Several live or alternative studio recordings were previously unreleased. Anthony DeCurtis contributed the liner notes to the album, and The Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood painted the album's cover. Mitchell Kanner designed the package and, along with Michael Bays, art directed the package.[2]Crossroads was mastered by Greg Calbi and compiled by Bill Levenson.[3] The four-disc box set sold more than four million copies worldwide[clarification needed] and was presented with six awards, including two Grammy Awards awarded in 1989. With high commercial success and positive critical response, this is Clapton's most-purchased box set to date.
The critics for Billboard magazine noted mostly the production work, besides the compilations track listing stating: "Compiler Levenson has unearthed some superb rarities for the set, and Anthony DeCurtis contributes intelligent annotation. Classy package and bounty of unheard material will attract Slowhand's legion of fans".[2]Rolling Stone journalist David Fricke really liked the boxed set and awarded the release an extremely rare five-star rating in April 1988.[4] In his review for the American music website AllMusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine presented the album with five out of five possible stars, rating the release as an AllMusic top album and notes:
[...] 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.
Crossroads is Clapton's commercially most successful multi-disc boxed set, charting in both 1988 and 1989, selling a total of more than three million copies worldwide. In the United States it debuted in May 1988 at number 80 on Billboard magazine's Top 200 albums chart, making Clapton the second artist ever to chart in the Top 100 field with a box set containing six discs, following Elvis Presley.[11] It also debuted at number eight on Billboard's Top Pop Compact Disks chart.[11] In its first week in the charts, Crossroads was both the best- and fastest-selling box set ever to be released, selling more than 240,000 copies in the first few weeks after its release in the United States. At that point, more than 120,000 copies which were sold were on CD formats, which was still quite rare at the time.[12] In its second week, it topped the Top Pop Compact Disks chart and reached number 36 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart,[13] peaking at 34 the next week and remaining on the chart for a total of 26 weeks.[14] In 1988, the Clapton record was the 26th most-purchased pop music CD in the United States.[15]
In Europe, the box set was a less successful. In the Netherlands, it reached number 60 and stayed a total of 11 weeks in the charts.[16] It did not chart in the United Kingdom.[17] In 2016, it reached number 44 in Greece.[18]
In 2005, the album was certified with a triple Platinum award by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), commemorating the sale of more than three million copies in the United States alone,[19] making it Clapton's best-selling box set in the country.[citation needed]
↑ "Past Winners Search | GRAMMY.com". Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy. Type "Anthony DeCurtis" under Artist to see the results. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
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