The music business is a strange business. Sometimes it's so hard to predict when an album will be a hit or miss. John Fogerty's work in the mid 1980s is as good an example of this as any. In 1985, Fogerty's album "Centerfield" shocked the industry by becoming a #1 album on the charts helping Fogerty mark a an incredible comeback. Thus when John Fogerty was ready to release his follow-up to "Centerfield" called "Eye of the Zombie", many expected the momentum of the comeback to continue. This was natural because "Eye of the Zombie" was produced only a little over a year following "Centerfield". At the same time, the music industry seemed ripe for another Fogerty album - this is because 80s music was clearly moving away from synth-pop to a more natural sound (which was a trademark of Fogerty's). However, the music industry is as unpredictable as any - "Eye of the Zombie" not only didn't succeed - it crashed and burned without many people even noticing. However, looking back at "Eye of the Zombie" I find this very hard to understand - this was a terrific album that really didn't get its due justice.

"Eye of the Zombie" isn't "Centerfield II". In fact, when you look at the two title tracks - you can contrast - "Centerfield"'s title track was full of optimism while "Eye of the Zombie" takes a more "darker" theme. The sound of this album is very different than "Centerfield". On "Eye of the Zombie", Fogerty seems to introduce a harder rock sound than he did on "Centerfield". This was consistent with a lot of what was going on in the mid 1980s as hard rock was gaining some momentum in the industry. In addition to the hard rock sound, Fogerty incorporated a lot of elements of synth-pop and this alienated many of his fans (this could be the reason for the crash and burn since 80s music was moving away from this). However, I think the formula works well. Combining a hard rock sound, some synth-pop with Fogerty's unique style of vocals - the result is something special. Fogerty also brings in some studio musician background vocalists (Bobby King, Willie Green Jr., and Terry Evans) who contribute on 6 of the nine tracks. Fogerty will wear multiple hats on several songs as he plays guitars, keyboards, and of course vocals.

There is some good music on this collection. Here is a quick look at things song by song:

"Goin Back Home": This is a true solo instrumental. Fogerty plays both guitars and keyboards. The "darker" theme that this album brings immediately comes to the forefront. There are some terrific guitar rifts in this song.

"Eye of the Zombie": This is the title track and is worthy of being the title track. This is another song with a "dark theme". You will hear a lot more of the synth-pop elements in this song. The song actually starts with a bit of "dance" beat, but then there is some terrific guitar work by Fogerty. Fogerty's vocals are classic throughout the whole song.

"Headlines": This is John Fogerty's look at the media and radio. It's a theme that's been covered by many artists. Great stuff as Fogerty complains "My head is throbbin man; Man, I'm looking for a song; The radio depress me". This song has a harder edge than the stuff on "Centerfield". Again, this works well.

"Knockin On Your Door": This song while having some synth-pop elements does kind of take me back to CCR days. While there is an infusion of keyboards on this song, I do think its Fogerty's guitar and vocals that make this a pretty good song.

"Change in the Weather": This song has much more of a Classic Fogerty feel. This is a very good blues tune. Up until this song, Fogerty had really been the star of this album (after all it's his album), but on this album the background vocalists of Bobby King, Willie Green Jr, and Terry Evans make this one terrific track.

"Violence is Golden": From a lyrical standpoint - this might be the best track on the album. This is a darker theme as indicated by "Violence" in the title. This song is sung from a mercenary's point of view of selling weapons. Fogerty brings his "A" game to this song.

"Wasn't That a Woman": This is another bluesy song in which Fogerty gets a lot of help from his vocal trio. While not one of the stronger tracks on "Eye of the Zombie", it still is a pretty good track.

"Soda Pop": Another strong piece of lyrics. In this song, Fogerty looks at the soft-drink industry - this was the age when pop stars were doing soft drink commercials (Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Madonna, etc). Fogerty looks at how these stars have sold out to commercialism. This song has a very catchy beat. As I listen to this song - this is the one place on "Eye of the Zombie" I hear sounds similar to "Centerfield"'s "Vanz Kant Danz".

"Sail Away": This is the final track. This song has more synth-pop elements in it. There almost is a folksy element overlayed on top of this song. This is a song in which Fogerty lets a lot of the anger go that he had when his comeback began (his feud over his music with Saul Zaentz) - it is almost the perfect ending to this album.

It's a shame that Fogerty would take a long hiatus following this album. Perhaps he got disillusioned again with the music industry from the lack of commercial sales. But perhaps, he was disillusioned because this album wasn't promoted nearly as well as "Centerfield" was. It's also a shame that Fogerty doesn't play a lot of this music in concert. Overall, this is a very underrated collection. I think this is a better effort than "Centerfield" and highly recommend this collection.

When an artist makes a record outside his or her comfort zone, and it ends up being a commercial flop, they usually distance themselves from the work. It becomes almost like an official bootleg. If said record sells, it's typically regarded as a daring new direction, a "turning point" for the artist, if you will. "Eye of the Zombie" is a great record, but one that shocked fans of "Centerfield." You could almost hear the confused masses saying to themselves, "How'd he go from singing about Annette Funicello and Joe Dimaggio to singing about zombies and the military industrial complex?" How? Because he was p----d off, that's how. See, in addition to being one of the most accomplished songwriters of his generation, John Fogerty also can be a world-class crank. He's suspicious of people outside his realm. He holds grudges. He can be petty. And he doesn't like it when the jerk that owns CCR's former record label holds his publishing rights hostage. Threatens to sue him unless he changes the title of the closing track on his long-awaited comeback album. Puts him on trial for plagiarizing himself . The owner of Fantasy records did all these things to Fogerty in the wake of "Centerfield"'s success, and one imagines it left John wondering why he'd bothered with a comeback at all. This record, "Eye of the Zombie," was his reaction. Angry, swamp rock-meets-metal guitars on the title track and "Headlines" (which takes aim at media oversaturation in 1986!). Arms dealers and the governments that support them get theirs in "Violence is Golden." Aging rockers, former paragons of idealism, get taken to task for selling out to soft drink companies on "Soda Pop." It's easy to see why some people complain that this record is too negative. Me, I call it a righteous anger and enjoy the ride. There's more here than vitriol. "Change in the Weather" is the greatest CCR song of Fogerty's solo career. "Wasn't that a Woman" and "Knockin' on Your Door" are upbeat, retro, R&B numbers. "Sail Away" is a heartbreaking ballad about, yes, how boarding an alien spaceship is the only solution for escaping the world's pain. Think the guy that wrote it was sick and tired of being sick and tired? The folks who overlook this album, perhaps including Fogerty himself, are really missing out.

After successfully engineering a second post-CCR comeback with 1984's "Centerfield," Fogerty stumbled commercially and artistically with this 1986 release. The public failure would drive him into an eleven-year seclusion that finally ended with the release of 1997's "Blue Moon Swamp." Fogerty's voice and guitars remain vital on "The Eye of the Zombie," but the excessive rock-of-the-'80s high-tech production (especially the growling funk bass lines and over-produced drum sound) simply doesn't suit his music.

Much as Fogerty's first solo album ("The Blue Ridge Rangers") laid some distance between his CCR success and his subsequent work, the lawsuits surrounding "Centerfield" seem to have compelled another round of distancing from his signature sound. Though Fogerty eventually won the right "to sound like himself," the legal process seems to have left him rattled.

"The Eye of the Zombie," takes the master of bayou-inflected rock down an ill-advised road of mid-80s production. One can applaud Fogerty's refusal to stagnate, but the choices simply don't play to his strengths, and the results are unflattering: "Headlines" sounds like a mediocre Sammy Hagar (or, charitably, Bob Seger) cut, and "Violence is Golden," with Foghat's "Slow Ride" at its core, is not nearly the song its title parodies (The Tremeloes "Silence is Golden"). '80s rock was not Fogerty's forte, and the genre has not aged gracefully.

The bitter fights with his previous record label and ex-bandmates seem to have dissipated the originality, soulfulness and joy Fogerty rekindled on "Centerfield." Fogerty's new supporting musicians knock out keyboard lines and horn charts that seem to be either Earth, Wind & Fire rejects or lifts from the soundtrack to "Footloose." The Stax/Volt-grooved songs "Knockin' On Your Door" "Wasn't That a Woman" and "Soda Pop" might light up in live performance (where they apparently rarely appear), but their studio versions misfire.

The album's high-points are few. The opening hymn segues a pretty introduction with Fogerty's guitar, and the soulful "Change in the Weather" features some excellent guitar playing, though undercut by John Robertson's monotonous, metronomic drumming. The closer, "Sail Away," with its religious, funereal (or perhaps alien-abduction) overtones dials down the '80s touches to something akin to Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark."

Fogerty produced, and would again produce, music that is a lot more memorable than this collection. DreamWorks' 2001 reissue reproduces the original CD and lyric booklet. The HDCD remastering lets the bombast of Fogerty's mid-80s production shine through clear and bright.

It's his best album. Bar none. Why "Centerfield" set the world on fire (as great as it was) after a ten-year absence and then the next year, "Eye of the Zombie" pissed off the critics is beyond me. If they'd listened to the MUSIC they would know the extent of his songwriting ability is shown here. (After this album, probably due to the critics and their unskilled meddling, we had to wait ELEVEN years for the uninspiring and extraordinarily disappointing "Blue Moon Swamp.")
The very people who didn't like John Fogerty's grim look at the world in the LYRICS of this album ("Headlines," "Violence is Golden," etc.) are the same people who were complaining that at this time he was touring without performing such gems as "Run Through the Jungle" and "Fortunate Son." But then, human beings are nothing if not hypocritical. [It's important to note that true JF fans witnessed him performing every single song - yes, even the instrumental - from this album on tour, along with all but two from 'Centerfield,' and NO CCR songs, owing to his battle with Saul Zaentz. We weren't missing a thing.] And anyway, if they were paying attention they'd have seen that the album ends with "Sail Away"...could this be perhaps the message he was dreaming of the entire time he was upset over the arms race, corporate sponsorship and going to pick up a girl for a date? (Oh wait...there's nothing brooding or negative about that one at all!)
LISTEN to "Eye of the Zombie" and forget what (some of) the lyrics are about. If you didn't speak English, you'd be able to tell right off the bat that he never was more divinely inspired...and wonder why in the hell his current live DVD features something from every aspect of his career EXCEPT this album!!

Anger can be a good thing. It allowed Lennon to craft some of his best material. In the case of John Fogerty, it allowed him to come up with an album of daring original songs. Although this isn't the best of Fogerty's albums it has its moments. The title track "Eye of the Zombie" is a hard rocking song that at once recalls the past (CCR swamp rock)and looks forward (the use of sythedrums that were popular at the time and a harder charging sound). The opening instrumental, title track, Soda Pop and Sail Away are all highlights of the album.

Eye benefits most from having a real backing band and not just Fogerty playing all the instruments. Clearly the lawsuit that resulted from Centerfield had taken it's toll. The bitterness that sufuses the bulk of Eye gives the album tremendous power but does occasionally undercut the song craft. I find that I listen to "Eye of the Zombie" probably less than most of my other Fogerty albums. Still, the hard charging rock sound of the album is refreshing after having Fogerty play all the instruments on his previous outing "Centerfield".

Although Fogerty has never publically disowned Eye, the fact that he rarely plays any material from the album is a pretty good indication that he doesn't consider it his best work. Nevertheless it has its moments even if the album isn't as consistent as "John Fogerty" (aka "Shep"), "Centerfield" or his best album "Blue Moon Swamp".