Life Death Love and Freedom

John Cougar digs in for his deepest album since Big Daddy, and it is one of the best he's ever done. It completely lives up to the title of "Life Death Love & Freedom," focusing on the mid-life crisis of rockers who see their years increase and their country in decline. Trust me, this ain't your Mr. Happy Go Lucky. It's a lot closer to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska or James McMurtry Just Us Kids.

Helping a great deal is producer T-Bone Brunette, who once guided Elvis Costello and more recently Robert Plant and Alison Krauss into similar turf. He keeps the production austere and minimal, sometimes no more than two instruments. "Longest Days" opens the album with a hush, then builds into the Bo Diddly beat of "My Sweet Love." But more often than not, there is a bluesy melancholy that underpins the songs, with Mellancamp sounding vulnerable and assured ("This getting older ain't for cowards" he snarls at the start of "Don't Need This Body").

He also works up a fire on the two political diatribes, "Jena" and "Without a Shot." "Jena" got exposed early on after the infamous Louisiana incident, but feels heavy handed now. "Without a Shot," however, takes on complacency and wonders why we let the best of us get "used up by corruption." He almost answers that in "John Cockers," who seems to be the man Diane married 30 years ago, but took off with the kids and left Jack with a "little (pink?) house on a dusty road." These are desperate people in crummy situations, like the unfortunate man in "County Fair" or the defeated soul in "A Ride Back Home."

All is not trouble and doom here, as Mellencamp has a pair of affirmative songs. "Mean" (as in "could you please stop being so...") is a delight, easily one of his best, and the aforementioned "My Sweet Love" was added at Mellencamp's wife's insistence, as she thought the CD needed a little more cheer (and she was right). The album closes on an optimistic note, with Mellencamp rising from the realization that "the trouble with the future, it always stays the same" to the hope that those to come will find knowledge and purpose.

For those who have followed Mellencamp through the early days, hearing "Life Death Love & Freedom" will seem like a natural progression from Scarecrow and The Lonesome Jubilee, while some who only think of ""Hurts So Good" might miss out. But if you're getting up there in years and don't mind a little Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger in your musical diet, then John Mellencamp's latest will probably make your favorites for the year.

John Mellencamp's newest CD, "Life Death and Freedom" ended up being much better than I thought it would be. Wonderful instrumentals and song variety. The more I listen to them the more they grow on me. I was afraid some of the songs would be too slow, but they weren't. Five Stars!

I really like this CD album. The music is simple, and somewhat haunting. I can't give a track by track evaluation, because I've not had it very long. My simple idea is that John Mellencamp's music from the eighties spoke to concepts of commonality, or briefly "the common." This CD album builds within that earlier framework. The themes are very basic, or common, as the title indicates. If you are familiar with some of the ideas in this vein from his earlier music, and think they are worthwhile, you'll like this album (if you don't think a flashy sound is required). It is folksy, laid back, and articulate - which I believe is a good combination. This music can make me relax, but the lyrics are realistic and purely "Mellencamp." I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who is a fan of John and/or his folksy/protest style he's adopted. It is less pop-oriented than previous album/hit single music I alluded to.

I had never been a fan of John Mellencamp. While purchasing a book here on Amazon I notice this CD and the title got me curious. It arrived last friday after the first play I was in awe. A true poet in the likes of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan with words that ring out within these troubling times. I'm now a convert a new found respect for an artist who has been around for nearly 30 years an I ignored. Since recieving this CD 3 days ago I went and bought 4 more Melloncamp CD's waiting for them to arrive with great anticipation for words to fill the soul.

After the amazingly strong "Freedom's Road" I was very excited about this new CD. I have to say it's one of his weakest releases in a VERY LONG TIME. The lyrics are strong, but there are very few memorable songs on this disk. Usually, there are only 1 or 2 below par songs on a Mellencamp release, this one only has a few good ones. This is a depressing and somewhat boring release. I have around 10-11 of his CD's and I usually like it when he stretches and does something different (Mr. Happy go Lucky, Cuttin' Heads), but this is just average folk music.