Well originally I was going to do a different band then decided to change it to this one. Now I’ll give you a hint this one band has a song in almost any movie or documentary about the Vietnam War. Give up? It’s the band Creedence Clearwater Revival. I decided to change to this band because well I was watching An American Werewolf in London and the song Bad Moon Rising is in it. So here we go……….
Creedence Clearwater Revival- well let’s see I hadn’t really heard any of their albums until this review and to be honest, I had only really heard hits. This one however does have some good songs but it’s just an ok album. I mean the band is a good band but overall this album has a lot of filler. I think if you are really interested you should definitely check it out but for me nothing really is going to make me be all like “I need to play this album again”. Again an ok first album and I give it 6/10
Standouts: Call it Pretending, Suzie Q, The Working Man
Bayou Country- again like the first album, we have an album that’s not terrible or bad but it’s just kind of average. I will say that this one is definitely a step,up from the first album but again, it’s got some really good songs but the rest is just kind of filler. Again this is another one where I probably won’t be all like “I have to hear this album”. I give this one 7/10
Standouts: Bootleg, Good Golly Miss Molly, Penthouse Pauper
Green River- ok so now here we go. This is an album where I would say that if you really want to check out CCR, then definitely start with this album. While it’s not a perfect album, I’d say that it seems to be their most accessible one so far. Definitely check this one out if you are just getting into this band or are curious where to start if you want to go studio albums as it has less filler than previous albums. I give it 9/10
Standouts: Green River, Bad Moon Rising, Lodi
Willy and The Poor Boys- let’s see, with this one, it seems to have more of a southern flavor to it. Not sure how to explain it but to me that’s the feeling I get when I listen to this album. It’s actually a decent follow up to Green River. Again though it seems like that with this album there isn’t quite as much filler on here. The question is however, is it better than the previous album? I’m going to say no it’s not. I give this one 7/10
Standouts: Feelin’ Blue, Cotton Fields, Don’t Look Now
Cosmo’s Factory- I think the thing with the last album it seemed slowed down. This isn’t the case here with this album as the songs are definitely a little faster and they are actually catchier. Personally, this is the album that should’ve been the follow up to the Green River album. You could listen to this and that album together and it’d actually make for one good listen. Anyway, a step up from before and I give it 8.5/10
Standouts: Lookin’ Out My Back Door, Travelin’ Band, Before You Accuse Me
Pendulum- ok again, this one has a couple of really good songs but at the end of the day, this album is just ok. There is a good amount of filler on here and I actually found myself getting bored with this album. Again not a terrible album just one that seems to have a lot of songs that are just kind of average. I give it 5/10 again this album is just ok.
Standouts- Born To Move, Pagan Baby, Hey Tonight
Mardi Gras- ok so if you are looking for a CCR album with no obvious hits, then I’d say that this one is it but you know at the end of the day, it’s actually not a bad album. There is a song called Hello Mary Lou which I thought might’ve been a cover of the original song that’s in the movie Hello Mary Lou Prom Night 2 but sadly it’s not. This one is kind of all over the place where it has some songs that sound like they could be on albums like Willy and the Poor Boys and others could be on an album like Cosmo’s Factory. I don’t know it seems like they wanted to mix it up here and combine elements from their overall catalogue. It’s an album who’s songs I have heard the least. I give it 7/10 again it’s not a bad album but it’s just ok.
Standouts: Hello Mary Lou, Sweet Hitchhiker, Tearin’ Up The Country
So after listening to this band, I have pretty much come to the conclusion that you pretty much could get by with listening to their greatest hits album Chronicle or even the greatest hits album called The Singles Collection. Overall, their albums are actually quite good but there is a lot of filler on them. But if you haven’t checked them out in awhile then I’d definitely recommend it.
Final Grade: B
Album Rankings:
- Green River
- Cosmo’s Factory
- Willy and the Poor Boys
- Bayou Country
- Mardi Gras
- Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Pendulum
Sinister Reviews 