Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a GREAT, GREAT ALBUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I remember reading a series of interviews John was giving at the time this CD was released and he just seemed so depressed and mad and bitter and . . . well, defiant, that I couldn't wait to hear this music. There's nothing new about an artist reaching new heights in his artistic career while sinking to new lows in his personal life. With Big Daddy, Mellencamp created an album that was at once deeply personal yet able to touch a wide audience. Unsure of his place in the world, unhappy with his life and tired of what he saw as an endless cycle of work, tours, singles, albums, interviews, marriages, divorces, tours, singles, albums, marriages . . .丂Mellencamp spilled his guts. Much like Springsteen's Nebraska, Mellencamp turned up the intensity by turning down the amps. Although he didn't go quite as a stark as Bruce, he did create a stunning series of low key, half songs, simple arrangements and mood pieces that were still hummable and certainly unforgetable.丂While songs like Martha Say, Theo and Weird Harry, and Big Daddy of Them All, are populated by people we all know . . . Pop Singer is sung from the point of view of a man who is trying to make an impact on the world, but fearing that in the end all he is really doing is filling the airwaves and jukeboxes with the latest top forty smash. With words like "Never wanted to be no Pop Singer, never wanted to write no Pop Song" Mellencamp was inviting snide remarks. The fact that he chose to release this song as a single shows that the irony of it all isn't lost on this not so simple man. Although at times the world on this album can appear bleak, it never falls to self-pity or overblown sentiments. The playing is excellent throughout, John's voice milking emotion from each heartfelt lyric and the sudden blast of an electric guitar or whipcrack from the snare jars the listener from ever relaxing into a nice comfy groove. Some people have said that John's gift for melody let him down on this album, but those people just aren't listening. This album is filled with hooks and catchy-riffs, in fact, Jackie Brown may be the loveliest song this man has ever written. I don't know how Mellencamp feels about this album these days, I know he has taken back a few of the comments he blurted out during those interviews from this time, but for my money, this is strongest, strangest, most powerful work. The fact that it ends with the rave-up Let It Out suggest that better days laid ahead. That this was a bad mood that would soon pass. Thanks for sharing it with us. He has certainly made fantastic albums since Big Daddy, and he is not an artist who will ever settle down, (even after a heartattack) but if you ever want to hear John Mellencamp unhinged, (and slightly unplugged) buy this. It's like a ray of light on the darkest of nights.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Big Daddy
Track Listings 1. Big Daddy of Them All 2. To Live 3. Martha Say 4. Theo and Weird Henry 5. Jackie Brown 6. Pop Singer 7. Void in My Heart 8. Mansions in Heaven 9. Sometimes a Great Notion 10. Country Gentleman 11. J.M.'s Question 12. Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)
0 comments:
Post a Comment