"John Mellencamp - Words And Music"

I've been a John Mellencamp fan for most of my life. His big hits--songs like "Little Pink Houses," "Small Town," "Jack and Diane," and "Hurts So Good"--are woven into my musical consciousness, and his work has left an indelible mark on my own understanding of good music, roots rock in particular. To be honest, I think Mellencamp is one of the best roots rockers out there, and his mix of rock, Americana, and folk/country rock has a timeless quality to it that will stand the test of time.

I got his single disc greatest hits collection, The Best That I Could Do, several years ago when it first came out. I knew all the songs on it, and it's a great collection of his best-known songs for the casual fan. But, as is often the case with me, that sampling left me hungry for more, a collection that dug into Mellencamp's catalogue a little deeper. Words and Music delivers that, in spades.

Mellencamp is a phenomenal singer/songwriter who distills the best of the Midwest and injects it into his music. He's a storyteller, an everyman, a common guy who makes that both appealing and almost heroic. There is an earthiness and a homeiness to the characters and themes of his songs, and it's coupled to a rollicking, energetic, fun musical style that has evolved subtly over the years into an almost perfect roots rock/heartland rock sound.

What Words and Music does is provide an in-depth look at Mellencamp's career in non-chronological order, presenting a solid selection of worthwhile music. There's not a clunker on the two-disc set, which means you've got 37 tracks of kick-ass music. That's a lot of great stuff.

The nice thing about the set is that even the two new songs are good. Most of the time, the "brand new, never before heard" songs that are tacked onto the end of the set are just that--tacked on extras, songs that weren't good enough to make it onto a regular album, tunes that couldn't make the cut, demos or tossed-off filler that no one would really want except for those who have to have everything a particular artist puts out (these are the same sort of folks who buy Dylan's trio of early-80s evangelical Christian albums, the poor sods). But Mellencamp put effort into these two tunes, as much effort as he puts into his official albums. The first one, "This Time," sounds like a track that could have been cut by Huey Lewis & the News--and I mean that in the best possible sense. "Now More Than Ever" is a solid cut that would fit alongside any of Mellencamp's best work.

All of the big hits are here. There's too many to mention, and the songs you may not have heard--"Rain on the Scarecrow," "Rumble Seat," "Get a Leg Up," and numerous others--are just as good as the big hits. Really, there's not a dud on the whole album, and that's really saying something for a career-spanning best of collection like this. It feels epic, it feels lively, it feels exactly right. If you're a fan of roots rock and classic rock in general, do yourself a favor and go out and buy this collection. You won't be disappointed.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: John Mellencamp, "Human Wheels"