Changing your surname more often than Elizabeth Taylor isn't exactly a credible rock and roll move. JOHN COUGAR, latterly JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP, releases his 10th album Whenever We Wanted in the guise of plain old JOHN MELLENCAMP - not such a difference but it matters!
Emerging from the shadow of his SPRINGSTEEN clone tag with Lonesome Jubilee, John self-produced Whenever..., as he did with Big Daddy. He's a chap who certainly knows what he wanted - no mistake.
"Love and Happiness" boasts a lyric of world turmoil belying its title. Throughout the vocals lay back, the guitars scythe in at given moments, inflecting a purpose into events. There's a good five or six singles here, each one as proud as "Jack n Diane." Catch a load of "Now More than Ever," "Last Chance," or the title track to catch my drift.
John Mellencamp - still at the pinnacle of the Great American Dream.
Grade A minus
Joe Mackett
Riff Raff
January 1992
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