Remember John Mellencamp? Well, contrary to MTV, VH1, and radio, the guy still makes music. He still writes some great songs and his sound is as recognizable now as it was when the music world and public loved him more than 20 years ago. It turns out he has new album out and it is really good. The best part is he didn’t use modern recording methods. He and has band got in a room, fired up an old Ampex Tape Recorder, and made some music. Live. When the music world is full of T-Pain’s, K$sha’s, and dozens of others who’s music is mostly all fake and doctored, this is refreshing.
From Amazon’s Product Description of John Mellencamp’s “No Better Than This”:
In an age of auto-tuned, computerized recordings, John Mellencamp's approach on his Rounder debut, No Better Than This, is refreshing. The entire album was recorded with Mellencamp and his band all playing live in one room using a 55 year-old Ampex tape recorder and just one vintage microphone. Legendary producer T Bone Burnett captured the stunning thirteen new Mellencamp originals at three historically important locations: Sun Studio in Memphis, TN (where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis all first recorded); the First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA (the oldest Black church in North America, dating to 1775); and in Room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, TX (where Robert Johnson made his first recordings in 1936). The songs on No Better Than This reflect classic American musical traditions including blues, folk, gospel, rockabilly, and country, while addressing such themes as the need for hope, the nature of relationships, and narratives that recount extraordinary occurrences in everyday life. Mellencamp says of the album, "It was absolutely the most fun I've ever had making a record in my life. It was about making music - organic music made by real musicians - that's heartfelt and written from the best place it can come from."
This album will not be most people’s cup of tea. It’s not super rocking and it’s not the pop music from the 80’s that Mellencamp made. It is however honest. And sometimes even moving. It is full of hope and that is something we all could a little of. If you like good music, you need to check this out.
