Specialists in the sub-half-hour album are what Creedence Clearwater Revival proved themselves to be. Their earliest works were tight, compact, and above all, influential. Green River remains a fantastic release from the band as it follows the sharp outline of their works to follow. A hit song assimilated into culture to a point where just a few notes make it recognisable to a passive listener surrounded by some very best rock and roll from the late 1960s. Creedence Clearwater Revival were quietly setting an incredible standard not just with their hit rate but the consistency of their albums. Burn bright and burn fast through the swamp rock tones set out by the John Fogerty-led band. His work here is nothing short of outstanding. Punchy thrills are the main aim here and it’s exactly what the band manages to create. Green River is another in a list of staggering rock and roll achievements from Creedence Clearwater Revival, though it does have a few minor misses.
That title track which opens up the band’s third studio album pales when compared to the rest of the material featured. Green River is by no means a bad song but Fogerty does not quite capture the mood of the times, nor even the mood of the band with it. Nice but placid instrumental work is what it offers. Commotion more than makes up for that feeling. A harsher sound, a thrilling instrumental sense, too, it all comes together for the band on their second track. But it couldn’t have started there, Green River is a necessary ballast to the looser sound of an energetic rock song spilling over. Creedence Clearwater Revival can hardly contain the track, but they do incredibly well to stop it from affecting Tombstone Shadow, a muddier piece of work. It’s the instrumental work which stands out most of all.
Creedence Clearwater Revival has an iconic sound and that comes from the nuance, the little teases of percussion on Wrote a Song for Everyone, for instance, or the remarkable, throaty howls of Fogerty’s vocal work. That softer touch is needed, of course, but it needs the volatility of the occasional rock classic. Bad Moon Rising is the fine line between the heavier rock tone and the sentimental, slower tempo. That balance works brilliantly for Green River, and it defines the band more than the two albums preceding this. Bad Moon Rising is a truly unique piece of work. Like Fortunate Son or Have You Ever Seen the Rain?, it’s a song that only Creedence Clearwater Revival, or rather Fogerty, can bring together.
Once more the problem of following up an all-time great song is presented by the band, and they adapt well with Lodi. A solid song, nothing that’ll match up to the power of Bad Moon Rising, but a great way to temper expectations for the rest of the album. A slowed tempo, that muddy, swamp tone coming to a head on Sinister Purpose, weighs a little too heavy on the band here. A fade out on Sinister Purpose goes against the feeling in the title of the track but it works, it’s the only way to transition into a surprisingly straightforward end to the album. The Night Time is the Right Time ends the album on a positive, a moment of reflection for another flurry of brilliance from the band. Their best was yet to come, but Green River is a remarkable piece of work from the group.
