This just has that classic album sound. It's almost impossible to go about your life without hearing a Creedence Clearwater Revival song given how synonymous their music has been associated with the 60s and 70s American Dream and general zeitgeist of the time but I don't think I'd heard a song from this album before. Despite that, it all felt nostalgic and familiar. Perhaps this is the strongest quality to CCR's music. Cosmo's Factory has a classic American sound. Songs like Lookin' Out My Back Door has a distinctly southern country sound while also keeping that typical rock and roll aggression of the era. Another thing I really appreciate about rock albums are their ability to sound introspective. It's easier to make an album of bops but managing to work in a few slow jams that fit in the context of the track listing is an accomplishment in and of itself. Long As I Can See The Light is a sexy ballad that shows off the soft side of Cosmo's Factory. Yes, it is difficult to differentiate some of these songs but it's important to remember this is an album from an era gone by where music was intended to be heard as a project rather than as individual singles. A closing note on the album; The quality of this album is really illustrated by how seminal it sounds. The melodies and grooves of CCR sound very familiar and that's because they've influenced so many more modern musicians across many genres. That's hugely impressive.
I’m a sucker for some UK post punk flavor and The Jam certainly exhibit some of that sound on this project. However, the moody bangers are few and far between. But I’m Different Now and Set The House Ablaze were the most electric entries on Sound Affects and were thus the most enjoyable to listen to. After this early flurry of kickass came a slew of underwhelming times that lacked that fizz. Man In The Corner Shop was a tasteful slow melody that definitely sounded like something Arctic Monkeys based their sound off of. In fact, a lot of this album sounds like an AM inspiration. It just doesn’t feel nearly as punchy. Still, a pretty cool album to play when you’re feeling a little rebellious.
Classic!
Listen, I know John Lennon is one of the greatest names to do it, but I can't will myself to fully enjoy this project. It's full of nice sounding songs. That's the best compliment I can give it. Of course I've heard the title track Imagine and that's a truly beautiful song, but it's the only one of that ilk in my opinion. Imagine as an album sounds like the music of yesteryear and that feels a little antiquated to me. People don't make music like this anymore. That's a sentence that can be interpreted very differently depending on who says it. I think that says a lot about my taste and exactly what Imagine by John Lennon is.