John Mellencamp - Plain Spoken (2014) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Plain Spoken includes ten stunningly elegant and soul-searching Americana gems from 'The Voice of the Heartland', John Mellencamp, while celebrating his skill not just as a song craftsman but as a world-class entertainer.

Plain Spoken commences on the acoustic guitar hum of 'Troubled Man' as Mellencamp carries a pensive and poetic chorus. Organ and harmonica punctuate 'The Isolation of Mister' with a sense of vibrancy, while 'Tears In Vain' features a twanging guitar solo and the singer's unmistakable delivery. The haunting and heartbreaking beauty of 'Blue Charlotte' lingers with emotion. There is 'The Courtesy of Kings', which is driven by banjo and Mellencamp's poignant lyrics and the bluesy swing of the album's conclusion 'Lawless Times' where his cinematic lyrics bristle with energy matched only by the six-string screech. Plain Spoken is set to be hailed as an unparalleled new chapter in Mellencamp's distinctive songbook.

Plain Spoken is the first album from the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer since 2010's critically acclaimed, No Better Than This-which landed in the Top 10 of Billboard's Top 200 during release week and garnered the honor of becoming one of Rolling Stone's 'Best Albums of 2010'. Grammy winning musician John Mellencamp has touched the heart and souls of music listeners and influenced American Culture with enduring songs, he is also one of the most successful live concert performers in the world. A man with a conscience, he used his visibility and influence to advocate an issue that hit close to home and became one of the founding members of Farm Aid, an organization that began in 1985 to raise awareness about the loss of family farm. The Farm Aid concerts have raised over $45 million to promote a resilient family farm system of agriculture.

'If ever there were a prototypical John Mellencamp title, it's Plain Spoken. Mellencamp has long striven for direct, forthright communication, so the title suits his overall aesthetic as well as this album in specific. His first album underneath a 'lifetime' recording contract for Republic Records – a deal that effectively amounts to his return to the Universal group – this is also his first record since 2007's Freedom's Road not to be produced by T-Bone Burnett, but that titan of Americana has certainly left an imprint on the singer/songwriter. Like many Burnett productions, this trades in hushed authentic acoustica, but where Burnett often indulges aural impressionism – or, in the case of 2010's No Better Than This, such quasi-stunts as mono mixes – Mellencamp opts to revert to a streamlined version of the wide-ranging Heartland Rock of The Lonesome Jubilee. There are echoes of this 1987 masterwork on Plain Spoken but only in the sense that's where Mellencamp first delved into acoustic folk and country. Twenty seven years later, he's an older man in every sense: his voice sounds ravaged by cigarettes, he doesn't bother rocking at all (although he does play a bit of blues on 'Lawless Times,' a subdued shuffle that offers a welcome tonal tonic at the close), and he feels battered down by the passage of time. He's mourning the end of his marriage, he's pondering mortality, he's sour at the politicians and the bankers, and he's not so sure he has much to offer anybody else, either. If his bitterness is unavoidable in the lyrics or in his voice, his music softens his bite, turning these tunes into melancholy laments instead of invective, so there winds up being a bit of a needed cushion to Mellencamp's straight talk on Plain Spoken.' (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

Tracklist:
01. Troubled Man
02. Sometimes There's God
03. The Isolation Of Mister
04. The Company Of Cowards
05. Tears In Vain
06. The Brass Ring
07. Freedom Of Speech
08. Blue Charlotte
09. The Courtesy Of Kings
10. Lawless Times

Personnel:
John Mellencamp, guitars, vocals
Mike Wanchic, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Andy York, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
T-Bone Burnett, electric guitar
Miriam Sturm, violin
Troye Kinnett, keyboards
Dane Clark, drums

Recorded in 2014 at Belmont Mall Studio in Belmont, Indiana
Engineered by Mike Piersante
Produced by John Mellencamp