This 1970 LP originally came in a rather plush matt-finish gatefold sleeve in GB (which was laminated on the French issue). I think it was the only original CCR LP ever given the gatefold treatment.

It opens with the jazzy 6 minutes plus of "Pagan Baby", which begins well with a distinctive guitar riff and drums plus a nice raucous John Fogerty lead vocal but doesn't go anywhere, quickly becoming repetitive and then degenerating into mediocre instrumentality.

The second track "Sailor's Lament" is the absolute jewel in the crown here and would in my opinion, if issued as a single, have been a massive hit but that was not to be. It is just so different, beautiful and commercial with its gospel backing vocals and a lovely bit of sax thrown in. It lollops along at a mid pace but unfortunately it's only 3:43 in length instead of the 6 minutes of three mediocre tracks.

This track, along with the slow ballads "It's Just a Thought" and "Hideaway", plus the singles "Have You… more »

This 1970 LP originally came in a rather plush matt-finish gatefold sleeve in GB (which was laminated on the French issue). I think it was the only original CCR LP ever given the gatefold treatment.

It opens with the jazzy 6 minutes plus of "Pagan Baby", which begins well with a distinctive guitar riff and drums plus a nice raucous John Fogerty lead vocal but doesn't go anywhere, quickly becoming repetitive and then degenerating into mediocre instrumentality.

The second track "Sailor's Lament" is the absolute jewel in the crown here and would in my opinion, if issued as a single, have been a massive hit but that was not to be. It is just so different, beautiful and commercial with its gospel backing vocals and a lovely bit of sax thrown in. It lollops along at a mid pace but unfortunately it's only 3:43 in length instead of the 6 minutes of three mediocre tracks.

This track, along with the slow ballads "It's Just a Thought" and "Hideaway", plus the singles "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" (somewhat akin to 1969's "Lodi") and "Hey Tonight" save the day. They're the only worthwhile tracks on the LP (though "Molina", a fast rock & roll number, nearly makes the grade).

Bearing in mind that, for the first and only time, all songs on the album are written by John Fogerty, this is a terrible situation, showing a lack of effort or just plain arrogance and contempt for the audience on his part. All the Fogerty songs here should be killer, not filler, tracks and this should have been one of the best ever Creedence albums instead of being one of the mediocre ones.

The 10-track album finishes with 6 more minutes of filler in the form of "Rude Awakening". 5/10 filler tracks just isn't good enough from a songwriter of Fogerty's calibre.