Great review Don. I have been a John Mellencamp fan since the early 80s. It’s interesting you mention Bruce Springsteen in your comments. He is probably the most comparable artist to Mellencamp. I always found John Mellencamp to be much more edgy, much more rocking, and his songs had much more attitude. That’s why I love Whenever We Wanted. This was one of my go to albums when I got out of college in the early 90s. I was going through the anxiety filled moments of looking for job and this was a great album to alleviate my stress. Love and Happiness is a rocker by anyone’s standards. This song jumps out of your speakers. Mellencamp channels his inner Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game for the cool sounding Last Chance. The rest of the album does not disappoint with songs like Melting Pot and Get a Leg Up. Special mention should go to the great Now More Than Ever whose message rings true to this day. As always his backing band shines in a very big way with killer guitar riffs and the world class drumming of the legendary Kenny Aaronoff. This is the most heavy, rude and crude sounding album of Mellencamp’s and probably his most underrated.
Totally disagree although I may be in the minority. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band forever hold a firm spot on my list of good bands that are highly overrated. They probably fall somewhere between Queen and Prince. However, I will agree with you that Sinatra is far better than Tony Bennet.
Debates about subjective topics are the best debates. You can't really win or lose. I would argue though, that the space between Queen and Prince on the ratings scale is large enough to fit a galaxy.
The Mellencamp/Springsteen debate is a good one. Both are legends and I imagine Springsteen would get the nod 7, maybe 8 times out of 10 from your average rock fan. Admittedly I haven't dug as deep into Springsteen but I wonder how much of those pro-Boss opinions are weighed by the "well, he's THE BOSS", Rolling Stone Magazine loves him, of course he's better kind of faith. I think for many of his loyalists he can do no wrong. He's the Boss and Johnny Cougar is the Little Bastard. What if that was reversed? I find Springsteen writes more powerful desperate, hopeful, sad songs if you will. Philadelphia, I'm On Fire, and the entire The Rising album (which I first raised my eyebrow to because I wondered if he was using 9/11 for his own gain and he may me feel really stupid because it is incredible....he had to nail the songs on that record and he did) are prime examples. Mellencamp has songs like Minutes to Memories and Jackie Brown that have that somber vibe as well but his catalog "rocks" much more than Springsteen's does. If you look at Mellencamp's album run from American Fool to Dance Naked it's a rather hefty catalog of songs that stand the test of time. 10 plus years with very few missteps ("Pop Singer" being one). I've lost touch with his later stuff with the exception of Trouble No More which is very good in a bluesy way. I also feel Mellencamp writes better 'pop rock" tunes. Dancing in the Dark, Cover Me, I'm Going Down, etc. versus Lonely ol night, Hurts So Good, Key West Intermezzo?. I don't know I'll give the nod to Mellencamp. Yeah, you can argue that more of Bruce's lyrics go deeper but I like that when Mellencamp does it he doesn't have to pull as hard on the heart strings. Anyway, it's definitely a contest. And oh yeah, Mellencamp's core band is better. :-)
I don't have strong feelings about either Bruce or JCM. So, as someone without a dog in this fight I can objectively say that there are some striking parallels between their music and themes: Young lovers against the world: "Rosalita/BTR" vs. "Jack and Diane". The plight of the factory/farm worker: "Youngstown" vs. "Scarecrow". Pride of place: "My Hometown" vs. "Small Town". Anti-America song that every dumb ass politician thinks is a pro-America song: "Born in the USA" vs. "Pink Houses". These are just a few examples based on my rudimentary knowledge of both men's catalogues. I'm sure real fans could think of a dozen more. It's really a question of whether you prefer the streetwise voice of the gritty east coast or the grain alcohol and cigarette voice of the agrarian midwest. Who would be the voice of the decadent west coast? Warren Zevon? Jim Morrison?
I love this album. The guitar interplay between Wanchic and Grissom is stellar. They manage to get intricate within the distortion and that's what makes the playing so special. Aronoff's drumming is fantastic as always. "Whenever We Wanted" came out when grunge was arriving on the scene and during a time when so many rock artists were going the MTV Unplugged route or holding on to the over-produced hair band sound. The whole unplugged thing arrived a couple years AFTER (and perhaps because of?) Mellencamp's The Lonesome Jubilee. By the time the 90s came around it was so refreshing to hear something a bit louder from him, that sounded live, where crunchy guitars were way up front in the mix. "Love and Happiness" and "Melting Pot" drip with tasty riffs. The whole album does, really. Then you have a tune like "Last Chance" where things get soft and dreamy, only to tease you with some loudness for a bit, and then you realize how great this version of his band was. I think it's one of his best records.
Great review Don. I have been a John Mellencamp fan since the early 80s. It’s interesting you mention Bruce Springsteen in your comments. He is probably the most comparable artist to Mellencamp. I always found John Mellencamp to be much more edgy, much more rocking, and his songs had much more attitude. That’s why I love Whenever We Wanted. This was one of my go to albums when I got out of college in the early 90s. I was going through the anxiety filled moments of looking for job and this was a great album to alleviate my stress. Love and Happiness is a rocker by anyone’s standards. This song jumps out of your speakers. Mellencamp channels his inner Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game for the cool sounding Last Chance. The rest of the album does not disappoint with songs like Melting Pot and Get a Leg Up. Special mention should go to the great Now More Than Ever whose message rings true to this day. As always his backing band shines in a very big way with killer guitar riffs and the world class drumming of the legendary Kenny Aaronoff. This is the most heavy, rude and crude sounding album of Mellencamp’s and probably his most underrated.
Don, I like Mellencamp a lot, but Springsteen vs Mellencamp is a similar argument to Sinatra vs Bennett. It's...not...even...a...contest!
Totally disagree although I may be in the minority. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band forever hold a firm spot on my list of good bands that are highly overrated. They probably fall somewhere between Queen and Prince. However, I will agree with you that Sinatra is far better than Tony Bennet.
Debates about subjective topics are the best debates. You can't really win or lose. I would argue though, that the space between Queen and Prince on the ratings scale is large enough to fit a galaxy.
Just to clarify, Queen is at the absolute bottom of the barrel and Prince is at the top, right?
Let's just say that Prince is getting vertigo looking down at where Queen is.
The Mellencamp/Springsteen debate is a good one. Both are legends and I imagine Springsteen would get the nod 7, maybe 8 times out of 10 from your average rock fan. Admittedly I haven't dug as deep into Springsteen but I wonder how much of those pro-Boss opinions are weighed by the "well, he's THE BOSS", Rolling Stone Magazine loves him, of course he's better kind of faith. I think for many of his loyalists he can do no wrong. He's the Boss and Johnny Cougar is the Little Bastard. What if that was reversed? I find Springsteen writes more powerful desperate, hopeful, sad songs if you will. Philadelphia, I'm On Fire, and the entire The Rising album (which I first raised my eyebrow to because I wondered if he was using 9/11 for his own gain and he may me feel really stupid because it is incredible....he had to nail the songs on that record and he did) are prime examples. Mellencamp has songs like Minutes to Memories and Jackie Brown that have that somber vibe as well but his catalog "rocks" much more than Springsteen's does. If you look at Mellencamp's album run from American Fool to Dance Naked it's a rather hefty catalog of songs that stand the test of time. 10 plus years with very few missteps ("Pop Singer" being one). I've lost touch with his later stuff with the exception of Trouble No More which is very good in a bluesy way. I also feel Mellencamp writes better 'pop rock" tunes. Dancing in the Dark, Cover Me, I'm Going Down, etc. versus Lonely ol night, Hurts So Good, Key West Intermezzo?. I don't know I'll give the nod to Mellencamp. Yeah, you can argue that more of Bruce's lyrics go deeper but I like that when Mellencamp does it he doesn't have to pull as hard on the heart strings. Anyway, it's definitely a contest. And oh yeah, Mellencamp's core band is better. :-)
I don't have strong feelings about either Bruce or JCM. So, as someone without a dog in this fight I can objectively say that there are some striking parallels between their music and themes: Young lovers against the world: "Rosalita/BTR" vs. "Jack and Diane". The plight of the factory/farm worker: "Youngstown" vs. "Scarecrow". Pride of place: "My Hometown" vs. "Small Town". Anti-America song that every dumb ass politician thinks is a pro-America song: "Born in the USA" vs. "Pink Houses". These are just a few examples based on my rudimentary knowledge of both men's catalogues. I'm sure real fans could think of a dozen more. It's really a question of whether you prefer the streetwise voice of the gritty east coast or the grain alcohol and cigarette voice of the agrarian midwest. Who would be the voice of the decadent west coast? Warren Zevon? Jim Morrison?
I love this album. The guitar interplay between Wanchic and Grissom is stellar. They manage to get intricate within the distortion and that's what makes the playing so special. Aronoff's drumming is fantastic as always. "Whenever We Wanted" came out when grunge was arriving on the scene and during a time when so many rock artists were going the MTV Unplugged route or holding on to the over-produced hair band sound. The whole unplugged thing arrived a couple years AFTER (and perhaps because of?) Mellencamp's The Lonesome Jubilee. By the time the 90s came around it was so refreshing to hear something a bit louder from him, that sounded live, where crunchy guitars were way up front in the mix. "Love and Happiness" and "Melting Pot" drip with tasty riffs. The whole album does, really. Then you have a tune like "Last Chance" where things get soft and dreamy, only to tease you with some loudness for a bit, and then you realize how great this version of his band was. I think it's one of his best records.
I'm a little disappointed that no one pointed out that this is the most cowbell-centric album in EONS history.
I think those are actual cows.