The Long Road Home: The Ultimate John Fogerty Creedence Collection

They were together just five years, and between the potent era of 1969-`71, Creedence Clearwater Revival reached the Top 10 with nine different singles, an accomplishment the band's architect John Fogerty has cracked just once ("The Old Man Down the Road") since CCR's demise in 1972. And now that the three-decade battle between Fogerty and the Fantasy label has ended, the man-and-band reunion comes full circle with a 25-song compilation that packages many of CCR's made-for-radio hits with a sprinkling of solo numbers and live recordings from recent Fogerty tours.

Fogerty hasn't penned a whole lot of clunkers, and his CCR catalog sparkles with modernly remastered chooglin' classics like "Bad Moon Rising," "Travelin' Band," "Fortunate Son," "Lookin' Out My Backdoor" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain." But the non-chronological sequencing is unpredictable, and far too many Creedence gems were left on the cutting room floor to call this package "The Ultimate." --Scott Holter