Cream’s landmark 1968 double album Wheels Of Fire will be reissued in a new 5CD Super Deluxe Edition featuring previously unreleased recordings, newly restored audio and rare material drawn from producer Felix Pappalardi’s personal archive.
by Paul Cashmere
Cream’s third and final studio era album, Wheels Of Fire, is set for a major archival reissue on 12 June 2026, almost 58 years after its original release. The new 5CD Super Deluxe Edition brings together a 2026 remaster of the album, a newly created phase-corrected version of the original recordings, previously unreleased studio reference tapes, expanded live recordings from the band’s celebrated March 1968 San Francisco performances, and a collection of rare mixes and alternate versions, many of which have never been officially released.
The release comes at a significant point in the history of one of rock’s most influential albums. Originally issued in the United States on 14 June 1968, Wheels Of Fire became the world’s first platinum-selling double album and reached No. 1 in Australia, the United States and Canada. Less than a month after its release, Cream announced that the group would split, bringing to an end a brief but highly influential career that had reshaped the possibilities of blues rock and improvisational live performance.
One of the central features of the new edition is a complete phase-corrected version of the album. Engineers have used modern software to reverse the Haeco-CSG processing that was applied to the original 1968 release. The Haeco-CSG system was designed to improve compatibility between stereo recordings and mono playback systems, but it often compromised stereo imaging and reduced sonic clarity.
For decades, collectors and audiophiles have debated the impact of the process on Wheels Of Fire. The new edition presents both the original CSG-encoded version and the newly restored phase-corrected version, allowing listeners to compare the recordings directly. The first public preview of the project is a previously unreleased early version of White Room, one of the album’s defining tracks.
The second disc focuses on studio reference reels sourced from the personal collection of producer Felix Pappalardi. These recordings include previously unreleased stereo and mono versions of every studio track on the album, including long versions of Passing The Time and alternate presentations of Pressed Rat And Warthog complete with spoken introductions.
The live component of the collection expands on material first heard on the later albums Live Cream and Live Cream Volume 2. Drawn from performances recorded at the Fillmore Auditorium and Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco during March 1968, the third and fourth discs capture Cream at the height of its improvisational powers.
Alongside familiar performances of Crossroads, Spoonful, Toad and Sunshine Of Your Love, the set includes a previously unreleased live recording of We’re Going Wrong. The concerts were recorded only months before the group’s split and remain among the most celebrated live documents of the late 1960s rock era.
The fifth disc assembles 15 rare and alternate recordings, including single edits, alternate stereo and mono mixes, rough mixes and live performances. Nine of the tracks are previously unreleased. Highlights include an early mono version of White Room, a string-free rough mix of Deserted Cities Of The Heart and alternate versions of As You Said, Politician and Sitting On Top Of The World.
Historically, Wheels Of Fire occupies a unique position within Cream’s catalogue. Unlike the quickly recorded Disraeli Gears, the sessions for Wheels Of Fire stretched across almost a year between mid-1967 and June 1968. Producer Felix Pappalardi, working alongside engineers Tom Dowd and Adrian Barber, oversaw a recording process that allowed the band to experiment extensively in the studio.
The album balanced ambitious studio productions with raw live recordings. Jack Bruce and lyricist Pete Brown delivered some of the group’s most enduring compositions, including White Room, Politician and Deserted Cities Of The Heart, while Ginger Baker contributed songs co-written with jazz pianist Mike Taylor. Eric Clapton’s interpretations of Sitting On Top Of The World and Born Under A Bad Sign connected the project to the blues foundations that underpinned Cream’s music.
The reissue also revisits the visual identity of the album. The original artwork by Australian artist Martin Sharp, whose psychedelic designs became synonymous with Cream during the late 1960s, is presented in a deluxe package featuring a hardcover book with new sleeve notes by Jim Farber. The 10-inch box includes a silver laminated finish that references the metallic styling of the original release.
Alongside the CD collection, a 3LP vinyl edition will also be released. The vinyl package includes the phase-corrected version of the original album, the previously unreleased mono reference reels and a selection of rarities from the archive material, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold sleeve.
More than half a century after its release, Wheels Of Fire remains one of the defining albums of the classic rock era. This new edition provides the most comprehensive examination yet of the album’s creation, its technical history and the final months of a band whose influence continues to shape rock music generations later.
Track Listing
CD One: Wheels Of Fire: In The Studio (2026 Remaster)
White Room
Sitting On Top Of The World
Passing The Time
As You Said
Pressed Rat And Warthog
Politician
Those Were The Days
Born Under A Bad Sign
Deserted Cities Of The Heart
Phase Corrected (De-CSG’d) Versions:
White Room
Sitting On Top Of The World
Passing The Time
As You Said
Pressed Rat And Warthog
Politician
Those Were The Days
Born Under A Bad Sign
Deserted Cities Of The Heart
CD Two: Wheels Of Fire: In The Studio (Stereo And Mono Reference Reels)
Previously unreleased stereo and mono reference recordings of the complete studio album.
CD Three And Four: Live At The Fillmore Auditorium & Winterland Ballroom
Crossroads
Spoonful
Traintime
Toad
N.S.U.
Sleepy Time Time
Rollin’ And Tumblin’
Sweet Wine
Tales Of Brave Ulysses
We’re Going Wrong
Sunshine Of Your Love
Steppin’ Out
CD Five: Rarities (2026 Remaster)
White Room (Stereo US Single Edit)
Sitting On Top Of The World (Alternate Stereo Mix)
Passing The Time (Alternate Long Stereo Mix)
As You Said (Alternate Stereo Mix)
Pressed Rat And Warthog (Alternate Stereo Mix)
Politician (Alternate Stereo Mix)
Anyone For Tennis (Stereo Single Mix)
White Room (Early Version Mono Mix)
Deserted Cities Of The Heart (Rough Mono Mix / No Strings)
Pressed Rat And Warthog (Alternate Mono Mix)
As You Said (Alternate Mono Mix)
Anyone For Tennis (Mono Single Mix)
Crossroads (Mono Single Version)
N.S.U. (Recorded 9 March 1968 At Winterland Ballroom)
Sunshine Of Your Love (Recorded 7 March 1968 At The Fillmore Auditorium)
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