Cuttin' Heads (2001)
1. Cuttin' Heads
2. Peaceful World
3. Deep Blue Heart
4. Crazy Island
5. Just Like You
6. The Same Way I Do
7. Women Seem
8. Worn Out Nervous Condition
9. Shy
10.In Our Lives
 
John Mellencamp remained a critic's
favorite even though he was starting to be a "thing of the past" in
terms of popularity and radio airplay. It was therefore no surprise
when he tried to shake things up a bit on his new release - especially
when its predecessor John Mellencamp
was his most lackluster release, saleswise, yet. This is one of those
CDs that is "all over the place". He doesn't really stick to one style
or one theme, yet dips his paint brush in all sorts of buckets.
Had the music been a bit more memorable, this wouldn't have been an
issue at all. Yet the fluctuations in styles and arrangements just end
up muddling up the mix of mostly so-so songs.
The album starts off with a couple of tracks where he's trying to hard
to be hip, and trying to hard to sing about racial equality - or at
least about easing tensions among the races. The first two songs,
Cuttin' Heads and Peaceful World are filled with
African-American background singers and guest appearances by Chuck D.
doing a rap and India.Arie dueting on the latter track. Perhaps the
songs are good, they just don't appeal to me too much, so I tend
to slag them off. Mellencamp had already proved on Mr.Happy Go Lucky that he could
spice things up with adding contemporary sounds, so you can't really
blame him for trying. It should be noted that Peaceful World was
the only hit single (albeit a minor one) of the album.
He then quickly shifts gears by the third track, Deep Blue Heart
that is mostly influenced by country-western music. By this time, we
have another guest artist in Trisha Yearwood, so without even
listening to the album, you can sort of see how the album jumps all over
the place. Then there are songs like Women Seem that do
come across as being catchy, so the songs aren't in themselves bad, they
just have an element of kitch to them the doesn't really fit
Mellencamp's persona all that much. The song Women Seem almost
sounds like he's trying to be a bit funny - which, let's be honest,
isn't really his strength.
What seemed to be a recent trend (at least for my tastes) is that some
of the best songs on the record seemed to go mostly unknown. My
favorite, which is also the most "Mellencamp like thing" on here, is
Crazy Island which is an ode to the sometimes great, sometimes
not-so-great country of America. This song reminds me of some of his
older songs, that I honestly was beginning to miss around the turn of
the century. The closer on the record, In Our Lives is also a
very honest, heartfelt piece that seems to have gotten a little lost.
I'll give him credit for trying. It just seems like the well was
running a bit dry for him as of late.
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