8 comments

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  Beau

  8 months ago

  Never a huge fan, but anyone who can produce such diverse first-rate songs as "Rain on the Scarecrow" and "Key West Intermezzo" is doing pretty well.
  
  One of those artists I respect, even if I don't own all 20-something albums.
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  WHarrisBullzEye

  8 months ago

  I've liked Mellencamp for about as long as I can remember, even if was years until I finally went and bought one of his albums. (Even then, it was a lesser work - "Human Wheels" - rather than one of the more obvious choices.) Even with the ubiquitous car commercial in his repertoire, I still like him. He just seems...real.
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  T. Carter

  8 months ago

  I've been waiting for part ii of this to come out ... Thanks!
  BTW, the link for Small Paradise doesn't work
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  CarlosRamirez

  8 months ago

  I've always loved the line in "Key West Intermezzo" where he talks about a "loud Cuban band is crucifying John Lennon."
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  Jon

  8 months ago

  Thelink to Small Paradise is still not working.
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  Brianlisik

  8 months ago

  Hey Tony,
  Just wanted to note again how grateful I am that someone with such keen insight as yourself took the time to exhaust themselves with this exhaustive Mellencamp album overview. For, as a big fan for years (and one who has yet to pick up "Freedom's Road" for some reason...) who has always thought there was much more to Mellencamp than irascible left-wing politics, re-heated Stones riffs, and videos with old farmers in them (although the re-heated Stones riffs alone would have still made me a big fan) it's great to see the spot-on thoughts of a fellow traveler.
  In short, I always wanted to do something like this, but never thought I could get it past an editor. Glad you did.
  
  Cheers to you and Happy New Year sir!
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  Bastard No. 1

  8 months ago

  Great post. I think it's a shame that no one really listens to John anymore, myself included. I liked his output in the 80's (Uh-Huh being the best) and I think Dance Naked is actually his finest album, but the '00s have been a bleak time for him. It's not that he's not good anymore, but for one reason or another, he's not one of those artists that 500,000 copies would sell even if he farted into the microphone (read: Stones, Aerosmith etc...). It's really die-hards only at this point.
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  Grulg

  7 months ago

  I have most of these albums(or had)-very fine write-up. Please continue!
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