[.ca] Cosmos Factory

From Amazon.com:
If, as many contend, Creedence Clearwater Revival was the foremost singles rock band of its time, Cosmo's Factory is the ultimate end-of-the-'60s singles album. Indeed, 7 of the album's 11 tracks turn up on Chronicle, CCR's best hits collection. That said, Cosmo's Factory is really a must-own in its entirety. No other album so adeptly laces together the various strands of the CCR sound. John Fogerty's ready-for-AM-radio knack surfaces in "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and "Up Around the Bend." His sober side is in evidence on "Who'll Stop the Rain" and "Long As I Can See the Light." And no white group of its time could cover black music with as much natural flair; for proof, check out the 11-minute cover of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." The band broke up two albums after the release of this, their apex LP, but Cosmo's Factory cemented CCR's standing as a great American band. --Steven Stolder

Tight ... Very Tight:
John Fogerty is a living legend. In the short period of time from 1968-1970, he wrote some of rock's most enduring singles. His voice was, and is, instantly recognizable ... it has bite and soul like nobody else's, and I mean nobody. In Cosmo's Factory, Fogerty's voice is as strong as ever, but his knack for writing infectious melodies was starting to slip ... lyrics aside, there aren't any cuts on Cosmo's Factory that approach "Green River," "Lodi," "Bad Moon Rising," or "Fortunate Son," or "Proud Mary." In spite of this, "Cosmo's Factory" is probably Creedence's best overall effort. Why? First, although no single track on "Cosmo's Factory" approaches the best of Creedence's earlier albums, it is far more consistent. The album rocks from beginning to end. There are NO weak tracks ... none. Second, "Cosmo's Factory" is the first (and only) Creedence album to fully realize the terrific musicianship of both Stu Cook and Doug Clifford, who played behind John Fogerty's (very long) shadow in "Bayou Country," "Green River" and, to a lesser extent, in "Willy and the Poorboys." In "Cosmo's Factory," they jump right out in front and right into your face. As good as it is, one wonders how great Fogerty's "Blue Moon Swamp" could have been if Fogerty could have set his differences with Cook and Clifford aside. It would have been an enjoyable ride indeed. Third, Cosmo's Factory has an edgy, live quality to it that sets it apart from every one of Creedence's earlier albums. It *feels* live. "Ramble Tamble," kicks it all off. Tight. Damn tight. Full of energy. Rock masters at their peak, plying their trade. Of course, "Cosmo's Factory" is chock full of great singles, including "Travelin' Band," "Who'll Stop the Rain," and "Run Through the Jungle." But "Cosmo's Factory" is also chock full of brilliant re-arrangements of blues standards and other classics. Fogerty's arrangements of "Ooby Dooby," McDaniels' "Before You Accuse Me," and Crudup's "My Baby Left Me" strike the perfect balance between electric blues and rock. Fogerty, Clifford and Cook rip through these classics with precision and energy. And, although I know it is heresy to say so, "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" sounds better here than anywhere else. Along with "Green River" and "Willy and the Poorboys", "Cosmo's Factory" represents the zenith of a great (and perhaps THE great) American rock band.

Stellar!!!!!!!:
Sorry it took me a bit to reply. I wanted to be able to give you an honest answer. So what I did was listen to the disks in 3 different mediums. At work, at home and in my car. I can say, without a doubt, that the sound effects between the tracks help the continuity of the music as a whole. Which is quite difficult to do in my opinion, because the tracks themselves are so fantastic! To be able to choose what sound effects to place between tracks must have been an extremely difficult job in lieu of the fear of completely destroying motif of the music as a whole. But, one must also take into consideration the robotic, coldness that is brought about by playing track after track which is reminisant of a simple que (standing in an ineffectual line) when dealing with a audio only type situation. If placed in conjunction with video then one does not have to worry much about transgression between tracks as the video factor fills the gaps. The type of music that is being delt with here is not the simple Led Zeppelin type music (which needs no assistance in standing by it's self quite well) but an assortment of artistic works that are of gallery quality. To bring consistancy to these works is as bringing consistancey to a museum showing of the Cleopatra exhibit. Where each piece in itself is a work of art but still needs a thread leading to the next art work to flow smoothly (hence the audio narration thread for those that chose to rent the audio prompting devices) So, in a nut shell, I would not touch, nor change this beautiful piece of artwork that you had your hand in creating. If anyone says that it needs to be changed and lifts a hand towards it, a metal ruler held by a firm hand should be employed to break that uplifted Anarchistic hand! My apologies to my dear friend Mr. Tom Mitchell for the lateness of the entry of this review. I thought that I had put it up last we spoke but it must have slipped my mind.

Slap yourself (harder this time)...:
if you give this more than one star. Most overated group in history. The old Fogey brothers and crew's amateurish music? was laughed at back in the day - people are still guffawin'. There isn't one memorable song out of the 11 on this - good thing for them the Gong Show wasn't around in the late 60's...

Great, But More Of a Body of Singles:
Hatched in drummer Doug 'Cosmo' Clifford's basement (hence the title), Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Cosmo's Factory" was their most successful record during their relatively short (but extremely productive) career as a major American act. It contained a number of classic radio staples, many of which became some of the most recognizable of rock and roll. But "Cosmo's Factory" seems to be more of a medium for singles, rather than an album of related songs; the tracks don't hang together as well as those on "Bayou Country," "Green River," or even "Pendulum," but still this set has its prowess. CCR stays true to their rock and roll roots of Delta blues and Southern creoles, heard in the opening 'Ramble Tamble' and a few gripping blues standards; 'Before You Accuse Me,' 'My Baby Left Me,' and most notably, an elongated jam of 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' (while 'Ooby Dooby' is less remarkable). The John Fogerty originals here are excellent as always, but they just don't go together--the heartfelt 'Who'll Stop the Rain?' doesn't seem to agree with 'Up Around the Bend,' 'Travelin' Band,' or 'Lookin' Out My Back Door' (all three of which literally define the term "rock and roll"). And then there's the sincere 'Long As I Can See the Light,' which is completely different when compared to something like the trigger happy 'Run Through the Jungle' (which would actually wind up haunting Fogerty's solo career--he was sued by the Fantasy label who claimed his 1985 hit 'The Old Man Down the Road' was a knock-off of the tune heard here). Though Creedence has always been widely regarded as a singles act, they did in fact manage to create albums that sounded great when viewed as a whole body of work; "Cosmo's Factory" however is perhaps the only CCR offering that doesn't have that charm--this set's appeal comes from the glimmer of each individual song, even if they don't quite hang together.

Bad album cover, great album:
I don't know why, but this album cover always seemed so plain. Anyway, this is Creedance at their best. John Fogerty's creative flame is white hot on this effort. This is what happens when you are focused on nothing but music and writing for a long time and you have an outlet for your creativity. A certain part of your brain goes into overdrive and you produce something like Cosmos Factory. Creedance was, in fact, greatly appreciated in their time. From early on, their record company made a number of greatest hits packages available and they had something like a string of 7 or 8 number 1 records. That's a big deal. They were a little different in that they had a Beach Boy type gimmick. Instead of surfing, they initially sang about the Bayou. Brian Wilson never surfed and John Fogerty was from California. Same difference. I don't care that the inspiration for Green River was a soda drink. The chord structures to Fogarty's writing are simple, but he did something really special with that simple structure. Part of John Fogarty's magic may be that he can really sing and does it in a very unique way. "Long as I can see the Light" is a great song, but the CCR recording is a masterpiece. If you examine John's vocal style, you might be able to argue this was his most powerful demonstration of his technique. Which quickly developed over the course of their very brief recording career. Of course, they put out more albums in a year than most bands put out over their entire career.

• Ramble Tamble
• Before You Accuse Me
• Travelin' Band
• Ooby Dooby
• Lookin' Out My Back Door
• Run Through the Jungle
• Up Around the Bend
• My Baby Left Me
• Who'll Stop the Rain
• I Heard It Through the Grapevine
• Long as I Can See the Light