Pendulum (Digipak) [Original recording remastered]

I am not from CCR's generation of hippies and Vietnam veterans but a twenty year old in a generation of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys. What does this have anything to do with CCR? I don't listen to my generation's music hardly ever. I must be a born again dope smoking hippie because all I listen to is classic rock. My dad handed me down this album when I was in junior high in the late 1990s and it was my first awakening to what great music sounds like. I'm very familiar at this point with most of the music of the late 60s and 70s and I will still claim CCR's Pendumlum is one of the greatest albums of its kind from this period of rock and roll. I think what makes CCR so great is their ability to molt jamming rifts in which you can dance up and down to into sweet melodic jams in which you can chill. They do it perfectly with John Fogerty on lead guitar and his brother Tom on rhythm playing together with Stu Cook on bass and Doug Clifford on drums. I can't think of too many bands with a better combination. Pendulum is one of those albums you could probably listen to anytime of day and with any kind of mood. I guess if you're into the way harder material from that time, Pendulum might be a downer but not necessarily. I listen to Deep Purple and Zeppelin to Fleetwood Mac and Jackson Browne. I think CCR is that place in between all of these bands. I'm in love with all the songs on this album so its hard to say exactly which ones to listen to for a first glance. When I first started listening to CCR, I was definitely digging the softer sounds and the melodic tunes in music so I think I will always be more affectionate to "(Wish I could) hideaway" "It's just a thought" but jams on "Pagan Baby" and "Hey Tonight" are equally as fantastic. I know my perspective on this album compared to other CCR albums may be biased since this album was my first and it has great sentimentality attached. But there is a reason that this album converted me from the 90s back to 1970. I now listen to everything including hip hop and old country but CCR will always have me, especially this album.

This is actually my favorite CCR album. Funny that, as many fans only rate it one notch above MARDI GRAS. The major sticking point for most is the departure from the CCR formula into some different kinds of music - most of it kinda Soul-y. John Fogerty, always an underrated musician, had already mastered guitar and drums and was now playing organ and sax.

The opening "Pagan Baby" really rocks out, if you like "Ramble Tamble" from COSMO'S FACTORY you'll love this - Fogerty truly achieves guitar-hero status! Both sides of the then-current 45 ("Hey Tonight" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" - the latter covered to charming effect by REM in concert back in 1985) are first-rate. There's also some neglected gems like "It's Just a Thought" and "Hideaway". Top notch stuff. Even the villified instrumental "Rude Awakening #2" (where #1?) has a beautiful opening section. I play this more than any other Creedence LP, 'nuff said.

For some reason,a lot of CCR fans dislike PENDULUM .True,it is not as good as COSMO'S FACTORY,GREEN RIVER or WILLY AND THE POOR BOYS;however,I place it ahead of CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL,BAYOU COUNTRY,and MARDI GRAS.By this stage,CCR had more chart success in three years than most band only dream about.John Fogerty wanted to experiment with keyboards and saxaphone(all group members could play more than one instrument).Several styles of rock were played with:reggae(SAILOR'S LAMENT),soul(CHAMELEON,BORN TO MOVE),old rock'n'roll(MOLINA),progressive instrumental rock(RUDE AWAKENING NO.2),and hard boogie rock(HEY TONGHT,PAGAN BABY).The old CCR style was still present,however(HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN,IT'S JUST A THOUGHT and HIDEAWAY).As a result of the experimentation,most critics complained that PENDULUM was a wildly uneven album.I prefer to think of it as a noble musical experiment.Also,as a result of John's perfectionism,Tom Fogerty quit the group not long after PENDULUM's release.This paved the way for CCR as a trio and MARDI GRAS.But that,as they say,is another story.