Search - John Mellencamp :: Big Daddy

Mellencamp's Nebraska

08/20/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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 . . .�@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.�@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."

A great record from a great songwriter

A man from the east coast | The East Coast of the USA | 03/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Folks, I'll make this short. This record has no anthems on it, no groundbreaking rock 'n roll-as-great-art tunes like "Scarecrow" and "Small Town". It is an understated, subtle masterpiece of a man exploring the depths of his soul and finding both tremendous pain and great dignity. JM goes to many places in the heart on this one, and each journey is remarkable in its own way. He is the type of plain spoken songwriter who can speak volumes in just a few lines when other writers would need entire books, screenplays and albums to say. Example: "There's a void in my heart / I can't seem to fill / I do charity work when I believe in the cause / but my soul it bothers me still". Yes, we've all been there ... some folks never find their way out of that place.



I think JM did find his way out, especially on the advent of his third marriage, which came (I think) after the recording of "Whenever We Wanted". On this record, his second marriage was breaking up do to his repeated infidelities. To give you an example of his mindset during the recording of this record, here's a quote he made regarding the demise of his union to Vicki Mellencamp: "I want to get back together, but I really don't see what would change, and I don't want to hurt this woman anymore. She doesn't deserve it."



I think that this record represents a time in JM's life in which, deep in his heart, he felt truly lost. You can hear it in his voice and in his words, and that is a lot of what makes this record a masterpiece.

"

My personal favorite!

J. J Lima | walnut, Ca. United States | 05/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On apersonal level, this is the most satisfying album JM has ever made. He wrote the most wonderful lyrics with absolutely beautiful songs. This is John's finest moment in storeytelling, even better that Scarecrow and The Lonesome Jubilee-classics in their own right. But he does something different here and I don't think I have ever figured it out, but it works. Don't miss the hidden track at the end of the album, it's worth the price of the album alone!"