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Wilkes Barre, PA - The Weekender 4 Star No Better Than This Review
10.15.2010 - The Weekender By Kevin Krieger
After 21 albums, a Grammy, and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, John
Mellencamp has set a new artistic standard for himself by ditching the gritty
heartland rock and releasing a recording that pays tribute to classic American
music forms without resorting to mere imitation. All 13 tracks on “No Better
Than This” were recorded on a 55-year-old Ampex reel-to-reel tape recorder with
a single vintage microphone in the center of the room. No overdubs, no studio
tricks. Just a small group of musicians crowding around a microphone, looking to
replicate the same feeling that fueled America’s early musical roots.
Bypassing his state-of-the-art studio in Indiana, Mellencamp opted to record in
three historically significant locations. From Sun Studios in Memphis to the
First African Baptist Church in Savannah, Ga., to the same San Antonio hotel
room where Robert Johnson laid down his legendary blues riffs, it’s easy to feel
the size of the room and the position of the players around the mic.
Keep in mind, Mellencamp is the first artist to enter the Top 10 with a mono
recording since James Brown in 1964, so this is obviously not a CD that will
rattle the subwoofers. The low-fi effect is most apparent on the solo acoustic
numbers like “Thinking About You” and “Love At First Sight,” and his raspy
whiskey-and-cigarettes voice still permeates the dusty air on the rockabilly
title track and the country-tinged “No One Cares About Me.”
Perhaps if you doubled the tempo on the lead track, “Save Some Time To Dream,”
it might sound a lot like Mellencamp’s early ’80s work, but there’s
disappointment ahead for fans of “Jack And Diane” and “Authority Song.” The same
rebellious and wandering spirit runs through the new material, but “No Better
Than This” is truly an intimate experience, both for Mellencamp and his
audience.
What all this boils down to is a recording that’s both challenging and
rewarding. It’s challenging because the rawness of the music is not something
we’re accustomed to in this age of Pro Tools and Auto-Tune. But the rewarding
part comes with the honesty with which the artist presents himself. “No Better
Than This” is Mellencamp’s history lesson for the adventurous listener willing
to follow him down the musical paths cut by legends like Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan
and Woody Guthrie.
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