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Amazingly enough, you look through this new John
Mellencamp
record and you can't help but wonder if he wrote it with the potential for
terrorist strikes
on America in mind already. "Peaceful World,"
alone, the second track and obvious choice for first radio spin speaks volumes on the
state of America itself and inasmuch seems never more relevant than
today where peace, love and understanding are giving way to hostility,
racism and hate. And yet Mellencamp's been the unwitting spokesman for
our great country for far longer than we could even
calculate.
I first
saw him perform during the "Scarecrow" set back in '85 and
really back then things were just getting started as a one time rebel rocker
was giving way to grown up sentimentality. He's always managed to throw
together a few songs that reach out and grab ya and either make you
think, make you groove or make you question your own morality. Indeed his
lyrics have a way of getting their point across even if they tend to
run over themselves from time to time... And if they leave a lifelong
imprint on your forehead as a detour, all the better then.
"Cuttin'
Heads" was conceived in much the same way as much of his past work, with
America in mind, its people, its freedoms and also its
faults. "Cuttin'
Heads," the opening track, opens honestly and expectedly enough before
giving way to Public Enemy's Chuck D doing a rap against racism toward the
end, and somehow it just works.
"Peaceful World," carries
the same tone, again Mellencamp's conscientiousness shining through in an acoustically led
sing along affair.
"Crazy Island" continues the gut check for
our homeland, reaching into the Classic Rock bag reminiscent of Lou
Reed and maybe even Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash. Search hard enough, you'll find one or
another; not one of the best tracks but noteworthy for its style.
"Just Like You" is classic Mellencamp, reaching toward the
"Human Wheels" record, similar in vibe to "What If I Came Knockin," and
certainly not one to be knocked. This is one of his most inspired works.
There's a
"return to the roots" quality to this record that'd make for a proud
proclamation except for the fact that he never left them in the first
place. Yet the notion of "heartland" is on full display here as
elsewhere and Mellencamp still finds room to employ a new
twist... Not a reinvention, but
rather an addition, as with the Chuck D. part or a lofty arrangement
or brass section, gospel choir and plenty more that
usually don't come out after only one listen.
"Cuttin'
Heads" lacks little in ambition or volume and eases comfortably between his
signature moments like a "Scarecrow" or "Lonesome Jubilee"
only with a broader range of dynamics.
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| Artist |
John Mellencamp |
| Title |
Cuttin' Heads |
| Label |
Columbia |
| Reviewer |
Vinnie
Apicella |
| Rating |
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| win stuff |
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