Long Road Home: In Concert

Since it shares its title with John Fogerty's 2005 career-spanning hits collection, this double-disc concert album (and associated DVD, available separately) is unsurprisingly heavy on the Creedence chestnuts that dominate the guitarist/songwriter's history. In fact, only seven of these 26 tunes are drawn from Fogerty's post-CCR years. The Long Road Home in Concert is a spirited yet surprise-free 90-minute set that plays to Fogerty's blue-collar base with near note-perfect renditions of all the songs any fan would want to hear. His voice is in fine form, the five-piece band duplicates its parts to perfection, and the crowd responds accordingly. But despite everyone's best intentions and the snappy live sound, it's hard to say that these versions are better than the originals, and, as with a severely truncated "Keep on Chooglin'," they fail to duplicate the musty swamp feel so integral to Fogerty's finest work. Unlike the best live recordings that bring unique interpretations to well-known songs, The Long Road Home in Concert simply faithfully duplicates them without much, if any, sense of experimentation. It's as if Fogerty is afraid to offend anyone by not adhering to the established script. The result is a listenable and generally enjoyable artifact that plays to his strengths. But it also can be considered a missed opportunity to bring fresh perspective to Fogerty's revered catalog of American classics. --Hal Horowitz

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