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After the greatness of CCR's last four albums, their fans must have felt an awful letdown upon hearing Pendulum for the first time. Only two songs, Pagan Baby and Hey Tonight, sound like vintage CCR. Suddenly they tried to be the Spencer Davis Group or something, with all of the organing and saxophoning. This album contains some of CCR's worst music, and only three really good songs. Still, it is a good album; it just pales to the other works of the greatest band of all time. One of the high points of the album is Stu Cook's bass playing, which reaches new levels here. Otherwise the music is not great after track 1.
Pagan Baby - One of the best tracks on the album, Pagan Baby is a greatly underappreciated song. once the vocals end the song really gets into some good jammin'. Unfortunately as on most of the group's jams the rhythm section does the same thing the whole time. A good leadoff track, but it doesn't really represent the album.
Sailor's Lament - This must have been where loyal CCR fans first new something was up. Although the track is very tight musically, it just sounds horrible with the keyboard and sax. the lyrics are funny and its kind of catchy, but little else is good about this song.
Chameleon - The first CCR song where a saxophone was actually appropriate - that doesn't make it good though. The concept of a person being a "chameleon" is fairly ingenius, and the vocal delivery is powerful. Still, I'm looking for some guitar...
Have You Ever Seen The Rain? - In contrast to its cousin Who'll Stop the Rain, this cut does not have good music to go along with the awesome lyrics and vocals. This may be John's lyrical masterpiece. The organ is really bothersome though. Still a top 20 CCR song.
Hideaway - After you get over the feeling that you're attending a funeral caused by the organ intro, John reintroduces it to you with the lyrics, which are good but harrowing. I just don't enjoy organ based songs, and the every-2-second guitar twang makes it even more irritating. Good job by Cosmo for a slow song.
Born to Move - Side two of Pendulum could be called "The emergence of Stu Cook" for the emphasis placed on and interest of the basslines. Stu does his finest work here. It's worth listening to the song just for the bass! The infamous bass solo is good too. However I thing this song would have been strongest if it had ended after the lyrics - maybe a hit. John sneaks a short but scorching guitar solo in the middle of the lyrical part.
Hey Tonight - The best song on the album, it is once again driven by the bass of Stu. The second best display of guitar on the album as well. A good upbeat song.
It's Just a Thought - Yes, its only a thought that this is a good song, and a thought that immediately passes. Irritating organ and intermittent distracting guitar are the main drawback. The words are decent but if they're not set to good music I don't care. Once again a song to listen to solely for Stu's bassing, and a bit of good drumming by Cosmo.
Molina - As Creedence Clearwater Revisited proved in concert, this song would be really good if guitar leads replaced the saxophone. Alas the sax remains and the song is further worsened by the additional sax at the end.
Rude Awakening #2 - The worst CCR song by a longshot, although the first two minutes aren't bad. not a whole lot to say except that my ultimate putdown for a song is to say its worse than this!
Overall Rating: 7 out of 10
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