CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Life Death Love and Freedom

by: John Mellencamp

Release Date July 15, 2008
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 ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits

by: John Mellencamp

Release Date October 19, 2004
An excellent selection of JCM's music for a greatest hits type collection. Nice to see some of the choices such as 'Martha Say', 'Jackie Brown', 'Again Tonight'. Not top hits but great tracks. A good mix of old and new. A good pick to keep in the car or to groove to around the house.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

The Best That I Could Do 1978-1988

by: John Mellencamp

Release Date November 18, 1997
John Mellencamp sing from the heart about the heartland of our country. His songs give insight into small town farming communities, teenage angst, divorce, dringking, and on and on. He lives in the land where he sings about, so he's not some transplant who has the outsider's view of mid-America.

These songs on this collection are his greatest hits. Every one of them has received airplay on popular and rock radio stations. Mellencamp is not one of those artists with two or three bonafide hits and seven songs no one has ever heard of on a greats hits album. His songs are genuine and belong on such a collection. Ideally there should be a box set that allows some of the B sides of songs to get some renewed exposure to a greater audience.
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CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

A Very Special Christmas

by: The Pretenders, John Cougar Mellencamp

Release Date October 25, 1990
The original "A Very Special Christmas". I remember buying the LP when it first came out and loved it so much that I decided to get the CD recently. Still a classic. Great Album.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Scarecrow

by: John Mellencamp

Release Date May 24, 2005
Looking back on my high school years, Scarecrow was one of the most popular and prevalent albums to be released in the 80's, along with Springsteen's "Born In The USA" and, unfortunately, Michael Jackson's "Thriller." (not my thing)

Do you realize all 12 tracks on this album were singles? I'm not sure how many hit #1 or were top 10 exactly, but how often can you say that about any album in rock history?

Scarecrow hit a chord with middle America, celebrated our innocence, and reminded us of a time when almost all of us had a relative who owned or once owned a farm or lived in the country.

During the "good times" of the 80's when the economy was strong, jobs were abundant, the internet didn't exist, and cable TV was still ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Freedom's Road

by: John Mellencamp

Release Date January 23, 2007
Freedom Road includes some very thought provoking songs. Makes me ask the Question: Is Freedom is Free, Is Freedom Easy?
Our Country: In the 2008 Presidential Primary race Hillary Clinton earned more Votes than any of her rivals, and more Votes than any Presidential Primary candidate in the History of this Free country...

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits

by: John Mellencamp

Release Date October 19, 2004
This guy just confuses me. I love some of his singles, like Cherry Bomb - what a cool song. I bought this collection having never owned any of his albums/CDs. If I put this on to listen to, in about 15 minutes I am aggravated. There is something grating about his voice or something. I also have never liked his political adventures or social commentaries. I mean I know Farm-Aid was cool, but his constant harping about injustice and even the big deal over his name and how the industry tried to eat him up aggravates me. Even the fact that he scribbled all over his Gibson acoustic aggravates me. His image seems so contrived, the torn bluejeans small town crap. He is the best example I can think of where if he just stuck to the music and I didn't know all this other stuff, I would ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

The Lonesome Jubilee

by: John Mellencamp

Release Date May 24, 2005
Don't get any better then this. Mellencamp had his his own style.....Everybody loved it ,AND the VIOLIN. BUT,BUT,BUT...Why he changed his style from this album, no-one will ever know. IT's NEVER BEEN THE SAME. It's like BABE RUTH, giving up baseball. Man , I miss the BABE MELLENCAMP sound and style.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

American Fool

by: John Mellencamp

Release Date March 29, 2005
This launched the midwestern live show star squarely onto the national stage, with two huge worldwide hits..the highly conventional "Hurts So Good" as well as the standout "Jack and Diane"; and while the first made him a superstar, the latter proved his terrific ability to weave a tale, a talent he has honed to an exceptional level over the years. This album is filled with catchy rock treasures, such as the minor hit "Hand To Hold On To", the aptly named "Thundering Hearts" and the anthemic "Close Enough". Taken on its own, this album could easily be dismissed as a Top 40 grab by Mellencamp; but in the context of his entire career, this was a watershed moment, a solid album that gave him the leeway to grow as an artist - and listeners worldwide are the beneficiaries.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Uh-Huh

by: John Mellencamp

Release Date March 29, 2005
After the strong but Top 40 style of "American Fool", this album took John a solid step further; the radio ready "Crumblin' Down" broke no new ground, but the biting commentary of the second single, "Pink Houses" showed his disdain for American society; and "The Authority Song" was a fun anti-establishment rant. These strong singles provided the foundation for his most daring songwriting yet, on 1985's ""Scarecrow". The rest of the album, though, is well-played but kind of formulaic in topic - "Play Guitar" and "Serious Business" in particular.