Author: John Mellencamp

Release Date: 06-10-1998

Details: Review ...[T]he uncharacteristically baroque arrangements provide an appropriate framework for the compassionate portrayals of disappointment and survival. -- Entertainment Weekly Mellencamp returns to basics.... [T]he Indiana native stays close to the chunky, gospel-inflected rock that enlivened his 1987 hit "Paper in Fire." -- People Amazon.ca For the multinomenclatured John(ny) (Cougar) Mellencamp, falling into loping historical pace as the "poor man's Springsteen" has been a blessing in disguise. If you're perpetually second best, to whose expectations do you ultimately answer? Certainly not your audience's--they're prepared for so-so songwriting. It's a win-win situation in which even your most lackluster material appears "Thunder Road" brilliant. Follow this train of thinking and you might hear Mellencamp's eponymous album (and first for Columbia) as something of a minor masterpiece. The self-dubbed Li'l Bastard is pushing himself stylistically, adding exotic flavors (sitar, tabla, organ) and high-tech ones (tape loops, synths) to his bass-guitar-violin foundation. This provides for some intriguing moments, such as the rhythm-tracked shuffle "I'm On My Way" and the hip-hop-scratchy exercise "Break Me Off Some." The uninitiated, however, will observe a far less sensational situation: the Hoosier's nonchalant reliance on his trademark Cougar-isms--Biblical metaphors, "Jack and Diane"-ish one-dimensional characters, and the simple, chirrupy jangle of a trusty six -acoustic string. Somewhere between the two extremes lies the artistic truth. Mellencamp is kicking desperately at his gate, and that's a good thing. But his corral remains relatively small and limited. There aren't any Ghosts of Tom Joads in his immediate future. --Tom Lanham

UPC: 074646960226

EAN: 0007464696022

Model: MFR074646960226#VG

Languages: English

Binding: Audio CD

Item Condition: UsedVeryGood