Creedence Clearwater Revival, Green River (side A)

While CCR had an incredibly consistent run for several years, 1969's Green River is my favorite Creedence album.  It stands out with its songwriting, with obvious classics like "Bad Moon Rising" along with slightly less-famous ones like "Wrote a Song for Everyone".  My only complaint might be the sequence, with the two weakest songs at the end ("Sinister Purpose" is especially undifferentiated).  And of course, the iconic cover image and design still look great.  What stood out to me on this listen was the sound of the album, and especially the rhythm section.  To make room for the bright and present vocals and guitars, the drums are particularly buried.  The snare lacks attack, in a way that could be described as friendly, and the cymbals wash out in the background.  The bass is incredibly clean and obviously direct — there's enough detail on top to hear the articulation, but the lack of overtones or any sort of distortion is noticeable.  It's not a classic bass sound, but it fits perfectly in the mix, and it leaves a lot of room for the guitars.  While the presence frequencies are full of guitars and vocals, the master drops off in the higher treble frequencies, at least on my copy (an original enough pressing to have been on Fantasy).  By 1969, it was definitely possible to capture at least more high treble than is heard here.