John Fogerty - Deja Vu All Over Again

[DudeAsInCool]

You can sample stuff at JohnFogerty.com and at Amazon. Here's a couple short reviews from Amazon:

It's a matter of expectations, October 25, 2004

Reviewer:

 

M. Tobin (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews

  How you react to this album has more to do with your expectations than it's quality. Expect CCR-like guitar? Are you from the school of thought that an album needs to be a certain length so that you "get your money's worth"? Then, prepare to be disappointed. Open to where the artist is today, and prepared to evaluate the music for what it is, rather than for what you'd like it to be? Then settle in for 35+ minutes of entertainment that is worth your while. Once I adapted to what this album was, rather than what I hoped it might be, I learned to enjoy it very much. Fogerty is in great voice, and the stylistic range of the music on the album is rewarding. In this age of overproduced, teen-oriented junk, this album is a refreshing change indeed. Or maybe I'm just thinking of that right now because I just heard the single by the actress Lindsay Lohan. Uh...compared to that, the Fogerty music is like Mozart!

Jason Stein (Chula Vista, CA United States) - See all my reviews

     

Another decade, and another John Fogerty album. Since he seems to make one album per decade these days, "Deja Vu (All Over Again)" is a pleasant reminder of Eisenhower, Leave-It-To-Beaver nostalgia. This is exactly what John excels at--simple, memorable and endearing folk/pop/rock songs with political statements, social statements and sentimental familial and nostalgic reveries of times long gone.

"Deja Vu (All Over Again)" leads off the album with Vietnam/Iraq observations and general statements about war in general--that it will never, ever end, but it sure would be nice if the human race COULD put a stop to it. "Deja Vu" contains echoes of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" This is Fogerty's masterstroke, taking his past and putting it in the present, and it worked extremely well with 1985's "Centerfield" and the musical references between "Old Man Down The Road" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Run Through The Jungle". This is why Fogerty is an American treasure, he is one of the few artists who can remind us effectively in the present of how we felt in the past.

The other socio-political song is "Nobody's Here Anymore", and how true this sentiment has become today. Talk of internet, cell phones and kids listening to music in the back of the classroom instead of learning something rings so true today, and I'll bet it's only going to get worse.

Two of my favorites are the ultra simple, yet enjoyable tunes "Sugar Sugar (In My Life) and "I Will Walk With You". These are easy, pleasant songs that you can just sit back and relax to. "Rhubarb Pie" is a third, but less effective pleasantry.

Three songs about women fill in the album. The hilarious "She's Got Baggage" about women who carry the world on their shoulders and lose control of their emotions in an unhealthy way certainly wears thin, but it's surprisingly hard rocking for this old fogey! "Radar" has this reggae groove that's a new direction for John, and it works pretty well. "Honey Do" is another hilarious take on being married and "yes, dear" and "yes, dear" and "yes, dear" doing things for your woman all the time just when you think your time is yours!

My least favorite songs were "Wicked Old Witch" and "In The Garden" where he slips off the track. Yet, this is the case with all Fogerty albums, there's always a few duds on every album, and this one is no different.

My recommendation is that if you are a long time Fogerty fan, then owning this one is imperative. If you are a picky fan, perhaps waiting another 10 years will satisfy you. Don't be a picky fan.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...782550?v=glance

[Redneck4sure]

I like the new album but I am John Fogerty/Creedence fan anyway.

[Kooperman]

This is a keeper. He breezes from genre to genre with ease and grace, never sounding forced. A very relaxed and comfortable feeling album, and with the song Deja Vu (All Over Again) it contains another Fogerty classic war protest song. It's not as vehement and bitter as Fortunate Son, but Fogerty has aged and matured since Viet Nam...he scores the same points against another foolishly mismanaged war, but does it with insightful sentiment and reflection this time.

[Redneck4sure]

Fortunate Son was cool too!