World (4:57) +
      12. Passing The Time (Long Version) (5:50) +
      13. As You Said (4:18) +
      14. Pressed Rat And Warthog (With Spoken Intro) (3:15) +
      15. Politician (4:11) +
      16. Those Were The Days (2:54) +
      17. Born Under A Bad Sign (3:10) +
      18. Deserted Cities Of The Heart (3:39) +
      *Previously unreleased stereo tapes
      +Previously unreleased mono tapes

       

    • CD3: Wheels Of Fire: Live At The Fillmore Auditorium & Winterland Ballroom (2026 Remaster)
      1. Crossroads (4:16)
      2. Spoonful (16:48)
      3. Traintime (7:02)
      4. Toad (16:16)
    • CD4: Wheels Of Fire: More Live At The Fillmore Auditorium & Winterland Ballroom (2026 Remaster)
      1. N.S.U. (10:15)
      2. Sleepy Time Time (6:51)
      3. Rollin’ And Tumblin’ (6:45)
      4. Sweet Wine (15:18)
      5. Tales Of Brave Ulysses (4:45)
      6. We’re Going Wrong (6:55) +
      7. Sunshine Of Your Love (7:25)
      8. Steppin’ Out (13:41)
      + Previously unreleased
    • CD5: Wheels Of Fire: Rarities (2026 Remaster)
      1. White Room (Stereo Us Single Edit) (3:05)
      2. Sitting On Top Of The World (Alternate Stereo Mix) (4:57) +
      3. Passing The Time (Alternate Long Stereo Mix) (5:51) +
      4. As You Said (Alternate Stereo Mix) (4:19) +
      5. Pressed Rat And Warthog (Alternate Stereo Mix) (3:10) +
      6. Politician (Alternate Stereo Mix) (4:11) +
      7. Anyone For Tennis (Stereo Single Mix) (2:39)
      8. White Room (Early Version Mono Mix) (4:29) +
      9. Deserted Cities Of The Heart (Rough Mono Mix / No Strings) (3:37) +
      10. Pressed Rat And Warthog (Alternate Mono Mix) (3:14) +
      11. As You Said (Alternate Mono Mix) (4:21) +
      12. Anyone For Tennis (Mono Single Mix) (2:39)
      13. Crossroads (Mono Single Version) (4:16)
      14. N.S.U. (Recorded 9 March 1968 At Winterland Ballroom) (12:38)
      15. Sunshine Of Your Love (Recorded 7 March 1968 At The Fillmore Auditorium) (6:58)
      + previously unreleased

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