When the Dominos spontaneously started playing it Dowd told the engineers to roll tape, resulting in the tune's telltale fade-in. As the tour progressed the set changed, with the first half of the show consisting entirely of songs from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and culminating in "Layla". Since its initial reception, Layla has been acclaimed by critics and regarded as Clapton's greatest overall work. The epic, anguished title-track of the debut album of his new band project Derek and the Dominos changed that forever.

In fact, Clapton chose "Derek and the Dominos" because he did not want his name and celebrity to get in the way of maintaining a "band" image. Derek and the Dominos went on tour to support Layla and performances from the October–December 1970 US tour were released in January 1973 on In Concert. The last track on the album, "Thorn Tree in the Garden", was recorded with Whitlock, Clapton, Allman, Radle and Gordon sitting in a circle around a single microphone.

Of course, it wouldn't be fair to put all the glory on Clapton's shoulders here: as I said above, this is one of these albums that honor the word "supergroup" better than any other around, where they are generally just a collection of names. In a rave review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau applauded the contrast of "the high-keyed precision of [Clapton's] guitar" with "the relaxed rocking of Allman/Whitlock/Radle/Gordon".

I have to add that the unreleased surround mix, especially the DTS, is excellent, with plenty of instrumentation going on in the rear speakers including some bits that I don't remember from but which were probably just virtually inaudible in the stereo mix. mix from Mick Guzauski's on the 2004 American SACD for which I for one am grateful as a surround-sound fanatic who's spent 90GBP on the latest reissue), a two vinyl LP version of the Layla album on reproduction Polydor labels, a 48-page hardback book, cover art work print (suitable for framing), a badge (mine only has the Eric is Derek one), a couple of reproduction tickets and album art work sticker all housed in a box with a magnetic lid containing a 3D card insert of the artwork. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised Allman's slide guitar work for "push[ing] Clapton to new heights" and stated, "what really makes Layla such a powerful record is that Clapton, ignoring the traditions that occasionally painted him into a corner, simply tears through these songs with burning, intense emotion. While for those of you who have got to know and love this album well over the years, then this stands as its definitve edition and is highly recommended.Layla stands not just head and shoulders above anything else here but much else in the rock canon, sounding as moving and anguished as a song that’s rooted in the agony of falling in unrequited love with the wife of a best friend should. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is the only studio album by the English–American rock band Derek and the Dominos, released on 9 November 1970 as a double album by Polydor Records and Atco Records. Nor does the new yellow box with stick-on guitar artwork match the black and gold embossed box with reproduction LP artwork on the lid of the 20th Anniversary Edition. J. Cale recorded The Road to Escondido, on which Allman Brothers guitarist Derek Trucks played guitar.

The Prince of Love … Or How the Recording of 'Layla', Clapton's Ode to Forbidden Love, Made Victims of Derek and the Dominos".This MFSL 20-bit remastering of Layla preserved more of the fidelity of the original recordings than had previously been heard on CD. Still, back on the up-side you do get 6 tracks from the 2cd album sessions plus some other live material from TV shows etc. This release contains three different 24-bit/96 kHz encodings of the stereo mix, in PCM, DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD formats, each with a slightly different EQ, but did not include either 5.