Cosmo's Factory

The Dude: Do you find them much, these, stolen cars? Younger Cop: Sometimes. Wouldn't hold out much hope for the tape deck though. Older Cop: Or the Creedence.

Travelin' Band, Lookin' Out My Back Door, Run Through the Jungle, Who'll Stop the Rain, I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Long As I Can See the Light. Those are not songs from their greatest hits collection. Well, i'm sure they ARE, but more specifically they are from this album. That's simply a crazy collection of good songs. This really made me want to sit on a patio out in the Bayou and drink beers. If you dont feel the same - call for help.

To argue that this was anything less than a 5-star album would be a fight against democracy itself. The people have voted. CCR is an institution. Any band that can get right-wing voters to belt out anti-war anthems have some sort of Creole VOODOO going on behind the scenes. John Fogerty is from Berkley, California. The Fortress of Solitude for all things liberal. Yet if you see the confederate flag on a pick-up 50/50 chance they are bumping Fortunate Son. Insanity. True Bipartisanship rocking, I dig.

This is a really legendary album. Probably 75% of it's songs are on every CCR Greatest Hits collection. I really can't say enough good things about. The real star of the show is John Fogerty's vocals, but the musicianship is great too. Long as I can See the Light and Heard it Through the Grapevine are my 2 favorites, but I love most of the songs on here.

A wonderful album with great songs. Can’t believe they were only together for three years, and they managed to create so many tunes that are still played today.

ok it seems like a four-worthy album to be honest but i really don't have the urge to listen to any of these songs again and its not my type of music so three it is.

11 minutes is a fucking joke

I grew up on this band, mostly through Chronicles Vol 1, but most of the tracks on here are also on that. Discovered Ramble Tamble, which I love and Ooby Dooby, which I hate. Had to listen to Up Around the Bend twice because it’s so good. I’m amazed at the different style influences across this album. So good!

I am devastated—DEVASTATED I TELL YOU—that I got all three CCR albums within a week of each other. I love CCR and would have rather spread them out to be a little tasty treat for my ears. This is my favorite of the three CCR albums on the list—some certified classics and also features CCR really experimenting with their sound on a few tracks. I do find “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” unnecessarily long and CCR has always excelled at creating great singles rather than cohesive albums, so this one still earns 4/5 stars. Nonetheless, they really were a one of a kind group that wrote some of the greatest songs in the rock and roll canon. Also, let’s pour one out for “Willy and the Poor Boys,” which easily could have been on this list and features my favorite CCR song (“Fortunate Son”).

I liked this one a lot better than the other CCR album I got from this album generator. This one seems somehow 'swampier', but it also has more variety and more experimentation in the songs. This sets it apart from just being more highly polished radio-friendly standard rock-fare. Just a really good album, loved listening to it.

4.5 stars. Loved the Rockabilly tones. The country was strong with such lovely bluesy undertones. Vocals are on point on this and an 11 minute cover of a Soul Classic in heard through the grapevine is the perfect ending. Which sadly eclipses the actual last song on the album.

Fogerty can really put an album together. So many classics, so much grit.

There are people who say that Creedence Clearwater Revival is the West Coast Velvet Underground. …and if you listen to “Ramble Tamble” from about 3:05 to 5:32, it’s kind of hard to argue with that assessment. The drone is real on that one. I’m not sure that I totally agree with the comparison, but Creedence and The Velvet Underground are probably the two best American bands of their era. I’m not sure what else to say…very few bands have a run as consistent as CCR did from 1968-1970 (during which they put out *six* albums). Cosmo’s Factory might be their best, but they were so consistent that “best” could easily apply to 3 or 4 of those records.

The opening track alone (Ramble Tamble) is inexplicably not on any greatest hits, but is their best song.

Pretty dreadful stuff. I really dislike Fogerty's voice. Travelin' Band is a straight rip off of Good Golly Miss Molly. The version of Grapevine adds nothing to the Marvin Gaye version. Sorry Dude, I'd be relieved if my Credence tape was stolen (though I agree about the f'n Eagles, man)

I see why the Dude was concerned about getting his Creedence back.

I already knew over half the songs, but hearing it all come together as one unit makes it all the better. Some classic stuff here.

I hate when this generator gives me a universally-loved Dad Rock band who I have little previous experience with, because 99% of the time, they’re just not my vibe. Especially if the top reviews start referencing The Big Lebowski [a movie I don’t have much nostalgic love for, either]. I have never heard Cosmo’s Factory. If I’ve heard any of the tracks off of it, I have no memory of it, and it certainly wasn’t on purpose. In fact, before today, the only CCR songs I could even hum the hooks of were “Fortunate Son” and “Have You Ever Seen The Rain.” I don’t even think I’ve ever listened to their Greatest Hits compilation, even during my Classic Rock phase as a pre-teen. I think that has a lot to do with what CCR represents. They may be from California, but they are quintessentially a Heartland band, if not a fully Southern band. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve ever traveled further than Philadelphia in my entire 32 years of existence, and could count the times I’ve been further than New York State on two hands. I’m a Northeastern girl through and through, and while any Swamp Yankee New Englander will tell you that that doesn’t absolve me from coming into contact with a tinge of Southern culture, especially Southern music, I think I’m much too young for CCR to have made a lasting impact up here, even in the farm towns of Rhode Island. Right away, I knew that CCR’s style was not for me. Let’s start with the weakest parts: the covers. I’m not opposed to covering old rock ’n’ roll songs, but my problem seems to be that no one ever changes them up, and CCR certainly aren’t the band to do that. Of the 4 covers– already a third of this record– 3 of them just sound like their original versions done by a very talented, very tight County Fair Band™️. The fourth is an 11 minute cover (!!!) of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” and while this one does have some stylistic flair, I only needed the first 4 minutes to get the gist. Those covers clog up this record a lot, and even if that was my only issue, I’d still have a hard time seeing why this album is hailed as some great masterpiece. Maybe within their internal discography, but already, Cosmo’s Factory is far from flawless. The thing is, even original material still isn’t for me. I think starting off with the drunken tempo-shifter “Ramble Tamble” already put me in a bad mood. Meanwhile, the pastiche distracts me on “Travelin’ Band,” which just sounds like a Little Richard knockoff, and “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” which is like a mid-tier country song from 10 years prior. If that’s your style, that’s all well and good, but it just isn’t clicking for me. Thankfully, Cosmo’s Factory is a backloaded record. I think it’s hard to deny the hook of “Up Around the Bend,” and the emotion of “Who’ll Stop the Rain.” I even like the change-up in style for “Long As I Can See the Light,” and again, while it’s way too long, I get why their “Grapevine” cover is noteworthy. But even at its best, even when I can recognize why this is hailed as a great record, even when I enjoy a song here and there, I’m not head-over-heels for it. I know I’m not going to revisit these songs. To me, even the best material on Cosmo’s Factory just sounds like Drinking Budweiser In Your Garage™️ music. And look– I normally enjoy ✨cock rock✨, but there’s a twang to this whole record that just doesn’t taste good on my tongue. The good songs are well-made, but I am not going out of my way to hear about ‘Nam and the swamps, personally. And even though the mid-tier songs are still done well, they lack a hook that sounds unique to make me want to revisit them. Hell, even the strongest material here has a samey-ness quality to it that makes this overall feel empty to me. I think a large part of my apathy toward this album is simply that CCR is not a band for me. They’re for my blue collar brother who moved to the South, not me, a trans woman in Brooklyn. But I also do think this record is way overhyped. I think if 33.3% of your 33 1/3 is bland covers, you don’t have a classic on your hands. I also think this is a much spottier record than people want to admit. I understand if there’s nostalgia tied to CCR, I understand that they’re a gateway band for a lot of music nerds, I understand their chart impact, I understand it all, but I just don’t think the songs are always as ✨there✨ as people say they are. Strong Side B, yes, but a middling record overall. Maybe CCR are just a singles band. Sorry.

Love it' A Classic. Reminds me of drinking in a barn in NB.

Credit where credit is due. I know all music has it's influences but sometimes it's so just so blatant. Early Stones, early Beatles and half of the songs here owe such a great debt to Chuck Berry, Little Richard and all the old Blues masters. CCR don't try to hide this influence but I find it hard to give those songs any real credit. Tracks 5, 6, 7, 9 & 11 are however what I expect CCR to sound like. Of those, 'Up Around the Bend' & 'Who'll Stop the Rain' are decent songs. Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 & 10 just sound like a blues tribute band so I struggle to see the importance of this album, other than it's popularity. 3 stars.

A few notable songs on the album, like "Up Around The Bend". Never really was a big fan of CCR but can certainly appreciate their music. Some songs are dopey though, like "Ooby Dooby" is a waste of time. There's a cover or two on the album as well, which I almost never appreciate on studio albums because it's just filler, IMHO. Like we don't need an 11+ minute rendition of "Heard it through the grapevine". 7/10.

This has to be THE Creedence album right? I don't think I've ever realised what an amazing band they were. Their 5th album in what, 2 years? 11 tracks, five of which were top 5 singles? Magnificent.

Play loud.

Dear lord this rips. What a band these guys were at their peak. They were a greatest hits band by the time I came to them -- but I can only imagine what it was like to slap this down on an old turntable and crank up "Born on the Bayou." Pure American rock and roll. The shiznit.

This is proper good. Really, it is! I've never taken much of a plunge into CCR despite the constant banging on about them from my fellow pub-goers, and on this evidence I 100% get the love for them. Jubilant, swinging rock and roll at its foundations, there is also a healthy and very tasteful country influence weaved into the fabric here, not dominating the sound but accentuating it very well. A deceptively simple album on the surface of it, but there were some interesting variations and subtle switch ups in time signatures and song structures to keep each track fresh in direct succession from one another. It chugs along brilliantly whilst avoiding becoming too formulaic, and the playing here is really tight. Interesting to note that the album's title derives from the meticulous rehearsal sessions which were conducted in drummer Doug Clifford (Cosmo)'s warehouse, though this doesn't pervade into the music too much for me as to detract from the intimate nature of it. Another one to whack onto the wishlist, honestly there is very little, if any fault I can pick with this one.

I mean, it's Creedence. I think it's genuinely impossible to flat-out hate Creedence Clearwater Revival. I know I don't hate them. Cosmo's Factory is my third album of theirs, and you know what? It's also my favorite of theirs. This thing is amazing. This is CCR at its absolute peak, and I'm not alone in thinking that. This is, from my perception, the most critically acclaimed CCR album. After listening to it, I can see why. At first glance, there's not much that makes this much different from an album like Green River or Bayou Country. That's fair, but I also think that it's not entirely accurate. I do think that Cosmo's Factory has a bit more experimentation to it. Like, Green River might be the best encapsulation of CCR's greatness at its core, but Cosmo's Factory is probably the band's creative peak. I really like the variety on the album. That's kind of what makes this one stick out to me personally. Comparing a song like "Travelin' Band" to "Who'll Stop the Rain" helps you realize that CCR isn't some one-trick pony. They can do different things while still retaining the timeless core of their music. Speaking of timeless, that's kind of what CCR really means to me. Their music feels like it's been around forever, and I love it. It has that universality that makes them appeal to all sorts of people without having the more poorly-aged aspects of earlier rock and roll. It's great. Of course, the songwriting is a big part of this. John Fogerty's really got a knack for musical talent. The aforementioned "Who'll Stop The Rain" shows this off very well. There are some covers on the album though, and they're great. The 11-minute-long cover of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" is a highlight for me. I can't comfortably call it the definitive version of the song, but it's a great rendition regardless. I don't think I need to say much more. CCR is just one of "those bands," you know? With its exceptional creativity and remarkable consistency, Cosmo's Factory proves itself as a stone-cold classic album that represents the best of what this excellent band has to offer. 5/5.

Foot-tapping fun. Effortless instrumentals. CCR clocked in at Cosmos Factory and churned out nothing but certified bangers. 5 outta 5 classic

The first couple songs of the album, in my opinion don't quite warm you up for the awesomeness of the rest of it. Traveling band, Lookin' Out My Backdoor, Run Through the Jungle, should I just list all of the rest of the tracks because there's more bangers than not.

Loved this. Several absolute classics on this album and a few gems I'd never heard.

Great - the Mix of Roots Rock, Swamp Rock, Country Rock and Blues Rock - A Milestone

Always down for CCR

This is the third album of CCR, which I encounter here on this list. Great as the other two. Don't know what to say more.

Love CCR. I ran through the jungle to listen and was introduced to songs that I hadn’t heard. Added this on my service to listen to again.

Incredible collection of songs, how did they crank out so many monsters so quickly? Banger after banger, with all the greats included on Chronicle Vol 1 (a solid 50% of this album). I could play "Lookin' Out My Back Door" or "Up Around The Bend" on repeat indefinitely, and made a decent effort in that regard today.

Cosmo’s Factory is CCR’s bittersweet love letter to an America that’s as rough around the edges as a roadside diner at 3 a.m. Imagine walking into a dimly lit bar where the jukebox plays anthems of a generation too jaded to care, yet too spirited to stop dancing. With tracks like “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and “Run Through the Jungle,” CCR doesn’t so much deliver music as they deliver a punch of raw, unsentimental truth—a truth that slaps you awake harder than your morning coffee. It’s as if the band took the collective woes of the working class, mixed them with swampy blues and rock ‘n’ roll gusto, and then poured it into a vinyl that’s both a rallying cry and a wry, knowing smirk at the absurdity of it all. So, dust off your cynicism, spin this record, and let Cosmo’s Factory remind you that even in a tired world, there’s always a raucous melody ready to set you free.

I'm sure my older brother bought this album when it came first out and I listened to it then but I don't remember it as an album. Many of the songs are iconic and I knew them as singles. So when the album popped up, I knew that I'd like it - I just didn't expect it to be as great as it is. I would normally list the standout songs - for this one it's easy to list the less-than-A-side songs and that would be "Ooby Dooby" - all the rest were fantastic. Unlike some other reviewers - I loved the 11 minute "Heard it Through the Grapevine"!

Everything I've heard from CCR was enjoyable so far, but I never imagined this album would be so solid! About as good as white man's blues/rock gets.

Truly amazing the amount of hits this band kicked out in such a short space of time. Could be a greatest hits album 5*

This is the John Fogerty show through and through which is both fantastic, because he's an amazing musician, and rough, because so are his band mates. It's a damn shame the man couldn't muster three dimes worth of humility because what this band could do when they worked together was incredible. Regardless of the internal drama and their breakup just over a year after dropping this gold, Cosmo's Factory is a great album. Every CCR album (except maybe Mardi Gras) has one or two stone cold classics but this one is packed. Travlin' Band, Lookin' Out My Backdoor, Run Through the Jungle, Up Around the Bend, and Who'll Stop the Rain are all instantly recognizable to anyone who's listened to music in the last twenty years. On top of that you've got some solid blues tracks and CCR's recording of Heard It Through the Grapevine which competes with Marvin Gaye's classic version. Just a phenomenal album.

Acid flashback to ‘Nam ‘71

A masterpiece.

Amazing how many timeless classic songs CCR was able to produce in such a short period of time. I went into this album thinking it would end up being a 4 star rating, but after listening to it I'm giving it a 5.

Ooby Dolby is a little silly, but the rest of this album is fantastic.

I forgot how much I absolutely love this album!

Loved it. The right vibe for my later day relaxation.

10/10

Very fun album to listen to.

Hell yea

Amazing

Put me in, coach

Love this album

Awesome album. Can listen to it wherever

Catchy songs. The whole album listened as well I expected to it - good stuff all around. Nothing more to say about CCR that hasn’t been said before.

Can't go wrong with CCR

The best songs lock into patterns that could comfortably entertain the back of your mind forever. Am reminded of Dr Feelgood today: both stripped-down, tight bands that used the blues form to accommodate their own peculiar rawness and guitar tangle that sounds simple and fun a probably a pig to imitate.

This album is a collection of great songs. It’s not necessary that they are from the same album thanks to 1980s classic radio. Some of the individual songs would be five star. But the album remain four for me.

👍

Switching from Dead Kennedys to CCR makes for quite a contrast on every level; sort of a smooth bourbon after several jolts of Jaegermeister. Sadly, I've never been much of a Creedence Clearwater Revival aficionado, and this is the first album for me of their three in this collection, so I'm not sure how it compares to their other albums. But it definitely sounds like them and has a shocking number of their classic radio hits, so it certainly *seems* like a good-if-not-great selection. I also enjoyed a surprising number of their non-singles tracks (possibly in part because many of their songs have a pretty consistent sound), especially the opening track "Ramble tamble". It's amazing to see how many albums, and extremely popular hits, they cranked out in the space of about 3 years. Too bad that John Fogerty's imperiousness eventually burned out the CCR candle long before their time had come.

For some reason, my distaste for southern style classic rock, which this band epitomizes, is completely erased by CCR. I actually really like this band. It has to be something underneath that I just can't quite grasp that sets this band, in particular, apart from all the stereotypical "classic rock" bands out there. They technically ARE a classic rock band (even with that southern tinge) But yeah, they remain an anomaly in my musical taste library. I don't think I will BUY the tee-shirt but if someone gave me one I would wear it.

I don’t know what I expected before listening to this album. I think my preconceptions about Creedence Clearwater Revival were that they were a country band like the Allman Brothers, and while I think there is a time in a place for that kind of music, it’s not my favorite. But after just a couple minutes of listening to this album, I am a convert. only giving four stars because white people gaining fame from music that is clearly inspired by traditions of black musicians deserves to be knocked down a peg on principle.

Hits, hits and more hits! For CCR fans this I the one of you!

Creedence Cosmo’s Factory 1970 I was 13 when these songs were on the radio and they were ubiquitous. I prefer rock over blues and I don’t like it when the latter is too heavily involved. Songs like Before You Accuse Me are an auditorial assault while Travelin’ Band is a favorite, a punchy rocker minus the heavy blues. Hard to rate an album with five songs I’ve known for 45 years, so I’ll give it a 3/5.

Instantly makes you 290% more horny for your sister

Repetitive, Frantic, Plagiaristic.

When I was a kid, my mom wanted to get my dad a copy of John Fogerty's Centerfield on vinyl. We went around to every record shop in town trying to find a copy. One shop we tried to go to had a sign on the door that said "no minors," which my mom thought was an incredibly confusing and stupid policy, and she held a grudge about that incident for several years. That story really doesn't have a lot to do with this album, but I always think about it when I listen to CCR. I've listened to quite a bit of CCR over the years. They were never one of my favorite classic rock acts, but they got a ton of radio play on the local classic rock station. It's not that I think they're bad, there's just other stuff I'd rather listen to when it comes to classic rock. Needless to say, this was my first time listening to one of their albums in its entirety. I'm familiar with a few of the songs on this album, and "Up Around the Bend" is easily my favorite CCR song. Outside of the songs I knew, this was about what I'd expect for a CCR album: a southern rock album with touches of psychedelica, blues, and rockabilly. Most of the songs were good, with "Ramble Tamble" being my favorite of the songs that I didn't know. John Fogerty has one of the most recognizable voices in classic rock, and his vocals on this album were really good. His voice really helps create the band's unique swamp rock sound. "Up Around the Bend" is easily the best track on the album in my opinion. That high pitched guitar riff is just incredible, and the song does a fantastic job of making me feel like I'm driving down an old country road, headed to a backyard cookout. This song always puts a smile on my face, and listening to it today was no exception. CCR's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" is really good too, and they really succeed at making the song their own. Outside of those tracks though, the album was just kind of boring to me, and that makes this album pretty middle of the road overall in my book. Again, I don't think it's bad, but it's just not my cup of tea.

Surprising how one album can have songs that are absolutely shit and amazing.

Tuneful primitivism. Another great collection of originals and covers. Last in an amazing run of albums.

Mostly a greatest hits album

Any album that has Long As I Can See The Light on it – cover, original, whatever – gets five stars for me. Also, note, more than half the tracks are shorter than 3 minutes long, there's a simplicity to a two-minute song that I absolutely love.

A ridiculously bad album cover. But I guess after releasing their fifth album in the span of 3 years, they ran out of steam in the album cover artwork department. Also TIL "Run Through the Jungle"...despite being the cliche choice for dubbing into any war scene in film, is actually about the gun problem in the United States. Huh. Funny that. It's still a problem. CCR's output of 5 album run over 3 years is extraordinary. This was a great way to end it. (The last two albums never really counted in my book as CCR albums. Tom always thought that *he* was the talent in the band due to his songwriting, but history seems to show that the real talent was in his songwriting WITH these 3 other guys backing him. It was one of those 'the whole is greater than the sum of the parts' recipes.)

The bangers keep on coming, like bang, bang, bang.

What a stonker of an album! Rock and roll at its finest. 🤘🏻

So good. Interesting modulation of tempo.

This album is mind-blowing. It is fantastic, since it begins. All of the songs are great, or I should say excellent. It doesn't lose any quality, being all the songs standouts on a very cohesive and well-done record.

Great album, knew most of the songs on it. Never knew the album or the names of some songs but when they started playing I recognized them right away. It’s an album that you can’t help but sing with or bop along too. You can’t never go wrong with CCR.

Classic Awesome ALbum

Just absolutely loaded with the trademark sound & the classic bangers. (Such a crazy single-album spread, honestly, after having primarily previously spent time with CCR in the context of Greatest Hits.)

I was not alive when this album was "relevant" but have memories tied to it. Driving to airsoft games with my brother (we were dressed in vietnam era gear), trying to survive another day at my first job. Those had this blues classic accompanying me. This record includes both the most experimental (ramble tamble, run through the jungle) as well as very safe material (covers, oobie doobie, travelin band) from creedence. It creates a nice mix of the familiar and refreshing, profound and very silly. Which makes it excellent for any day, there will always be something in here to connect to.

Jam packed with classic CCR hits - 4.5/5

They should probably just slap a "Greatest Hits" label on this one. Pretty sure 7 of the 11 tracks on this one already are on the hits album. This is gold. I'll have to see about finding this one on Vinyl. Think I'll add "Travelin' Band" to the list, cause I prefer more upbeat music on lists like that. But "Long as I can see the light" has been my personal favorite mine for decades.

Just about a perfect album. Great songs and beautiful production on all of them. So many songs are familiar and iconic, but even the less popular ones are amazing too.

Another great album, a different vibe slightly to the Bayou River but they make the best music 5/5

You.could have told me this was a greatest hits album, and I would have believed you. Great band!

I was riveted from the first note. It is hard to understand how every song on an album that came out in 1970 can still hit so hard. Even the dreaded fourth track, with the silliest name possible, Ooby Dooby is just a quick, straight-ahead rocker with it's toes in the rockabilly pool. And in a flash we are back to some of the best music of the decade.

<3

Top 10 perfect albums of all time

Heel erg lekker

One of my favourite albums of all time. Truly a delight

I’ve always loved CCR and I always will. Just feels like that perfect road trip/camping kind of vibe. So many classics here from Back Door to Grapevine. Bayou dad rock forever. (4.5 stars)

That was a damn good time. Kind of shocked how many hits I'd heard of were on here. I do really love this old school kind of rock and roll vibe.

Love the blues heavy album, it’s raw! I wax eloquently but it’s cerebral hemorrhaging as I sang out loud…

Not everybody is gonna like CCR...especially when they get jamming to start an album. Well, yesterday I had to listen to ABBA...fuck me! That sucked. This does NOT suck! Give me CCR any day, any time, any year over ABBA. 5 fricking cow bells a-ringing!

This might just be the single greatest album of classic American rock music

good stuff

Creedence is one of the greatest bands rock has given us. This album feels like the greatest hits album with so many great songs in it definitely needed to be on this list.

CCR is never a bad choice

This album accounts for 7 of the songs on their 20 greatest hits album.

How can you not have fun listening to this album. It’s great top to bottom with a range of sounds.

I love this album. One of my all time favorites

5/10